JUNE 02, 2010

Bulli Children’s Centre Receives SPROuts Practice Award

Bulli Children’s Centre has been ‘nurturing nature’ for a number of years and last month the centre received news that would enable the children to nurture nature for years to come.

Bulli director, Karen Tonge says it all began when the children became enthralled by a water tank that was donated by one of the families.

“The water tank was donated and installed in the backyard and before long the children’s growing interest led to discussion about saving water and looking after our earth,” said Karen.

Since then, with the help of staff, families and the local community, Bulli Children’s Centre has installed worm farms, solar power, a frog pond, edible gardens and the children’s outdoor environment has been redeveloped to include extensive areas for nature based play.

Last month all the hard work by the Bulli Children’s Centre community was acknowledged by a prestigious Sustainable Projects Recognising Outstanding (SPROuts) Practice Award to put towards the service’s already flourishing outdoor playspace.

Teacher at the centre, Meikell says everyone involved was incredibly excited when Bulli Children’s Centre was announced as winner of the prestigious, state-wide award.

“We couldn’t have done it without the support and input from staff and families at the centre, the wider community and, of course, the children,” said Meikell.

The SPROuts Practice Award is funded by the New South Wales Early Childhood Environmental Education Network, who acknowledge Early Childhood Services that demonstrate outstanding commitment to promoting environmental best practice and sustainability.