A family fun day is being organised at Wesley Pre-School, Castle Hill to celebrate 50 years of caring for pre-schoolers.
For the last 32 years the Pre-school Director at Wesley has been Jane Harvey who sees it as a wonderful reunion. She estimates that more than 4,000 children have been through the pre-school since 1973 with many former preschoolers now sending their children there.
“Our children continue to be the heartbeat of Wesley and it has magical memories for many who attended.”
Belinda Gauci is a former Pre-schooler at Wesley who now brings her 5-year-old son Jacob. “I loved the garden and wanted Jacob to come here too. He loves it.”
Katie Hook said she loved her time at the Pre-school going from activity to activity and is happy that her 4-year-old daughter now attends. “I wanted Indiana to come here because it’s a lovely community. I have such nice memories of it being warm and family-friendly.”
Luke Evangelidis said he loved hanging out with friends at Wesley and now his nephew Lincoln is doing the same.
Lisa Makhlouf looks back at her time at the pre-school as “magical” and has sent all her three children there including her 4-yearold daughter Elissa. “I wanted her to have a nice experience too,” she said.
Meagan Ta says her son Andrew’s favourite spot is the “mud kitchen” while as a child she loved “exploring the garden”.
Loretta Fee says it’s been great having both her sons follow in her footsteps.
“It’s lovely coming back.” Jane Harvey says it’s beautiful seeing her pre-schoolers now parents and their parents as grandparents.
“It’s like having my family around me. As one of our grandmother’s expressed when dropping off her grandchild, “Wesley is like coming back home”.
“Something that never changes is the age the children see me! As the girl who loves pink who works in the office and who could be a ballerina when she grows up.” She says there have been a lot of positive changes over the years.
“The cultural diversity has been enriched over the years I have been here, we are lucky to have so many cultural backgrounds now attending.”
There will be a Family Fun day at Wesley Pre-school on Sunday 17th September to mark the 50th anniversary. A special church service will be held at 9.30am followed by celebrations at the pre-school behind it from 11am to 4pm with a jumping castle, face painting, kids disco, photo booth and craft.
There will be a photo spread covering 50 years and a BBQ and party food. For more details call 9634 5282.
