Connection to community is key at Ludo St Paul's

“We are a place where your child asks questions, thinks deeply, explores interesting and relevant resources, is encouraged to be creative and artistic, and they also get taken care of by warm, supportive, and caring adults.” - Karla Annear, Kindergarten Teacher and Educational Leader, St Paul’s Catholic School

As part of providing care for three to five year olds in the St Paul’s Catholic School community, CatholicCare Tasmania’s Ludo program commenced operation on site at the start of 2022. The Ludo program shares a learning space with the Kindergarten students of St Paul’s, and there has been a collaborative approach to learning between the Ludo and Kinder staff within the school since it opened. 

Karla Annear, who is also the Kinder teacher at St Paul’s explained why she believes Ludo to be a great place for children. “Ludo is influenced by research that says that children who experienced early learning from three years old in a high-quality setting had the best opportunities in life… Our service is unique, in that we combine our Kinder and Ludo programs three days a week for the entire day.” 

One of the many things that is special about Ludo is the connection that is offered between the children and their school. Principal of St Paul’s Jo Clark, believes Ludo Early Learning and Care to be a welcoming place in her school community. “I think it's the connection with the school community. School communities are quite large and quite vibrant.” Mrs Clark said, “I think by Ludo being a key part of our community for the children and families coming in for the first time, it allows them to begin their journey to being part of our community earlier.” 

Ludo St Paul’s are passionate about being active members in their local community, and participate in a number of excursions and activities that help them build respect and understanding for the community they are a part of. Early in 2022, the Ludo children entered in the Gagebrook Community Centre Art Competition. They worked with their fellow students in Kinder, and were able to develop a piece of art that would eventually win a prize in the competition. Later in the year they also entered the Scarecrow competition at the Brighton Show, winning first place. 

The group have also visited the local supermarket, library and local park, whilst also commencing an intergenerational program at St Anne’s Living, where the child and residents engage with each other whilst playing with building blocks, arts and craft, dance, and sharing of stories. Kristy Gilroy, the lead educator at Ludo St Paul’s explained, “We are excited to see the benefits this will give the children of St Pauls and the residents also. Their relationships are already beginning to blossom from our first visit.” These are examples of how attendees of Ludo feel a strong connection to their local community, and also for the community to know that they are there to support them too. 

Ludo St Paul’s have always intended their program to be a blended learning program where rooms are always open, so the children can have agency over where they play and with what resources.  There is no distinction between the Kinder and Ludo classrooms, which allows all staff (Ludo and St Paul’s) to work closely to ensure that the best education is given to all children. Mrs Clark spoke glowingly of the environment that the Ludo and Kinder staff have fostered, “I think our space is superb. Karla as our Kinder teacher, and Kristy as our Lead Educator for Ludo, work closely together to have the same expectations and boundaries for the children. They really work together, it is fantastic.”

After a recent excursion to the tagari lia Child and Family Centre, the Ludo children enjoyed playing with the dollhouses that were available to play with. After a quick search on Facebook Marketplace, Kristy found four sustainable dollhouses that were available for purchase. After picking them up from their previous owners, Kristy asked each of the owners for the story of the dollhouse to be able to share with the Ludo children. The stories were shared in a letter that was read to all of the Ludo children. Here is an excerpt: 

“And while you are playing, maybe you can think about the stories of these houses. That other children and even some adults have played with these. These are handmade, they are unique and one-of-a-kind. No-one else has these exact doll houses. They are in our care now, so it’s our turn to create stories with them.”