….. And Everyone Is Invited To The Party
Gumnut Preschool in Bowral welcomed its first cohort of preschoolers at Wingecarribee Street in 1970.
This year, the community based not-for-profit is celebrating 50 years of tradition and the joy of play that makes Gumnut so special to generations of locals.
We sat down with Gumnut Director, Meredith Wakeman to talk about the history and philosophy of the preschool, what makes it so special to Bowral and plans for the 50th birthday bash.
1 :: Gumnut Preschool is very much rooted in Bowral’s history.
Yes it is, absolutely.
In fact, we were established after World War II as a memorial preschool even though building did not start on the current site until the late 1960s. It was actually the persistence and generosity of countless parents and community members throughout the 1950s and 1960s that got it off the ground. At the time there were no services for small children in Bowral.
The council helped with the building of the preschool [the centre owns the land] and it’s been a community-based service ever since, starting the long tradition of Gumnut providing quality preschool education in Bowral.
What makes it so special is that the essence of Gumnut remains the same.
We keep the best of the past alive while moving forward with new educational concepts.
2 :: The Gumnut team must love it here too – they seem to come along and stay. That says something about the place!
They do. I’ve been here since 1988 when I started as the Director before going back as a part time teacher and now I’m the Director again.
Jennifer has been here 30 years and Lyndal just clocked over 20 years.
Many other staff have been here for 15+ years.
That said, we love to welcome new staff and the ideas that they bring! We like to keep moving forward and are certainly not stagnating.
3 :: And the families love it here too! What attracts so many people to stay for so long?
Yes. Some families have been bringing their children to Gumnut for the second and third generations.
What makes this place so lovely is the strong family commitment to Gumnut.
There are three children here today whose parents I taught in preschool!
It’s hard to put your finger on why it is so special to so many people. Some people say it’s the warmth, others like the home-like environment. Some people have commented on how it looks so old-fashioned and others like the experience of having that consistency and tradition.
Who knows? It’s so special to so many people in Bowral.
4 :: What is your teaching philosophy?
We very much believe that teaching and learning should revolve around play and we do have a centre vision which is to provide an inspiring preschool education. In particular outdoor play, even in the cool of the Highlands winter, is something we really value. Experiencing nature is really very important.
One of the other important things is that we build on the learning from the day before. We don’t simply start a new activity each day. We attempt to extend the learning of every child. That is another reason why we run on the timetable that we do.
5 :: Can you tell us a little more about that and … are there waiting lists?
We are a term only preschool so we run on the normal school holiday calendars and open from 9am until 3pm.
We have a 3 day or a 2 day program that is set so the children can have that consistency of the same teachers and friends and continuity of learning. That seems to have worked because most of the children [in fact all of them last year!] started and finished the school year together.
And yes, it’s always a good idea to get on the waiting list from two years of age to secure your place.
6 :: Now to the big birthday celebrations. You have an open day coming up on the 22 October to celebrate 50+ years of operation.
Yes, we’re very excited about it!
It’s an opportunity to reconnect with our community and recognise and celebrate the long tradition of Gumnut and its place in the lives of people in Bowral. And we’re thankful for receiving funding from the Bushfire Community Recovery and Resilience Fund to help us put together such a special day of connection.
We hope that visitors on the day will remember what we call the joy of play.
We’ll be setting up the classic preschool play stations including a play dough station, a painting station, and a plant-a-seed station, which reflects our passion for environmental sustainability.
There are one or two original committee members from when this building was being built who are coming along too.
I encourage anyone who has been a part of this beautiful community – past, present or future – to pop down between 10.00am and 1pm on Saturday 22 October.
7 :: Tell us about the special indigenous artwork being unveiled on the day.
We’ve created an artwork in collaboration with indigenous artists to mark our 50 years.
The work reflects the growing range of cultural groups that attend Gumnut and their time here.
It features footprints which show the children coming to Gumnut, learning new skills and making new friendships before they leave to continue their life journey.
The work also shows the culturally significant landscape features for the Gundungurra people including the Wingecarribee river, the Berrima hills, and Mt Gibraltar with the grey stone.
8 :: It sounds like it’s going to be a really lovely day.
I am sure it will be.
The children will be singing on the day, there’ll be sausage sizzles, the art unveiling, preschool play stations, lots of families – old and new.
Perfect!
Sounds so wonderful! We’ll be there, for sure.
If you’re keen to find out more and pop along yourselves, here’s more info about the Gumnut Preschool Bowral Open Day and 50th Birthday Celebration.
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