About Our team

Supporting Our Community

Mt. Ousley Pre-School provides quality education and care for children aged 2 to 5 years. Our service caters for 22 children per day, where they learn and play together. We are located close to Wollongong University, Wollongong TAFE, and the CBD, making it a convenient location. The free bus and public buses also stop nearby for those needing public transport. We open from 8am to 5pm and offer reasonable fees with the help of government subsidies to further reduce this payment.

We have been a part of the local community for more than 50 years and strive to be seen as a Service of Excellence within our community. We are a Service that values community involvement in all aspects of our program. A Service where community resources are utilised effectively, to enhance the growth, and development of individual children, families, and Educators/Staff.

We see children as unique and capable individuals, who come to our Service with their own interests, talents, skills, and ideas. We value, respect, and appreciate this uniqueness. We ensure all Educators are well trained and passionate. We feel children have a right to be active participants in their own learning and must be empowered to express their views and ideas.

A child’s opinion must be valued, and their autonomy and initiative need to be respected. We as Educators will protect and cherish the innocence of children and thus provide a safe and secure environment. Child safety is a high priority. We will use the Early Years Learning Framework to actively promote children’s learning through worthwhile and challenging experiences and interactions that foster high-level thinking skills.

We realise that families are the most important and influential aspect in the lives of young children and the significance of their relationships cannot be underestimated. We aim to ensure we involve parents and families into all aspects of our service. We strive to develop positive, mutually respectful relationships with each family member, as we work in partnership to achieve the best possible outcomes for all. We believe that working in partnerships with families is central to ensuring continuity and progression in a child’s learning, development, and future success.

Nurturing Relationships

All educators at Mt. Ousley Pre-school must have excellent teamwork skills and effective communication, as these are essential for positive outcomes across all aspects of the services’ functioning - because together, everyone achieves more. Educators must be responsive to all children’s strengths, abilities and interests. We will value and build on children’s strengths, skills and knowledge to ensure their motivation and engagement in learning. We aim to create an environment of trust and respect, where we work towards achieving a shared goal.

We believe Children have an inherit connection to the natural world and, as Educators we understand that children often develop their ideas and understandings of the world around them from the information presented to them by the significant adults in their lives. As we are one of these significant adults, we have a responsibility to present a positive approach to the environment. We will aim to educate children on the important part that sustainability plays in our world and the interconnectedness of humans and our environment.

We also embrace diversity within our Service and the wider community, so that children view this diversity with a sense of appreciation and wonder rather than misunderstanding and fear. Through respect, acknowledgement, appreciation, and acceptance of diversity within our Community, our Service will embrace, celebrate and share traditions and cultures of our local community and Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people throughout our program.

Learning environments are welcoming spaces when they reflect and enrich the lives and identities of children and families participating in the setting and respond to their interests and needs. Our Service will cater for different capacities and learning styles and invite children and families to contribute ideas, interests and questions.

Meet the Owner:

Shelley Zipparo

I have had the pleasure of owning Mt. Ousley Pre-School since 1998. I have obtained my Diploma in Children’s Services and a Bachelor of Education to support me in this role. I strive to consistently update my knowledge and I am passionate in sharing that quality education provided in the early years are essential to children’s growth and development, now and in the future of children’s lives.

Acknowledgement to Country

Mt. Ousley Pre-School acknowledges and pays respects to the Traditional Custodians of the lands in which we work and play. We celebrate the diversity of Aboriginal peoples and their ongoing cultures and connections to the lands and waters of NSW.

We acknowledge elders, past, present and emerging. We pay respects to all First Nations peoples. We are committed to reconciliation and stand together in unity.

Each day at Mt. Ousley Preschool children will do an acknowledgement that was uniquely written by educators, children and families at the service through consultation with First Nations elders.

Hello sun, moon, land, water, trees, animals and air

We give our thanks to each of you for all the life we share

Hello Dharawal country, we acknowledge you each day

And to the Wodi Wodi people,

With loving hearts we say

We’re listening to your stories

And all your teachings too

Understanding better what Dharawal is to you.