Welcome to Paradise Kindergarten

Ninna Marni

We acknowledge and pay our respects to the Kaurna people, the traditional custodians whose ancestral lands we gather on. We acknowledge the deep feelings of attachment and relationship of the Kaurna people to country, and we respect and value their past, present, and ongoing connection to the land and cultural beliefs.

Paradise Kindergarten is a Department for Education (DfE) site and was established in 1968 and was formerly known as Lincoln Borthwick Memorial Kindergarten.

The Kindergarten is collaboratively managed by the DfE staff and the Governing Council which consists of volunteer parents/carers from the centre. We are a multicultural diverse community and develop partnerships with parents, caregivers, and the wider community to engage in the kindergarten curriculum.

We have been deeply engaged with Music Education Strategies from 2021 and continue to embed Music in our practice and pedagogy. As a site we have been amongst the forefront in engaging with the Department for Education’s Music Education Strategy 2019-2029.

Our core business is to engage every child so that they achieve at the highest possible level of their learning and wellbeing through quality care and teaching. The staff provide an environment which is child centred, focused on play, developmentally appropriate, open ended, challenging, and inclusive.

We believe in our children being capable and competent and we strive to provide opportunities for critical thinking and support children to be researchers alongside educators in their learning.

We would like to welcome you and your child to the Paradise Kindergarten Community.

Kindergarten Facilities

The Kindergarten runs a playgroup every fortnight on a Friday 9:30-11:30am facilitated by staff and parent volunteers. We aim to support and develop relationships with families and support transitions into the Kindergarten space.

We currently have a waiting list and priority of attendance is for families living in our local area. Please call Kindergarten to be placed on the waiting list or receive more information regarding playgroup.

The Kindergarten has redeveloped our sandpit, swings and climbing area to support and promote risk and engagement within natural spaces. Our water pump that feeds into the sandpit provides opportunities for children to collaboratively and engage in sensory play. We have chickens, who free range in the kindergarten environment and children collect the eggs and sell them to parents and caregivers. Our vegetable patch provides children with the opportunities to cook with the vegetables and fruit we have grown in a ‘Garden to Kitchen’ model which supports us to engage with lots of cooking experiences and sustainability practices. The kindergarten also has two rabbits, children have opportunities to handle them and help care for them. Having animals at our service supports the National Quality Standards’ guidance “Having a pet at your service gives children the opportunity to observe, interact and learn about animals. It can be a valuable part of a child’s education and care experience, enriching their learning about nature, ecology and relationships.“- (National Quality Standard 3: keeping Pets and Animals in Education and care services. Feb 2018)

We support and encourage indoor and outdoor play and provide a range of experiences where children are connected to the natural world.