"Nature is super important to us. Having the ducklings teaches the children to care and look after the environment," Taree and District preschool director, Kylie Jones said.

After the ducklings hatched, Kylie put a call out to the community for a cage.

During the time the Manning River Times visited on Friday, a hutch was donated by Better Lawns and Property Maintenance, food for the ducklings was delivered by preschool student Harper, and cage wire was donated by Manning River Steel.

"We believe in the importance of the environment as the third educator and try to get into nature as much as possible.

"The children are responsible for looking after the ducks, guinea pigs, worms, chickens and the garden under the preschool's 'Get Grubby Program'," Kylie said.

As part of the program the children can choose:

The preschool has three learning spaces, named using the local Indigenous language: Guula (Koala), Wambuyn (Kangaroo) and Wathu (Possum), Kylie said.

"We have recently completed our Yarning Circle, a place for the children to meet with local Elders and community members. Uncle Russ (Russell Saunders) designed our sculptures incorporating Guula, Wambuyn and Wathu."

Taree and District Preschool is a not-for-profit community preschool, which is governed by a board of members of the community, Kylie said.

Children over three are provided two days' free preschool in 2021 which will continue into 2022, Kylie said.

What else is making news?

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: