About us
Guided by values of diversity, inclusion, sustainability, and continuous improvement, our staff work in partnership with families and the community to uphold high standards of care, wellbeing, and learning for every child.
Coburg Children’s Centre is a community-run, child safe early learning centre in the heart of Coburg, providing inclusive Long Day Care and Kindergarten programs in a safe, supportive, and engaging environment where children can grow and flourish.
CCCI is a community-run Early Education Centre, providing Long Day Care and Kindergarten in the heart of Coburg. Our programs, physical spaces, staff and culture are focussed on providing a safe, supportive, and engaging environment so that children can grow and flourish.
We openly accept each family’s uniqueness and support the family as a whole. Our values encompass the ethos of diversity, acceptance, inclusion, and recognition of abilities. In addition, we emphasise the role of the environment and sustainability at every level of our practice.
Our staff’s dedication and hard work is reflected in our NQF rating of Meeting the National Standards, with CCCI meeting all standards and exceeding 2 out of 7 of the standards.
We continue to reflect and refine our approaches to everything we do so that we are continually adapting to the needs of children and their families while improving our practices and enhancing the learning and working environment.
Our philosophies guide how we care for and educate children and how we operate our centre. Our community’s dedication to acting on our philosophies is reflected in our strong reputation within the community. This is something we take great pride in.
Coburg Children’s Centre Inc. is a nurturing community made up of children, families and staff. In our nature-based setting we value diversity, wellbeing, learning and development, environmental responsibility, and fun.
CCCI strives to deliver an anti-bias approach in all of our practices– this includes the care and education of children but also all the other tasks and processes we undertake such as who we purchase goods from and how we employ people.
Anti-bias education aims to increase understanding of differences and the value of these differences in our community. Anti-Biased education teaches children to challenge bias, stereotyping, and all forms of discrimination.
In early childhood settings, this means the development of a play-based learning curriculum that reflects and celebrates diverse experiences, perspectives, and teaching practices that advance the learning of all children respectfully and inclusively.
The founding principle of anti-bias education is that bias is learned and that this learning starts when children start to receive messages about their own identity and the identities of others. This learning can have a lasting impact on a person’s self-image and worldview, as well as their view of others.
Our training, planning and reporting mechanisms have anti-bias approaches at their core. We avoid singling out specific cultural practices, religions, or days of celebration as we don’t want to inadvertently influence or limit children’s thinking by favoring one cultural practice over another. We do not celebrate Easter, Eid, Ramadan, Pride month, Mother’s Day or any other cultural celebration. We don’t want to direct the children’s values – we believe it is up to families to guide the culture and values of their children and family. Our job is to create an inclusive environment where all children’s identities are accepted and celebrated.
You will see diversity in the resources we use, the songs we sing, the images we put on the walls, the games we play with children and the people who work here. Additionally, if children desire to explore concepts that represent their culture, we will gladly provide everything necessary for this exploration to occur. We often see children draw an easter egg in April or a Santa at the end of the year, and then other children join in and have discussions about their end-of-year plans and celebrations. We will always support child-led expressions that come from the children’s developing sense of their place in their family and community.
Inclusion is at the foundation of our values, and we provide programs for all children, including those with diverse needs.
Diversity is also reflected in our team of educators and staff, and you will find a variety of languages used by our team. We celebrate diversity, and our staff come from all over the world, aged from their 20s to their 70s, and bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experiences. The children regularly learn songs and rhymes in languages other than English.
Diversity is not just about where you were born or what language you speak but can also include gender, gender expression, religion, sexual orientation, cuisine, social habits, art and music. You will see all of these reflected at our Centre.
Given we are such a diverse Centre, we do not celebrate any specific social or cultural day. We prefer to weave diversity into our everyday practice and live who we are.
The Coburg Children’s Centre (CCCI) opened at 84-86 Bell St, Coburg, in June 1977. It was the first government-funded child care centre in the City of Coburg (now part of the Merri-bek City Council). From 1977 to 1994, the Centre was owned and operated by the Coburg City Council.
In 1994, the Centre’s management was handed over to a community-based Board of Management (BoM). A legal agreement was signed between the parties, giving leadership and financial responsibility to the BoM, and CCC became CCCI – Coburg Children’s Centre Incorporated.
In 2017, Merri-bek City Council (then Moreland City Council) helped the CCCI relocate from Bell Street to 1 Warden’s Walk, Coburg, just next to the Merri-bek City Council (MCC) Maternal and Child Health Service (MCHS). We lease the property at Warden’s Walk from Merri-bek City Council and have a shared user agreement with the MCHS.
CCCI is a stand-alone, financially independent, not-for-profit service managed by the CCCI BoM. Although the MCC provides free use of the building and some building maintenance support, management and running of the Centre is the responsibility of CCCI.
We welcome CV’s from suitably experienced and qualified educators, interested in joining our team.
Have a question? We’re here to help.
We recommend checking our FAQ page, you may find the answer you’re looking for there. If not, please contact us here or email office@coburgchildrencenter.com.au