Our Story
A long time ago…
It all started a long time ago – before we were here, in fact. For tens of thousands of years the Gadigal and Bidgijal people of the Eora Nation lived where Coogee is today. Our suburb’s name comes from the local word ‘koojah’ or ‘koojay’, which refers to the unique smell of seaweed drying on the beach. Seaweed sometimes washes up on Coogee Beach today, and we can smell it from our preschool!
With Indigenous cultures’ traditional focus on education and growing individuals to know and be part of their community, St Nics’ Christian Preschool acknowledges that the land on which we work, learn, and play on is the land of the Gadigal and Bidgijal people, and we work to continue a tradition of reconciliation and respect.
From Coogee’s best playgroup...
Since 2004, St Nicolas’ Anglican Church ran the successful St Nics’ Playgroup. Children, Mums and Dads from our community would gather for two mornings a week to play, learn and grow together. They would play in the garden, sing songs, hear a Bible story and do crafts. It was a lot of fun.
St Nics’ Playgroup came to be known as the best playgroup in the Eastern Suburbs (no small feat)! Parents knew their children would be cared for, kept safe, and have fun.
Playgroup grew to have 110 children each week. In 2016, it was decided: it was time for playgroup to transform.
...to Coogee’s best preschool.
A new mission: transform Coogee’s best playgroup into Coogee’s best preschool. Two members of the St Nicolas community gave large bequests to the church to renovate the church halls into beautiful, custom-built classrooms for our new preschool. In their honour we named are classrooms after them: the Smartie Room and the Cookie Room. We seek to be generous and kind, just like them.
Today, we provide families in our local community with a caring and kind environment, giving children the best start to life, and reflecting the love of Jesus in all that we do.
A preschool that loves Jesus
We believe that Jesus Christ brings life and freedom to all who trust in him, so you can see why we think he’s truly good news. We believe that God created the world perfectly, but that it isn’t as it should be — because of our rejection of God, or ‘sin’. In his love for his people, God gave his only son Jesus to pay the price we should have taken for our sin, through his death and resurrection, making us fully right with God and allowing us to live in proper relationship with him.
Our staff believe these things are true, and that Jesus is really important news, so we love talking about it! This truth doesn’t only change how we speak, but also how we act – how we treat each other, live our lives, and care for the world. At Preschool, this looks like…
Saying a prayer before mealtimes
Singing songs about Jesus’ love, and reading Bible stories
Following Jesus’ most important command: love one another. We try to be joyful, peaceful, patient, good, faithful, loving, gentle, and self-controlled.
You don’t need to be a Christian or go to church to join us at St Nics’ Christian Preschool. We accept families of all backgrounds, family structures and faiths.
We’d love to chat to you if you have any questions – contact us.
Meet our team
Our staff are passionate about providing your child with amazing early childhood education to help them grow, day-by-day, into the person they were created to be.
Led by Director, Shannon Reid, our team is fully qualified in early childhood education and is passionate about continually innovating and collaborating to grow as educators. We have four pupil-free days across the year to devote to professional development.
Our staff maintain regular shifts so your child feels comfortable during the day, and so the otherwise-stressful drop-off and pick-up times are made that little bit easier with a friendly face greeting you each time.
“As an experienced educator, I knew St Nics’ was special. The seaside location is beautiful but being part of a wonderful team of like-minded educators who share a passion for early childhood education is a blessing. Building relationships within the St Nics' community and working alongside our families to ensure the beginning of every children’s life long learning journey is positive and memorable is what drives SNCP. I love my job.”
Shannon Reid, SNCP Director and Educational Leader
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Shannon Reid
Director & Educational Leader
Responsible Person
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Natalie Lin
Cookie Room ECT
Responsible Person
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Michelle Chidavaenzi
Cookie Room Lead Educator
Responsible Person
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Georgia Bell
Cookie Room ECT
Responsible Person
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Denise Nicholls
In-House Casual Educator
Responsible Person
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Annabel McFarlane
In-House Casual Educator
Responsible Person
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Florencia Moller
Smartie Room Educator
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Karen Van Keulen
On-site chef
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In-House Casuals
Daisy, Carol, Prakriti, Avery
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In-House Casuals
Gaby, Janina, Sanjita, Bebina
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Joanne Allen
Administration Officer
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Rachel Greenwood
General Manager
Music Class Teacher
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Rev. Peter Greenwood
Chairman of the Board for SNCP
Minister of St. Nic's Anglican Church