What do you class as SUSTAINABILITY ?

 IDEAS TAKEN FROM MANY PLACES ON THE WEB

So what are some ideas for being sustainable? 

 
·         Use recycled paper for drawings: get families to donate paper that’s been used once, to re-use again at your service one more time!
 
·         Use recycled gift wrap for collage – encourage families, staff, community members to donate wrapping paper from festivities or special occasions! Perfect for collage.
 
·         Use old children’s books, that aren’t good enough to read any more – run through a shredder and use them in collage. Or cut them up into bits – make sure that the children just don’t use their scissors on books that are still good! That’s why the shredder is great.
 
·         Use old magazines for collage – images that aren’t entirely appropriate for the children – such as advertisements that might have a bit too much leg or cleavage – are also amazing through a shredder.
 
·         Recycle all used paper.
 
·         Recycle in EVERY area of the centre – from the children’s rooms to the staff room and kitchen! If you proclaim that you’re sustainable and you don’t get your team to recycle in the staff room, well, that just looks lazy and superficial.
 
·         Avoid products with excess packaging.
 
·         Use food boxes in your home corner as resources
 
·         Use old food that is out of date, in plastic (yeah I know, not sustainable perse BUT safe for children of all ages to use).
 
·         Use recycled furniture from the Salvos, St. Vinnies and other opportunity shops.
 
·         Get families to donate old clothes for dress-ups or buy them from the op-shops.
 
·         Grow vegetables!
 
·         Grow veggies in raised garden beds (search for No-dig-gardens)
 
·         Grow veggies and herbs in containers! Recycled containers even! I’ve used old water troughs, plastic tubs, buckets,
 
·         Have a worm farm
 
·         Use fans rather than air-conditioning.
 
    Compost your scraps
 
 
·         Keep your aircon at 24-27°C for summer cooling and 18-20°C for winter warming. It will save electricity and money and for every degree above or below you are using up to 10% more energy.
 
·         Grow plants in your outdoor spaces! Make sure you’re not growing any that might be toxic to children!
 
·         Buy local where you can.
 
·         Re-use items such as glass jars for paint pots! Other trays and containers for playdough, home corner, water play, sand play, mud play etc. Then when its served its purpose, recycle it!

Newsletter

December 2013

 

Dear Parents/Carers,

As we head into the final days of 2013 we reflect on what The Lakes Early Learning Centre has achieved throughout the year.

We have seen the Centre grow from a 76 place Centre to a 160 place. Our staff has gone from 12 to 32 and we have gone from 1 Director to 2 Directors working together to provide a quality service for all.

In reflection we have had some hard times and seen some staff and families move on. We have also seen many new families join us.

This has given us a fresh perspective with many new faces and ideas.

We thank you all for standing by us and putting your faith in our ability to continue to provide the high standard of care you and your families have come to expect from us, while we expanded and refurbished our playgrounds.

 

During the last few weeks we have wound down the end of the year with many celebrations, from our very first Kindergarten class of 53 children graduating in a night time event combining their Christmas celebrations with loved ones and staff.

 

Our owners flew up from Sydney and arrived with their Queensland based partners to provide a Christmas BBQ and end of year concert for all families. We thank all the families for donating to our hamper drawer we had a total of 30 prizes to give to families throughout the day.

 

We were blessed with wonderful weather, it was great to see the children show you around their world.

It is here we say good bye to some of our families who are for many reasons leaving the Centre, we wish them all the best as some head to ‘big school’ and others leaving due to deployment elsewhere in our great big land of Australia.

 

During the owners visit, we took the opportunity as a team to set some goals for the New Year.

 

We look forward with determination and pride as we have set the bar high for ourselves as Directors and feel confident our staff are ready to begin the New Year with very clear goals and expectations.

 

We are looking at starting a Parent Committee to help us achieve our goals, some of which include looking at our Philosophy, to encompass a more holistic view of providing care and education.

We have started recycling our paper with bins in each room, we have a vegetable garden and worm farm our Schoolie children with the help of Miss Kiaya are going to plant and maintain.

We will have a Meet and Greet night early in 2014 so parents, carersand grandparents can meet each other in a social setting and put names to faces as we begin another year.

 

As a staff we are looking at building a positive environment, by supporting and embracing each other’s strengths and acknowledging everyone’s individual input into the Centre

 

Before we get there we as a whole would like to wish you and your love ones well for the holidays, stay safe and be kind to yourselves.

 

Kind regards

Adele, Elvira and all at The Lakes