Grow Early Education Tarneit

• Cooking lessons

• Regular incursions and excursions

• Fitness program

• Gardening and sustainability program

• School readiness program

The centre has been running since 2005 and has many bilingual Educators, who are fluent in Bengali, Malayalam, Punjabi, Guajarati, Hindi and Telugu.  The centre celebrates all cultural celebrations such as Holi, Ramadan, Naidoc, and Christmas. The Educators seek to create a place that nurtures children while also encouraging them to be curious explorers.

Many Educators have been with the centre since it opened and the majority of the Educators are long-term.  Educators network closely with local schools to help the children’s transition to school.

I love working at Imagine Tarneit in my role as 2IC as I found the families and team to be very welcoming and supportive.  I love working at a centre that has such a diverse cultural mix.

Educator

I have been working at the centre for 15 years; 13 years as an Educator before I took on the new role as centre chef.  I love planning all the meals for the children and make sure they have a healthy and nutritious meal.  I missed working directly with the children, so I now open and work with children in the morning before cooking their yummy meals.

Educator and chef

At Imagine Tarneit, the children enjoy a wide variety of seasonal and local produce, with a menu that provides more than half of their daily nutrition requirements. The centre works in consultation with families to accommodate any child’s allergies, intolerances, their cultural background or other family preferences. 

Mealtimes provide an important opportunity for children to develop good eating habits and learn about nutrition and food variety. They are also an important time for social interaction with other children and adults. 

The Educators adopt meal time strategies to teach children about good nutrition. These include things like involving children in creating the menu, encouraging younger children and toddlers to talk about healthy food choices, providing children with opportunities to eat food and engage in the mealtime routines of different cultures, talking with children about nutritious food during mealtimes. 

The parents don’t miss out either, with the centre’s own barista providing fresh coffee and a baked treat every morning upon drop-off to make mornings easier.