LANCASTER PRESCHOOL

Teacher

Narelle Walker

Narelle teaches the 3/4 year old children and one of the 4/5 year old sessions. Narelle has been at the preschool since 2002. Her qualifications include: Diploma of Teaching (Early Childhood), Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood), First Aid Level 2, Asthma Management, Allergy, Anaphylaxis and Epipen Administration trained. Narelle’s two children both attended this preschool.

Educator

Kerrie Gould

My name is Kerrie and I am a mum to two children, Jacob and Jessica. They both attended Lancaster Preschool for 3 and 4 year old kinder in 2010 to 2012 and are now attending St Peter Julian Eymard Primary School. We live within walking distance of the kinder, having moved to Mooroolbark in 2010, with our two dogs and our parrot. I have worked with children in many roles over the years including working with children with special needs in homes and at various schools, as a Nanny and as a teacher’s assistant at a technical school.

As a family we enjoy 4-wheel driving, camping and travelling. During the school term our lives revolve around the after school activities of dancing, basketball, and swimming. My kids and I are passionate AFL supporters (my husband says he is an AFL widow come winter!). We are at almost every St. Kilda game in Melbourne and usually one or two interstate games as well. Yes we really love our football! This position is a dream come true for me and I truly consider it an absolute privilege to have been chosen to be a part of your children’s lives and education.

Teacher

Lauren Spratt

I have been teaching preschool for over 15 years in the Yarra Ranges, Maroondah and Knox areas and am thrilled to be working in such a high quality setting as Lancaster Preschool. I am passionate about play-based learning and using the children’s interests to create opportunities for engagement, learning and creativity. I believe children learn best when the have close bonds with their educators and peers and when we meet children where they are at, extending their ideas and natural inclinations. I love to see children grow in their self-confidence and autonomy throughout the year, in fact my aim for the end of the kinder year is to be of very little use to the children, except to help source their materials and share a laugh together, as their independence and thinking is so well-developed. I am a huge fan of the Walker Learning Approach, that we use at Lancaster, so much so that my children attend a primary school using the same pedagogy. Children will naturally do the things they need to for developing life skills (climb, dig, paint, act, sing, spin, splash, explore, create) – it is up to us as adults to support and encourage these types of play to form the basis for further learning and curiousity.
When I’m not teaching at Lancaster, I like spending time with my family, going caravaning, reading books, thrashing my sons at Just Dance and eating chocolate 🙂

Teacher

Elisa Forrest

I am an Early Years Teacher with over 10 years’ experience working in Early Childhood. I have a background in arts, theatre and music and love educational philosophies from Walker Learning, Reggio Emila and Steiner. I enjoy working in my local community building partnerships with families, teachers and other professionals to continually learn and grow. I believe that all children should be valued and respected in everyday learning practices to build their confidence and wellbeing for future decision making, risk taking and self -expression. Every child comes from a family background that connects them to their culture, understanding and knowledge of themselves and others. Our program offers the opportunity for all children to learn as individuals and build upon those important social and emotional skills, empowerment to make own decisions, problem-solve on own or with others, develop use of appropriate language to express themselves and learn more about the world around them. I believe all young children regardless of their age and stage should have an opportunity to play, learn and develop with family and professional support to be the best that they can be in life.