We believe that caring for children begins with looking after their carers. It is therefore extremely important for us to look after the well-being of our wonderful team of educators.

For our annual directors’ retreat this year we flew the group to Bali for a well-deserved break and to show our appreciation for all of their hard work.

It was also a wonderful team bonding opportunity and gave us all the time to get to know each other better. Besides shared meals and (many) shopping sprees, we shared lots of laughs and fun experiences. Some of us even tried quad biking. Jennifer, the Director of Alexandria centre, said: “These experiences solidified our bond as a team, and we returned feeling refreshed and renewed.”

One of the highlights of the trip was our tour at the Green School. We were inspired by their passion for interest-based education as well as sustainability. We enjoyed walking around the school grounds; seeing their gardens, hearing about students’ projects and admiring their vortex power plant to generate electricity.

We were also lucky to get a chance to visit their pre-school room.

All meals provided at the Green School are vegetarian. We loved learning about their sustainable kitchen.  We enjoyed their delicious lunch, getting to taste new dishes.

Jennifer shared “We loved seeing the pre-school room and were fascinated by the parallels with our own preschool rooms here in Australia. We were all so inspired by the Green School and hope to bring some elements of their program back to our individual centres”.

We were so inspired that we might have to dedicate a separate blog post just to the Green School!

On our very last day in Bali we visited the School at the Tip in Sanur. The children were so excited to welcome us. The teachers and families must be very proud of their students. The motto on the wall read “Manners before Knowledge” and it was evident by the children’s behaviour; so polite and so happy with big smiles on their faces. The language barrier was not an issue; through play we got to enjoy cuddles, ball games, songs and dance, (baby shark is a favourite all over the world 😊).

Antoinette, our Rosebery centre’s director shared the following insight about this experience: “Today we visited a charity school which is based in a dump. We brought donations which they were so grateful for. We sang, danced and played with them. My heart… ”

This school was established for the children of the families who are working (and living) at the recycling tip and relies heavily on donations. You can find out more information on ‘helping hands across the sand’ page:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/455553847929488/

Samantha, another one of our directors, summarises: Both The Green School, and Sanur Tip School where amazingly unique experiences. From a large school that is one of the world’s leaders in sustainability, to a small school funded on donations for the children living in the Sanur Tip. These experiences have offered new perspective for us as educators, with fresh thoughts heading back to work.