Topirum PS Kindergarten thriving as it supports the needs of a growing community 

ECMS service Topirum Primary School Kindergarten commenced operations earlier this year, growing quickly in support of the needs of the local community. 

“We started with two groups of 22 and then interest quickly grew and we ended up increasing to four groups of 22 then four groups of 33. Currently we’re at capacity with 132 families at Topirum and still some yet to start,” ECMS Area Manager Kristie Macarthur said. 

Ms Macarthur is a City of Casey resident, and is very aware of the needs of her diverse community. 

“In line with our ECMS place-based model we wanted to be attuned and aware of the diverse families in the area,” she said. 

“We did research on the languages that were spoken primarily in homes from the families coming to our service. We did some recruiting around that so we could extend that home presence into the service and hopefully ease the transition into kindergarten.”

“We know for three-year-olds (and some four year olds) this is their first time engaging in early learning, so it can be really scary. We also know culturally diverse communities sometimes have big families in their homes. The child is not only leaving the home nest, they’re leaving their village.”

“Having an educator speak their home language was important for us to make them feel safe but also for that connection piece for them.”

The relationship between the school and preschool community have also been paramount as the service has continued to evolve. 

“We’ve developed a great relationship with Marc De Ley, the Principal at Topirum Primary School,” Ms Macarthur said. 

“It’s important to work closely, because it underpins everything we do. Our journey with the children doesn’t end once they move on to primary school. We want to make sure that we’ve built them with all those foundational skills for life, but to also be able to thrive in school.”

“We also flip our thinking to: ‘is the school ready for the children?’ and we can really taper that with the relationships we hold between kinder and school. The teachers now have first-hand access to the children well and truly before they enter into Prep in 2026.”

Strong relationships with the City of Casey have also been important. Mayor of the City of Casey Cr Stefan Koomen said the municipality is one of the fastest growing Local Government areas in Victoria.

“The City of Casey is experiencing significant population growth particularly in Clyde and Clyde North where Topirum is located,” Cr Koomen said.

“It is anticipated that these areas will comprise of 67 per cent of future expansion and predominantly feature young families.”

By working in collaboration, ECMS were able to utilise the City of Casey’s broad understanding of the local context, to support service delivery and foster a supportive environment that facilitates connections to community and essential services and ultimately leads to high quality early years services where children and families are actively engaged.

Even within this rapidly expanding area, Ms Macarthur acknowledges that each suburb is uniquely different and requires adaptation, which is part of the ‘why’ behind the place-based model ECMS employs. 

“It really centres us in how we tailor our support and individualise that to the needs of each family and community and also the learning journey of children.”

Learn more about Topirum Primary School Kindergarten at ecms.org.au