St Nicholas Greek Australian Preschool and Childcare celebrates growth 

St Nicholas Greek Australian Preschool and Childcare Centre was established in the ACT community of Yarralumla over 30 years ago, and since that time has gone from strength to strength, focusing on blending culture, tradition, language, and creativity amongst young children.

The service has grown along with the needs of its community, both Greek and non-Greek, updating its curriculum, making renovations, and aiming to serve the children and families who use its services. 

Director and business owner Athena Zappia recently spoke with The Greek Herald to share some insights into the preschool’s services and recent updates, an extract of which appears below. 

Built in 1994, the preschool remains the only Greek preschool in Canberra to this day, and has an ongoing waitlist from interested families. 

In 2013, the building was demolished, and then after extensive renovations, it was officially re-opened in February of 2014 by Katy Gallagher MP.

In May 2024, the school received a major update adding a new room for babies, the ‘Amalthea Room.’

This was created to help meet the demand from parents for spaces for young children aged between six months to two years of age.

“It was probably a five-year process, because obviously we started designing the plans and then COVID happened, which made it take a little bit longer to get approvals and move forward,” Ms Zappia explained.

“Having the need and demand for a new room just shows that we’ve got a great team and we’re dedicated to delivering a really great educational service.”

With the addition of the space for babies the service capacity has grown from 40 places to 56, with approximately 22 educators to care for those enrolled. 

The preschool offers a bilingual curriculum, where children can engage with the Greek and English languages in an immersive learning environment which retains a play-based approach to learning.

Reggio Emilia approaches are also an important part of the running of the early learning setting, which also offers a ‘Bush Kindy’ program which takes place three times a week, weekly ‘Ready Steady Go’ sport sessions, and monthly ‘Wiradjuri Echoes’ programs to learn about the Wiradjuri people.

A playgroup known as ‘Paizo,’ is held every Thursday from 10:30am to 12:30pm.

“‘Paizo’ is a place where children can go to immerse themselves in the Greek culture and the Greek language,” Ms Zappia explained.

“They get to meet each other, listen to stories in Greek, and learn about different cultural aspects.”

When asked about any future expansion, Ms Zappia said she was keen to retain the small feel of the service. 

“I know every child here,” she said. 

“I can generally tell you something about each one of them. And the bigger you get, you lose that,” she said.

“We’re very lucky with our staff. We don’t have any relief staff. We have full time staff. So anytime you walk through the door and into a room, it’s the same staff all the time. And that’s sort of what’s important, that continuity, and for the children to have those strong relationships with their teachers.”

To find out more information, visit St Nicholas Greek Australian Preschool and Childcare Centre’s website. 

The original coverage of this story is available here.