Concordia Lutheran College Hume Street Kindy gains national recognition for excellence in STEM
Local kindergarten, Concordia Lutheran College’s Hume Street Kindy, has been recognised for its commitment to early childhood STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education by gaining highly respected certification as a Little Scientists House. Little Scientists House certification is Australia’s only dedicated early childhood STEM certification program and is managed by Little Scientists Australia; a STEM professional development initiative supported by the Australian Government.
Educators at the Hume Street Kindy participated in a range of STEM professional development workshops with Little Scientists and ran a child-led STEM project.
““We are thrilled that Concordia Lutheran College Hume Street Kindy has been recognised once again as a ‘Little Scientist House,’ an honour exclusive to our institution in the Darling Downs area for the next two years (2024-2026),” said Melissa Giles Early Learning Educator at the Hume Street Kindy.
“Becoming a Little Scientists House is a fantastic achievement and a testament to how hard the educators here work to create high-quality STEM learning environments,” Mrs Giles added.
Emma McGarrity, Project Director at Little Scientists Australia, says that investing in the STEM professional development of early childhood educators and teachers is vital.
“While Australia’s focus has been on primary, secondary, and tertiary STEM education, early childhood is now increasingly recognised as the critical window for STEM education. Developing children’s foundational STEM skills, like creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving must start in the earliest years. “
“That’s why we were so impressed with Concordia”, Ms McGarrity stated.
“The Concordia Hume Street Kindy team has supported and empowered children to lead their own discoveries through an inquiry-based STEM project approach. When done over time, learning experiences of this quality will absolutely increase children’s participation and engagement in future STEM education.”
Educators, children, and the families at the Kindy have already begun investigating more scientific phenomena.
To learn more about the Little Scientists House program, visit https://littlescientists.org.au/certification/
About Little Scientists Australia
Little Scientists Australia is supported by the Australian Government and is a not-for-profit STEM professional development program for early childhood educators and teachers. Little Scientists’ hands-on workshops combine inquiry-based learning with age-appropriate STEM exploration and encourage daily scientific exploration for children in the early years.
