2024 NSW Premier’s Early Childhood Education Scholarship winner Anitha Arul

Anitha Arul is the founding director of St Therese Preschool and Long Day Care in Sadlier, New South Wales. 

St Therese Preschool and Long Day Care, which educates and care for children aged between two and five years, was the first Archdiocese of Sydney Catholic long day care centre offering,opening in 2019, with the provider now having five early learning centres including Coogee, Auburn, Rosebery and Caringbah under the banner of Sydney Catholic Early Childhood Services (SCECS), and plans to launch several more services across Sydney’s parishes.

Delivering affordable care in partnership with local parishes and Catholic schools, SCECS blends religious education with the Early Years Learning Framework. 

Recently Ms Arul was honoured with the prestigious 2024 NSW Premier’s Early Childhood Education Scholarship in recognition of her passion for blending nature and play.

This scholarship, for degree-qualified early childhood teachers, who are currently teaching in early childhood education and care services in NSW, is offered for study in any aspect of early childhood education, and allows the recipient to undertake a study tour and follow-up activities of up to five weeks internationally or within Australia. 

Time may involve formal study (e.g., undertaking a short course at a respected tertiary institution) or may involve a program of visits to sites, schools and institutions to conduct interviews, observe exemplary practices and collect resources for the preparation of teaching materials related to the specific scholarship category.

Worth $15,000, Ms Arul will use her scholarship to undertake a study tour to Sweden and Denmark to visit renowned Forest Schools, and learn more from the nature-based Scandinavian approach to early learning.

On returning, she hopes to share her experiences across the SCECS network and the wider community.

“Nature and play are essential for holistic development, offering children opportunities for exploration, creativity, and physical activity,” she shared with Catholic Weekly.

“These experiences support cognitive, emotional, and social growth, laying a robust foundation for lifelong learning.”

Learn more about the Premier’s Early Childhood Scholarship here. To read the original coverage of this story please see here.