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Elizabeth Price retires, leaving strong legacy at Gloucester Pre-School
Freya Lucas
Jan 09, 2025
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Elizabeth Price, who led Gloucester Pre-School in New South Wales for over 12 years, retired at the end of 2024, leaving a strong legacy from her time as Director.
Under her leadership the service underwent significant change and expansion, advocating for risky play and children’s voices being included in program, practice, and pedagogy.“A sense of risk and adventure is important, and is the philosophy behind the way that the pre-school is run,” shared with local news source News of the Area.
Small aspects in the day to day running of the program - such as not using smocks or aprons when painting or playing in mud - show children that “they don’t always need to protect themselves from discomfort.”
“When I took over there was a tree in the pre-school backyard which some staff had not felt comfortable with the children climbing because there were risks, but children will always look to stretch their skills, and they need to be allowed to continually challenge themselves.”
While some of the changes were initially met with speculation by the parent body, under her care the team, and the children in their care, have gone from strength to strength, with her time at the pre-school culminating in the development of a new facility at Barrington.
One parent, who had a child enrolled in the preschool when Ms Price commenced, recalled the initial ‘bumps in the road’ as the parent community worked with the new leader.
“In many ways Elizabeth was quite different to her predecessor, and I’m not sure some of the parents adapted well to the change, but when you look at the growth of the pre-school and all that she has achieved, I think she has done an outstanding job, often in difficult circumstances,” said the parent.
“She has taken some tough decisions, but they have clearly paid off.”
The pre-school bought a house at Barrington which will undergo significant re-development to become an early childhood education facility.
“It will be quite a stunning facility,” Ms Price shared with local news source News of the Area.
“It’s going to reflect our present philosophy which is for it to be a natural space with as many sustainability features built in as possible.”
“At this stage I can’t say when it is likely to be open – there is still plenty to do.”
The Sector extends best wishes to Ms Price on the occasion of her retirement. To access the original coverage of this story please see here.
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