ECEC Provider in Focus: Woden Early Childhood Centre

Woden Early Childhood Centre is a community based long day care centre in Woden, Australian Capital Territory.  

Run by a Management Committee made up of current families, staff reps and the Centre Director, the 63 place service is rated as Exceeding the National Quality Standard. 

What is the history of Woden Early Childhood Centre? 

The centre was built in 1986 by the then Institute of Technology (now known as the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT)). The centre was built to service the needs of the students and educators of CIT and community users. 

What is the Woden Early Childhood Centre vision and approach to learning? 

The educators at Woden Early Childhood Centre aim to provide a place for children, where they can take risks, have adventures and use their imagination, to know joy and feel gratitude. A place that holds them in good stead as future citizens of the world. A place where creativity and uniqueness is celebrated where there is a freedom of spirit for all involved in the centre. 

They strive to build a love of nature through engaging in the local surroundings and creating natural bush-like gardens. 

Woden Early Childhood Centre is a place where educators’ voices reflect the centre’s philosophy and the educator’s personal professional philosophies where curriculum is guided by the children’s voices through educators valuing the importance of Belonging, Being and Becoming as it guides daily practices. 

The team value the natural resources in the space and local surroundings of the service, aiming to provide children with “a natural childhood.” 

An extensive philosophy statement guides practice, and is available to view here. 

Are there any unique aspects to the Woden Early Childhood Centre offer? 

The indoor environment of each room in the service is designed around distinct learning areas, with spaces dedicated to maths, writing, art, library, discovery, sensory table, dramatic play and blocks. 

Each focused area in the room builds on specific skills and creates an environment that stimulates imagination, creativity, socialisation, exploration and discovery.

Children are also surrounded with resources and supplies that enable them to construct, represent and test theories. Large blocks of time are given to exploring in learning areas so that children may fully develop their ideas and thoughts.

Indoor/outdoor play is a hallmark of the service with children moving freely between these spaces. All rooms in the service also go ‘out and about’ which includes walks of the local area, visiting nearby parks, having picnic style meals, or watching storm water move through the drains after heavy rainfall. 

Beyond the exit gate to the service is a large grassed area that all rooms access throughout the week. There are rocks to use as construction resources, a large sloped hill for riding trikes down and shady trees to spend time under. Educators often take resources out to enrich the experience.

To learn more about the Woden Early Childhood Centre offer please see here.