Wandarrah Preschool and Community Centre: keeping culture strong

Robert Duncan, Wandarrah Committee Member, providing cultural education to Wandarrah jarjums (children).

Wandarrah Preschool and Community Centre are located at Inala in Queensland, where they offer Indigenous culture within the curriculum.

They also embrace the individual cultures of all children.

Each child is made to feel safe, encouraged to explore and grow while learning important values and social skills.

This year, Wandarrah celebrated 50 years of being in operation and are now working towards a stronger future for the centre.

Wandarrah reached out to Community First Development because they wanted support with developing a Strategic Plan that paved a path to achieving their long-term vision.

They want to operate from a purpose-built early childhood educational and training hub supported by key external partnerships, state of the art technology, recurrent funding, specialist staff in multiple areas, a significantly strengthened cultural program (including input from Elders), and a majority of First Nations’ jarjums (children) in attendance.

After yarning further about what Wandarrah wanted to achieve through the project, Community First Development Senior Community Development Officer, Eddie, connected Wandarrah’s General Manager/ Nominated Supervisor, Kerri, with skilled volunteer, Russell, who has expertise in strategic planning.

Over several months, Kerri, the Wandarrah Board and Russell met via videoconferencing to scope out, progress, and finalise the Strategic Plan.

Russell, Eddie, and the Wandarrah team participating in a planning session.

Russell also had the opportunity to travel to Inala and visit Wandarrah to meet face-to-face with community members.

Throughout the project, Russell presented and facilitated conversations on fundraising, governance, planning and risk management. He also shared and discussed a list of philanthropic grant opportunities that Wandarrah could potentially apply for.

The final five-year strategic plan reflects the aspirations, hopes and endeavours of the whole Wandarrah organisation and community.

The Strategic Plan outlines six strategic goals and a detailed action plan for the Board to implement.

Wandarrah are currently focused on implementing the Strategic Plan.

They have been engaging with government agencies around funding and hope to engage with other agencies, soon, in support of their goal to create one site for all of their early childhood education services.

For Kerri, the process of developing Wandarrah’s Strategic Plan has provided an opportunity for reflection and to connect the past, present and future. She sees this as the highlight of the project:

“Working through the process and acknowledging current achievements, looking into the future with a considered lens, gathering the voice of elders, staff, and families. Targeted approach to what can be actioned now and into the future. Acknowledging the first vision from the beginning is still current.”

For Russell, the highlight of the project was working with the Wandarrah team:

“The enthusiastic involvement of the centre manager, and one key board member, who both were clear in what they wanted and the future that they see for the centre.”

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