The Pocket Early Education and Care

Welcome to The Pocket Early Education and Care, a serene oasis nestled in the pocket of St Lucia. Inspired by our peaceful, nature-centred location, we strive to create an environment where children, families, and educators all feel a deep sense of belonging and joy as part of The Pocket community.

We offer high-quality care for children from 6 weeks to school age, with operating hours from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm, Monday through Friday.

Our centre prides itself on offering:

• A range of educational programs thoughtfully tailored to each age group
• Nutritious, delicious meals prepared fresh each day by our on-site chef
• A Kindergarten program led by a qualified Early Childhood Teacher, using an inquiry-based approach that supports curiosity and school readiness
• A huge range of weekly incursions, including movement, sport, cooking, language, and STEAM experiences
• On-site parking for easy drop-off and pick-up
• Nappies, wipes, sunscreen, and hats provided
• Stroller storage to support families on the go
• Carefully planned excursions and incursions that build on children’s current interests and curiosities.

The Pocket Early Education and Care Parent Fact Sheet

Education type: Long day care, Free kindy – 5 hour and 7.5 hour sessions

Days and Hours of Operation: Monday to Friday 6:30am-6:30pm (52 weeks a year)

Ages of care: 6 weeks to 5 years

Food provided: Yes – cooked from scratch by our in-house chef

Allergy considerations: Nut-free and egg-free centre. The centre is also fully halal friendly.

Nappies provided: Yes! All Meals, wipes, nappies and sunscreen are included. Daily fruit bowl, monthly date night events.

National Quality Standards (NQS) Rating: Meeting

Staff ratios: 1:4, 1:5, 1:11

Size: 9 rooms, 148 spaces

Points of difference: Splash pad for hot weather. Online ipad sign in/out process, with CCTV across the centre for safety and individual door code access for safety.

Herb garden. Pram parking and basement parking.

2 weeks free childcare offered for new families who enrol at The Pocket. Bush Kindy program.

Centre Philosophy

The Pocket Early Education and Care, is a home away from home. Nestled within the pocket of St Lucia we provide environments rich in exploration and comfort for each child by offering a place of support, curiosity, diversity and fun.

Relationships between children, educators and families are the foundation of the vision and mission for our service.

Our educators will actively promote challenging experiences, create intimate interactions and guide children’s thinking, which will establish a sense of “Belonging,” where children feel safe, respected and valued.

We believe all children are active learners, creating and building knowledge, confidence, social competence and independence through their daily experiences.

We understand children need adequate time, space and support to be who they are to imagine, believe and to explore.

Our curriculum will be co-constructed and supported by educators from children’s voices, emerging ideas and family input.

We encourage a team approach where all educators, families and children play a valuable part in setting goals and supporting learning at The Pocket.

Through embracing the individual unique character of each child and catering to their development with play-based curriculums, we are able to map each child’s individual learning journey within our inclusive environment.

At the Pocket Early Education and Care we believe in each child’s right to play and the importance of celebrating their discoveries and learning.

We trust children to be involved in decisions affecting their world and believe that children’s agency along with guidance, care and teaching by educators, shape children’s experiences in the future.

We strive to nurture each child to explore, investigate and share their learning and ideas with our community.

Our educators seek to develop strong attachments with each child and family to support the growth of a village for the children of The Pocket.

Our educating approach identifies and embraces the individual learning dispositions of each child allowing us to support connections with their world, people and places.

Our focus is for children to be active participants within their local community and the world in which they know.

Our team embodies professional standards in our practices, interactions and relationships.

We value self-reflection and encourage our educators to challenge and collaborate each other’s thinking to ensure the learning environment and opportunities are in the best interest of the child.

Our Pocket family fosters a diverse culture influenced by core traditional practice, ancestral knowledge and indigenous ways of knowing and being.

We celebrate the richness of our community through strong engagement, recognising and respecting our family’s cultural aspirations and belonging through continual family contribution to our service and curriculum.

The Pocket provides an inclusive environment for LGBTIQ- parented families and respect the individuality and diversity in family structures building upon an inclusive society.

We aim to foster interdependent awareness and acknowledgement of our traditional owners and their land upon which we practice our learning and live within The Pocket community.

We strive to empower our children to care for our precious environments through adopting sustainable practices and the provision of learning opportunities aimed at developing healthy attitudes towards the environment and sustainability for future generations.

It’s simply ‘The Pocket Way’.

“Our children are like flowing rivers forever changing and navigating new courses throughout their lives”

Testimonials

“Our son absolutely adores his educators! He took some time to get used to the Pocket, but with the supportive and fun environment he looks forward to it everyday. The Pocket is his family away from home and we couldn’t be happier with the educators their genuine care for my little man. We appreciate all the staff at The Pocket. Thanks for keeping our smiley boy full of joy.” – G.M

“We love The Pocket! Our son started at 6 months of age and has been so well cared for. We are treated like family and feel confident that our little guy is in safe hands.” – L.H-B

“Great team of educators and the manager is always welcoming and helpful. Love the outdoor playground and centre set up.” – B.P

The Pocket Early Education and Care is located at 84 Boomerang Road, St Lucia, QLD 4067

For further details please visit The Pocket Early Education and Care website.