Barossa Valley Community Kids
76 Magnolia Road
Tanunda SA 5352
PH: 08 8563 0030
ABOUT
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The Barossa Valley Community Kids (BVCK) is a not-for-profit Community Childcare Centre that has cared for children in our community for over 32 years.
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BVCK cares for children aged 3 months to 5 years old and provides children with two separate integrated rooms; the under 2's room is for children aged 3 months to 2 years and the over 2's room is for ages 2 to 5 years.
We also have a wonderful fully integrated nature play area for all the children to explore and learn within.
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Originally, we were known as Barossa Valley Community Creche, we were located behind the Tanunda Hospital and established by a former nurse in 1989, a necessity as there were no childcare facilities in the Barossa at this time, we ran as a creche for the first twenty-three years of trading.
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No government funding was available and the Centre relied on the hourly fees charged, fundraising and community support to pay the wages of the dedicated staff and the day-to-day operations.
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In 2012,the decision was made to become an accredited Early learning Childcare facility, families enrolled were able to receive government childcare rebates and this expanded our availability to the wider community.
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In 2018, with an ever growing waitlist, it was time to expand our service but to do so we had to move from our beloved site , this meant renovating a new service and creating a brand new home for our children and families.
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By the start of January 2019 our renovations were complete, and we could open our new Centre to the community, with our larger capacity, we are able to enroll more children.
Our aim is to secure the site so that BVCK becomes a permanent community asset for our future children and families.
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OUR PHILOSOPHY
At BVCK we believe that all children are unique. We believe in encouraging and supporting all children’s individuality, their needs and self-development. We provide children with positive and loving interactions that role model respectful and inclusive behaviour.
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BVCK strongly supports the Reggio Emilia theory that children learn through play. By providing children opportunities to engage in curious investigative play within their surroundings, Educators are able to use the environments as a “third teacher”. This promotes creativity, problem solving skills, inquisitiveness, experimentation and open-ended play. (Reggio Emilia, 1963).
What Our Families Say
"BVCK is a home away from home. We feel more than comfortable leaving our son in their care, the warmth and dedication is amazing"
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“As a mother, for me the thought of sending our young children to day care was very daunting. However from day one, taking our children to BVCK honesty felt like I was taking them to be cared for by a family member. The genuine care, love & devotion the staff at BVCK have is something I have never experienced at any other centre, we have never looked back, it has proved to be one of the best decisions we made for our children.”
"My kids love going to BVCK, it has a fantastic, long-standing reputation in the community that is well deserved. A great team of educators, nature play, small class sizes and selected integration across ages – brilliant!"
A message from our Director
Hello families, my name is Kia Starkey. I am the Director of Barossa Valley Community Kids and I have the pleasure of leading this wonderful Centre. I have been an educator in early childhood education for over 17 years and continue to develop my skills and knowledge in early childhood. I hold my Bachelors Degree in Education in Early Years (Birth to 12 years) and also hold a Diploma in Early childhood Education, these qualifications enable me to oversee the continual development and evolution of the educators, children and BVCK itself.
Since beginning at BVCK in 2012 I have seen firsthand the rewards of working at such a small, community based Centre. Our families often describe BVCK as a “home away from home”. My fellow educators and I are committed to providing the children who attend our Centre a place where they feel safe, accepted, cared for and supported…. Just like family.
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At BVCK we understand that making the decision to place your child into care can be daunting. We want to assure our families the we are here for them as well as their children and that our aim is to make the transition to care as comfortable as possible. We do this by building connections and forging relationships on a foundation of mutual trust and respect between families and educators to support your child’s journey.