About Kempton Education and Care

 Our Service

Opening in Spring 2026... Kempton Education and Care is a family operated, Long Day Care (LDC) service and Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service located next to the Kempton Primary School and licensed for 22 children from 12 months to 12 years. It is the sister-service to the award-winning Bagdad Education and Care which has been operating privately since 2010.

Our indoor learning environment

Indoors, we encourage children to engage with natural materials, loose parts and open-ended materials. We offer a dramatic play space such as a home corner, small world play or area where children can elevate their imaginative play. Creativity is an important element of self-expression, therefore, we offer paint, clay, playdoh, 'goop' and other media and natural materials. 

Children are able to develop cognitive and problem-solving skills using various resources from both natural and processed materials to build or engineer constructs. Music, cooking and sensory play are also an important part of our overall educational curriculum. Learning opportunities are also found in routine events such as mealtimes, personal hygiene and sun protection routines.

Our outdoor learning environment

Outdoors is representative of our nature play philosophy which encourages children to immerse themselves in the natural world and take considered risks in play to build confidence. The environment includes natural elements such as, grass, sand, stones in creek beds, logs to balance on, a deciduous tree which provide interest all year round (especially as it loses leaves in Autumn), native trees such as bottle brush to attract the bees, a timber cubby house, climbing equipment to test our physical abilities, a Yarning Circle which is a special space to 'yarn/ tell stories' and enjoy fires and outdoor cooking. We also value water play, loose parts and recycled materials, imaginative play resources, sandpit resources and bike and trikes of all sizes for coordination and movement.

Our service benefits from a KIDDO program scholarship (developed by The University of Western Australia) which supports educators understanding of physical literacy. This is incorporated into physical activity programs to support children's knowledge and mastery of the fundamental movement skills to develop coordination, endurance, strength and skill.

"Supporting children to be the best they can be.”

For Children

At Kempton Education and Care we believe that children are born as unique beings, full of potential with their own innate gifts, beauty and sense of self and should be respected as individuals. We see our role as facilitators of their individual learning journeys and believe all children are competent and capable beings with strength, creativity, independence and a voracious curiosity to explore and learn about their environment, the wonders of nature and the community they live in.

We believe children need love and acceptance from the people who support them and therefore we endeavour to provide both children and their families with a sense of security through honest and thoughtful personal interaction and by providing an environment where children can experience fun, freedom, equality, respect, diversity and meaningful relationships with educators and their peers in a safe space.

We also believe that children learn best from stimulating and challenging environments, that provide engaging educational opportunities and encourages exploration, the investigative process, self-expression and growth; physically, intellectually, socially and emotionally, as well as, the opportunity for the child to determine directions and outcomes.

For Families

At our service, we aim to collaborate with families, as the primary educators of their children, to work toward a common purpose; the building of a culture which respects childhood as a time to explore, create and be joyful and give their children a sense of belonging, being and becoming as we work to cultivate meaningful connections between home, the service and community (including the local school) to enable seamless transitions between all environments. By building respectful and reciprocal relationships with children, their families and the community and encouraging participation in all areas of the service’s program and practice we believe children will ultimately benefit through the exchange of experience, ideas and knowledge enabling educators to create purposeful and intentional programs for each child.

For Educators

As an education and care provider we aim to create a community of learning by caring for and educating our community’s children and supporting their families. Similarly we aim to support, empower and mentor our educators to embrace the journey of learning by encouraging them to engage in ongoing professional development to be the best educators they can be in order to ultimately achieve our primary goal of providing the best possible quality care for children.

 We love to get beyond the fences and explore our local community which supports community connections and provides children with a sense of place and builds active citizenship.

Walks on Country

We like to explore the local Kempton community with walks the oval, playgrounds, local Fire Brigade and Hall. We also participate in Clean Up Australia Day (annually in March) and tidy up our local area to develop environmental responsibility and children's sense of citizenship.

Our Adventure Bus

We share a bus with our sister service in Bagdad and enjoy our home away from home in Chauncy Vale Wildlife Sanctuary. We visit this special place to explore the bush and all it contains, such as the flora and fauna as we discuss sustainability and First Nation's culture. 

Research shows that children gain a deep sense of place and wellbeing when immersed in nature. During Winter, we also have access to the Hut at Chauncy Vale where we reflect in front of the fire as we 'yarn', tell and read stories, draw and play games.

At other times (and depending on the program and children's interests) we visit: 

• MONA
• Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG), 
• Goulds Lagoon, 
• Tagara Lia (Child and Family Centre, Bridgewater), 
• Botanical Gardens, 
•  Kempton Fire Brigade
• Brighton Dentist
• Local parks, playgrounds and farms.
• Cultural Events at the Brighton Civic Centre
• And many more...

Our Visitors

We invite community organisations or professionals in to support our educational programs, examples include:

• Nita Education for cultural education.
• Tasmanian Snake Rescue/ Reptile Rescue for snake safety
• SES and TFS volunteers to understand community volunteers and personal safety.
• The Yippee Road and Car Safety program

 As the service is a new Long Day Care it presently going through the regulatory approval processes and has yet to be Rated and Assessed and, therefore, our quality rating for the first few months will be provisional.

Our service is seeking a license for up to 22 children between 12 months and 12 years of age to support the local community's needs for both education and care and outside school hours care. 

We are very proud to be an integral part of the Southern Midlands community and value the relationships we have with our families and local Council.

The Provider of the Service is a Member of:

• Early Childhood Australia (ECA)
• Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA)
• Racism- It Stops With Me - this organisation promotes respect of all people through inclusive practices that promote diversity and cultural safety.

We have Commitments to:

• Reconciliation: Our service aims to publish a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) to demonstrate our commitment to honouring the history and culture of the palawa of Tasmania as custodians of the land we work and play on  Narragunnawali - Who has a RAP? 
• Clean Up Australia Day every year to develop a sense of citizenship and environmental responsibility amongst our children.
• Sustainability - All of our programs are underpinned by environmentally friendly practices to promote a cleaner world and the conservation of resources through recycling and re-using resources where possible. This includes procuring resources and equipment through sustainable sources and during programs, such as Loose Parts Play.
• The Lifting Literacy Program (DECYP,Tas) as a partner service and involved with the filming of the Qualiteach Modules which are used to train educators for the Early Childhood Education and Care Sector in best practice strategies to support the develop of early literacy.

 The Provider has a long standing partnership with the Department for Education, Children and Young People's (DECYP) Working Together for Three Year Old's Program. This program offers children who have never attended education and care before, free early learning for 20 hours per week for the year before they start school. To take part in Working Together, children must be:

• Three years old on or before 1st of January in the year they will take part
• In their year before Kindergarten
• Not currently enrolled with an early childhood education and care service (sometimes known as childcare) 

And meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Have parents/primary carers who hold a Health Care Card
• Identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
• Receive support or interventions from the Child Safety Service
• Have two or more concerns identified through the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS)

For more information For families - The Department for Education, Children and Young People Tasmania (decyp.tas.gov.au)