The Dimboola Early Learning & Care Centre (now known as Broadmeadows Valley Early Learning Centre) was designed to accommodate four distinct user groups within the one facility. Mission Australia- providing kindergarten programs and long day care; Hume City Council- providing a range of services and programs within community and consulting rooms; Broadmeadows Valley Primary School- utilising the facility for children’s and family services; Broadmeadows Special Development School- providing integration into preschool for children with special needs within a dedicated room.

Client

Department of Education Victoria, Mission Australia, Hume City Council

Completed

2012

Traditional Owners

Wurundjeri people

Project Type

Early Learning

Co-location/ community use

The project was jointly funded by the State Government (DEECD), local authority (Hume City Council), and Commonwealth Government (BER funding). The Early Learning Centre is part of an educational precinct that includes a P-9 campus and adjacent Special Development School. Access is provided from the Junior, Senior and the Special Development Schools that are co-located on the site.

At the entry to the building, community and consulting rooms are available for the broader school or public use, while the early learning children are accommodated beyond a secure point.

Spaces for children

The children’s rooms connect to a smaller scale retreat at each end of the building, giving a quiet play space to older children and a place of comfort for the youngest. Shared facilities such as kitchen, laundry and staff needs have been located as centrally as practicable.

The outdoor play area is directly accessible from all children’s rooms, which are amply glazed to enable visual supervision. Large covered areas have been incorporated into the play area to provide shade and shelter, allowing for outdoor activities to occur throughout the year.

Communal facilities

The shared use spaces such as the foyer, internal courtyard and meals/ gathering space are the central hub of the Early Learning Centre and act as the pivot for the two wings of children’s rooms. These wings enclose the play space which is a learning environment with vegetable gardens, water tanks, water play and varied textures and materials.

The Early Learning and Centre is part of a broader education precinct. It facilitates the educational philosophy of life long learning through its engagement with the very young and the wider community.