Innovative Sustainability and Environmental Education solutions for Early Childhood Educators.
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We are a new Australian Start-up.
ABOUT US
iSEE Programs was born in 2016, purely by chance.
Founder, Sam Ferrara, was giving presentations at pre schools about recycling and waste reduction as part of her work in local government waste services; when several Educators mentioned they were having difficulty embedding sustainability education in their programming. As a result, their accreditation rating was suffering.
Sam studied the National Quality Framework (NQF) and Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) for Australian early childhood education and found that while sustainability and environmental education played a big part in the frameworks, there was no one out there helping Educators to embed it effectively. The result of this, was hurried, tokenistic activities that didn't really address the NQF or EYLF, nor did they make a difference in the way children approached sustainability in every day life.
So, Sam began offering her expertise as a Consultant, whilst also writing a sustainability program specifically for Early Learning Centres (ELCs). Using her unusual skill set of Actor/Librarian/Waste Services Officer, she developed a series of activities that not only addressed NQF and EYLF, each one of them explained how they addressed them. This meant Educators could spend more time on the floor teaching and less time planning and programming, because it's already been done for them. During the trial and development phase, Sam realised many ELCs were also time-poor when it came to community relations, so she developed action plans to improve and strengthen these crucial relationships.
iSEE Programs continues to evolve - each client receives a specialised plan of action, designed to address their needs as they arise. Every challenge is an opportunity to create meaningful connections between a child, the ELC and their wider community.
OUR WORK
 Paisley's puzzlePaisley is playing with an up cycled cracker box, repurposed into a puzzle. |
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 IMG_1966_edited |
 EdenPS Waste DayHaving fun and reducing waste! |
 IMG_1972_editedWorm farm using recycled materials. |
 EdenPS Waste Day Audit2Measuring waste streams with a waste audit. |
 EdenPS Waste Day Audit1_editedWeighing out waste during a waste audit. |
 IMG_1964Sam talking waste with some school students. |
Garbage, Rubbish, Trash, Waste.
No matter what you call it, we produce way too much. Trust me. I work at a tip. I know these things. We can't keep living the "throwaway lifestyle" any longer. Our landfills are bursting at the seams and we need to change the way we manage our garbage. It doesn't require a massive paradigm shift to make a difference. We don't have to all become homesteading marvels to reduce the amount of waste we produce. It doesn't have to take a reduction in your quality of life to help the situation.
Honestly, it doesnt.
Small, incremental changes are more sustainable than massive, sweeping changes anyway. Sure, become a homesteading marvel if you like - there's a lot to be said for living a fully sustainable, subsistence lifestyle. However, it's certainly not for everyone. I'm all about educating people on how to make those smaller everyday changes that will ultimately make a big difference. It's the smaller, simpler mistakes with recycling and waste I see every single day that spurred me to act. Believe me, when you're literally knee deep in other people's garbage, you make a few observations about what we could be doing better.
One thing we could be doing better, is teaching our children from a very young age to do things differently - differently to the way we did things. We need to give them the tools to maintain a healthy environment when they're grown. The best way to do that, is to start early. If children learn right from the start to reduce, reuse and recycle, then they will always reduce, reuse and recycle. It will become inherent. Our children will one day inherit a planet that sits at a tipping point. We owe it to them to give them the life skills required to at least try to fix it. Don't you think?
With iSEE Programs, my goal was to write a program so "common sense" and flexible, it could be adapted to fit any learning framework anywhere in the world. Through careful consultation with Early Learning professionals, I believe we have achieved that goal, and can now offer this innovative program to all Early Learning Centres.
Do you need something unique? Something specialised? No problem! I can create a bespoke program just for you!
Keen to read what people think of iSEE Programs? Click the Testimonials button below!
FIND US
We are based on the beautiful Sapphire Coast NSW, Australia.
For more information on our services, or if you would like iSEE Programs to visit your ELC, school or community group, let us know!