Families continue to be highly involved with special occasions at GECC. We had a successful Father’s Day Breakfast, Easter BBQ, Mother’s Day Breakfast and Christmas Party. All of these events have been well attended with the average of between 25 to 30 families attending most; with the exception of the Christmas function with over 95% of families attending. The end of year Children’s Christmas Concert was once again a success with a visit from Santa and a very talented elf & face painter (Felicity from BCS). There were some great performances and songs by the talented children.
We have continued to involve the children in the local community by having entertainers visit the centre, i.e. musicians, puppeteers. We are also able to take advantage of our central location allowing children and staff to use the BCC sports hall on wet days, visit the library for story times, walk to Westfield to visit the pet shop, even purchasing a new goldfish for the centre with our preschool children. We continue to offer external Dance and Music programs.
The last year at the centre saw planning and preparation for renovations at the end of 2011. This included new cupboards in all the children’s play areas which have brightened up the centre. Our courtyard entrance has also undergone major “surgery” with the removal of most plants, replanting of lots of new camellias, azaleas etc and a paved area for staff to sit and enjoy their breaks.
We continue to retain our wonderful staff here at the centre. The majority of staff are long term employees whose employment ranges from one to sixteen years, with the average being 10 years. One of our staff Ola Taungakava spent most of this year at Bruce Childrens Centre to help with staffing and sharing knowledge and indeed gathering ideas that could be implemented at GECC. We were also fortunate to gather skills and knowledge with staff from BECC, particularly in relation to children’s programs. We also have one staff member that helps out the After School care programs as needed.
This February saw a change in the room groups due to the higher demand for under 3 year olds. We changed the age groups to reflect this as the centre has 4 rooms we are able to have more fluid ages as demand occurs. From next year the ages will again change as demand has again changed within age groups.
Kerry McGrane
Director
Ginninderra Early Childhood Centre