Last Saturday I walked across the dirt ground at 102 Warrimoo Ave, St Ives. I stood in each of the rooms, paused a moment in my office and took a deep breath. Right now, the site holds dirt, pipes and potential. Looking into the future, it will be the place where my dreams, visions and ideas come to life. I couldn’t help but smile as I stood on this block of land that will be my future.

As we launch a website, with a lot of building and change to come, I want to take a moment to introduce myself and to introduce Handprints, so you can get to know us a little better.

My name is Julia McKean. I am an Early Childhood Teacher. I have studied 2 degrees specialising in teaching children aged birth to five years. I believe that these first five years are the most important, and that the influence and opportunities we provide for children will build their skills and development towards a lifelong love of learning. My vision for young children is that they be inspired themselves to dream, imagine and learn.

This adventure was not always the plan. I fell into the industry taking a gap year, and found myself working initially with a 0-2 years age group, under an inspiring director who believed in the staff she worked with, constantly reaffirming the possibilities each of them held to change and influence the lives of the young children in our care. It was in this job I decided that this was for me, I wanted to know more, learn more and be a better educator.

As I embarked on years of study, I worked throughout in a variety of early education and care settings. The long hours exhausting but each day rewarding with the relationships built with children and families. Quickly I came to see that teaching these young age groups involves a commitment to be part of the child’s inner circle, and to connect with their family as you watch an amazing journey of growth and becoming as the child develops into their own person. It is a true privilege to work alongside young children.

As the years of study passed, I was given the opportunity to be involved in management roles, and a new passion emerged, and this was in guiding, influencing and working with other teachers to share my own passion for teaching. I realised that I wanted to be involved with the settings I worked with on a more holistic level, working with children, families and educators to create high quality, beautiful and educational environments. I began to embark on a more professional journey for myself, writing for education blogs and recently received news that an article I wrote will be published in an Australian Early Childhood publication.

This leads us to introducing Handprints. Handprints Early Learning Centre started as an idea, a vision for my future. “One day” I would say as I spoke of opening a place where children were valued, respected and educated by passionate and enthusiastic educators, a place where children begin a journey of learning that will take them into the future, a place where children and families will feel at home. But it became more than an idea. It became the plan.

Visiting 102 Warrimoo Ave, as a potential site for Handprints, had me staring across the road to the oval. I instantly felt at home. This felt like your typical suburban Australian environment, with trees, grass and open spaces to play. I loved the opportunity to connect, with the local school a stone’s throw away, and oval, park, buses and shops all within walking distance. I wanted Handprints to be part of and connect with this community. It was decided, and the journey began.

No journey however is easy. Over the last 2 years I have worked alongside a number of professionals to create the design. Time and energy spent creating Handprints involved considering age groupings, room sizes, and natural outdoor play spaces. The vision grew clearer and clearer as I sat with architects and mapped out this place we will all call home. But mapping involved drawing design, after design, after design as we were faced with each challenge, my favourite by far being the day the liquid amber tree was hit by lightning, causing a complete redesign to change this area from play space to car space!

Eventually, we, and the all-important members of the council, settled on the plans and Handprints Early Learning Centre was approved after 10 months of deliberation. We were moving forward!

That has brought us forward to the build. We are about to pour the slab this week and then it is full steam ahead. Currently I am working through the many policies and procedures that will guide the practices at Handprints Early Learning Centre. Whilst this is challenging and time consuming, it is constantly reminding me that at Handprints we will be creating something truly special.

So just to finish upon, I would like to take a moment to walk you through Handprints Early Learning Centre, the vision so far…

The entrance falls on Toolang Road, where you will drive into the car park, then walk up the ramp to the front door. As you walk in the office will be on your right, where I will smile and wish you a good morning, enquiring about your weekend (please feel free to stop a moment and chat!).

Walking around to the left you will find the nursery. It is a space for 8 young children aged between 0 and 2.5 years. It is a space where 2 educators will love, cuddle and educate these young children, building on their self-esteem and identity. Of course, the room will be filled with the sounds of singing, inspiring the language development of our youngest children. Observing these children you will notice the beginnings of peer friendships, as well as the nurturing of older to younger peers with each of the 2 year olds becoming an expert in this space.

Further around you will enter the preschool room, a room designed for 10 children aged 2.5 to 4 years. This room joins with the prep room for 10 children in the final year before school. A divisional wall allows the space to be big and open, or reduced for more focused learning groups. This is a space where learning through play based experiences has educators and children learning alongside each other, undertaking extended journeys into the ideas, interests and learning potentials of each child. Each child will come home discussing what they have learnt, discovered, investigated or imagined that day. Exciting times will be had by children who will come together with friends and educators.

Outdoors is my favourite space. In a yard that looks out over the large open oval, a natural grassed area, the challenges of natural logs and rocks will teach children to explore balance and coordination through play. Teamwork will be encouraged as children work together to pump water from the old fashioned water pump into the creek on a hot day, then jump inside to splash and cool down (after all, Australian summers require a lot of water play!). Underneath a tree the wooden stumps will create a quieter space where whispers will be shared over imaginative stories and ideas.

Handprints will be a truly beautiful place. This journey we are on is long, and will be filled with challenge, but as is the fortune of working in this industry it will also be filled with moments of celebration, inspiration and beauty. I couldn’t be more excited to introduce myself, as the approved provider and company director of Handprints Early Learning Centre. Welcome to our home.