You hear the word excursion and the questions start straight away. Where are the children actually going? Who goes with them? And is your child included, or is this one for the older ones?
Here is a plain account of where children on the Capricorn Coast have been, taken from what our educators have written up. Most of it comes from our Taranganba centre, with some from elsewhere in the group. An outing at one centre is not an outing at every centre.
The library is one of the places our children go. The Vacation Care children have browsed a wide range of books, spent time reading stories together, and chosen books to borrow. They also made colourful friendship bracelets, which our educators linked to creativity, patience and fine motor skills.
As our educators see it, community excursions provide so much more than just a fun day out: they help children build confidence, develop a sense of belonging, practise respectful behaviour in public spaces and strengthen their social skills. Learning happens everywhere, not just within our centre walls.
Our OSHC children have been to Yeppoon Library, splitting into two groups, having a look around, and each borrowing a book under an educator's name. Some picked stories for the holidays. Others chose books to read aloud to the Kindergarten children back at the centre.
The staff at the Livingstone Shire Library made the children feel welcome, and each child received a library bag. Our educators wrote that they could not wait to return, next time with some of our littlest learners in tow.
That visit is part of a bigger project: a grand library at the centre, designed by the children, for the children. After exploring local libraries on special excursions, the children help bring their ideas to life, and the space is to grow into a community room welcoming families and locals for events.
One of our other centres has done something like it. It opened a centre library, grown out of the children's interest in books and a visit to Yeppoon Library. Families donated books, a child cut the ribbon, and the shelves were opened for all families to borrow from.
The park is a regular destination, and the children get there on foot or in the pram. The Nursery, Toddler and OSHC children have gone as one group, pointing out familiar places on the way, noticing changes in the environment, and talking about what they could see and hear.
The Nursery children and toddlers have hopped into the prams and set off for our local park, where they swung high, and dug, poured and explored in the sand. If your child is in one of the youngest rooms, that is worth knowing: at this centre the Nursery and toddler groups go out too.
The walk is often the lesson. On a toddlers' excursion the children spotted lots of boats, motorbikes and different cars, loved pointing out all the colours of the cars as they went by, and found big purple flowers in the creek, and possibly a turtle. At the park it was the big slide, the see-saw, and seeing how many of them could fit on one swing.
On a walk with the Toddlers and Junior Kindy children, our educators talked first about staying safe, sitting in the pram, and what to do if they saw any animals. The children pointed out birds, trees and cars, and confidently discussed road safety at the traffic lights and the crossing. At the park they searched for insects and found spiders, ants, stink bugs and cicadas, and chose a special stick to take home.
Our educators keep returning to the same few things these walks are good for:
For Road Safety Week the whole centre has headed out into the car park for a Bike and Scooter Day. The children rode their bikes and scooters, practised road safety skills and built confidence in a safe environment. Our educators noted a couple of little near misses along the way, and still called it a very successful excursion and a fantastic learning experience.
Our Kindy children have visited Taranganba State School for Under 8s Day, an event honouring early childhood and the importance of play in the early years. Our educators described the excursion as made in true Reggio Emilia spirit, supporting their image of the child as capable, curious and full of potential.
The school has also hosted a messy play morning for the Kindergarten children, and our educators wrote about the confidence that comes from exploring a new environment.
Our Vacation Care group have taken their bright blue Global Sky excursion vests to Lammermoor Beach and filled two whole bags with rubbish, then talked it over in the afternoon conversation circle. A snippet from that discussion: "Today we went to the beach. I liked picking up the rubbish. I liked riding the bus. Miss Rae drove one bus and Miss Gabby drove the other. It was fun. We like helping the environment. It was thirsty work!"
The same thread runs through other outings too. The kindergarten children at one of our other centres have explored their local Woolworths, after months of interest in where food comes from that took them into growing vegetables and making butter from milk. The school age children at Taranganba went to Shell World to learn about different shells and what purpose they have in the beach environment, then had morning tea and a play at the park.
Which outings are planned at your centre this term, what your child needs to bring, and whether Vacation Care or OSHC runs there and from what age. Those answers change by centre and by term, so please ask us at the centre.
