Petit ELJ Coffs Harbour’s deep commitment to sustainable thinking

Kylie Thomson, Educational Leader at New South Wales-based Petit Early Learning Journey (Petit ELJ) Coffs Harbour, has a deep commitment to sustainable thinking, and for developing a sense of environmental stewardship in the children she works with. 

In the piece below, Ms Thomson shares her reflections on a community project which focuses this passion, with the drive and input of children, and the support of families. 

“Our families at Petit ELJ Coffs Harbour have always supported how our centre can be environmentally sustainable,” she explained. 

“They recognise how this benefits children’s learning and experiences. As such, we have implemented a community garden with a worm café in our entry foyer, reached out to families about repurposing clothing items for ‘real life’ play, reused recyclables for craft and creative pieces and learnt about recycling before and after our local waste management service visit.”

From small and simple steps – such as utilising recyclable sources for creative arts, reducing waste, using food scraps for the worm café to break down and create liquid fertiliser, repurposing old clothes and accessories for dress-ups, through to bigger initiatives like ensuring ready made meals are redirected to the broader community to reduce food waste – the service is committed to ‘year round’ approaches which enhance sustainability. 

“Our sustainability project supports our local community and the world we live in,” Ms Thomson said. 

“As we all learn to care for the environment, it encourages children to preserve and respect the natural environment, maintain nature and people’s wellbeing and reminds us that our choices today affect future generations.”

As the calendar year ends, the team are reflecting on sustainability initiatives undertaken thus far, and on how these may be enhanced and progressed in 2024 and beyond. 

“There has been a growing interest in this topic where curiosities and inquiries are being explored, especially in our older studios,” Ms Thomson said. 

“We can’t wait to reflect on this next year and see how it progresses in 2024.”

Learn more about Petit ELJ here.