A recent renovation of the Gunnedah Baptist Community Preschool in regional New South Wales has both educators and children reveling in the new light and bright spaces, which have provided a more functional use of space, minimising disruptions. 

The Blue Room and the Rainbow Room have been relocated and reimagined in the work, which has also seen the addition of a new staff room and prep area, and added storage space.

Originally, the Blue Room, which caters for children aged between four and five years, stretched along the front of the pre-school, parallel to the road, and next to the staff room, Rainbow Room and office spaces. It has now moved and become a vertical space, leading back into the pre-school.

Being adjacent to such key spades meant  many children and staff from other rooms would move through the space during the day, disrupting the work of children in the space. 

Since the space is much quieter, and the children have fewer interruptions. 

Teacher Hayley Jensen told local paper Namoi Valley Independent that the children and staff were loving the new space after a long period of operating from the Baptist Church hall to accommodate the renovations.

“A lot of work has gone into it…it’s amazing. It’s a beautiful environment,” she said, one which the children are very excited to be in.

The Rainbow Room also has a new space, no longer housed in the “rabbit warren” at the original entrance to the pre-school. The room is now part of the main flow of the building, leaving more space for activities and meetings between parents and visiting occupational therapists and speech therapists.

“It’s so much more functional,” learning support teacher Amy Marmara said, noting that the children love the light-filled room where they receive one-on-one support.

The renovations continue work which was completed in 2017, adding a new wing to the preschool, expanding its reach to offer 260 places. The wing houses a new entrance, office spaces, and the “Green Room”, which was created to accommodate more children in the school readiness program.

The “Yellow Room” for children aged between three and four years has since swapped spaces with the Green Room and the current Green Room will be refurbished over the Easter holidays.

The original pre-school was established in 1974 and 20 children attended the former hall of the Baptist Church. Another room was added in 1975, allowing numbers to double.

The Gunnedah Baptist Child Care Association was formed in 1986 and two years later, the pre-school was extended. A third classroom was built in 2017 and was named the Yellow Room.

To access the original coverage of this story please see here.