An early years education and care centre that’s part of the community.
Supporting Coffs families since 1985
Gamumbi is a small, not-for-profit early childhood education centre and long day care service, based on Gumbaynggirr land. Proudly operating in Toormina since 1985, we have strong ties to the Coffs Coast community.
Gamumbi acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Gumbaynggirr people. We are committed to Reconciliation and value the teachings and traditions of First Nations peoples as an important part of our philosophy and curriculum.
In full transparency we are not an Aboriginal owned service.
Our early education and care philosophy
We have high-quality, experienced staff.
We support
play-based learning.
We foster connections
to nature.
We work in collaboration with families and community.
How does a
not-for-profit service benefit children?
Our long day care service is not-for-profit. That means that all of the income we make is used to improve the centre and services.
Our community-led Management Committee makes decisions based solely on what is best for the children, families and educators.
This means we have:
A team of highly-trained teaching staff committed to continuous improvement.
A low child to adult ratio in every classroom.
High-quality, carefully created learning spaces. You can explore them here.
Who makes decisions at Gamumbi?
We share decision-making with children, families, educators and the community, so that every decision made is based on what it best for our children.
Our dedicated Management Committee is made up of passionate parents, early childhood educators and community members who want to give children the best start in life.
Families know their children best so we love to hear about what’s going on at home and incorporate this into the education program and learning environments.
We love the caring, calm and warmth that our children receive at Gamumbi. Our children are so relaxed and happy to be in this learning environment”
— Gamumbi parent
Meet our passionate teaching team
Lisa - Director | Nominated Supervisor (she/her)
How lucky are we? Lisa has worked in early childhood education for just over 20 years.
Lisa is all about empowering children through authentic experiences. She believes in not answering children’s questions, but engaging them in the learning process to discover the answers. That’s why she loves Gamumbi’s approach to learning through exploration and play.
Part of the Gamumbi team since 2007, Lisa has been a teacher, parent, committee member and now Director. Her favourite thing about Gamumbi is our brilliant teaching team and she thinks the experience, knowledge and dedication they bring is pretty special.
For her, she enjoys the sense of community that has been built by the Gamumbi families and it makes it feel like home.
Kelsi - Early Childhood Teacher (she/her)
Our Early Childhood Teacher and preschool Team Leader, Gamumbi, Kelsi was drawn to the centre because it’s a not-for-profit, community-led service.
Kelsi is a big supporter of play-based learning, seeing it as a time for rich discovery. It’s important to Kelsi that children are seen as capable and she loves that Gamumbi’s challenging outdoor play space and tools support this.
Her favourite thing about Gamumbi is the intentional, thoughtful and reflective teaching of the educators. Here, everything has a purpose.
With a background in student support, Kelsi is passionate about inclusive learning, celebrating differences and finding ways to meet the needs of each and every child and recently beginning her Masters of Special and Inclusive Education.
Kiya - Early Childhood Educator (she/they)
Kiya has been with Gamumbi since 2019 and has completed her Diploma in Early Childhood during that time.
Kiya is a proud Gumbaynggirr woman who is currently leading our Reconciliation Action Plan with a team of educators and families.
Kiya is passionate about fostering a sense of belonging for all children and recognising the individual developmental, emotional and sensory needs of all children.
Kiya is an advocate for equity and inclusion and ensuring language and resources used are inclusive and culturally safe.
Jade - Early Childhood Educator (she/her)
Our gorgeous educator Jade has spent over 14 years in early childhood education and all of them at Gamumbi! She can’t imagine working anywhere else because she loves the strong sense of community and passionate team at Gamumbi.
Jade's favourite thing about early childhood education is the impact educators have on children’s learning and their journey at Gamumbi. She believes this builds educators passion for working in early childhood, and therefore gives the platform for success.
Jade insists that working with children, working at Gamumbi, really makes us remember to enjoy all the simple pleasures in life.
Carolin - Finance & Administration (she/her)
Stepping into the finance and administration role is no easy task, but Carolin has done it with ease.
Carolin chose to come to Gamumbi because, simply put, she fell in love. In particular she says the philosophy, beautiful outdoor area, the staff, and the resident pet chickens, all played a key role in sparking her initial interest. This has only grown over time as she’s found out how welcoming and friendly everyone is, and just how great the management team is.
Carolin is passionate about helping families and children at Gamumbi. She always takes the time to listen and be there for any question or concern, no matter how small. Carolin loves to interact with the children and spends as much time as she can creating meaningful relationships with all at Gamumbi.
John - Chef (he/him)
Our John is the master of snack time and secret veggies! A qualified chef, he is quietly proud of the amount of vegetables he can sneak into our children each day without them noticing.
John makes Gamumbi feel like home, and you'll often find a gaggle of children up on the bench watching him cook, asking questions and chatting about food.
John loves hearing the sounds of happy children and being a fly on the wall to their daily learning and development. Plus, he’s never had such honest feedback on his food!
John thinks the level of care and dedication to nurturing children at Gamumbi, in such a beautiful setting, is heart-warming.