Authentic Reggio Emilia practice
less than ten minutes from Turramurra.
Our director, Tina, joined the 2025 Reggio Australia Study Group at the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre in Italy. A small kindergarten of forty, with mature gum trees and a generous yard. Open 7am to 6pm. CCS approved.
Authentic Reggio Emilia, a director who trained in Italy.
St Ives Chase is one of a handful of kindergartens on the Upper North Shore where Reggio Emilia is more than a brochure word. Tina, our director, travelled to Reggio Emilia in northern Italy in April 2025 to study at the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre. The Centre is run by Reggio Children, the international body that holds the approach. It is, in a sense, the only place you can really train in it.
Reggio Emilia treats children as competent and curious. As researchers of their own world. Educators document what the children are noticing, then design provocations to take that thinking further. The hundred languages of children, Loris Malaguzzi called it. The painting and the building and the moving and the asking, all counted as serious thinking.
From Turramurra you can be at our front gate in well under ten minutes. We have families from Turramurra Station, the Wildflower Garden end of Mona Vale Road, and the streets around Turramurra Public and Turramurra High. Many tell us the Italy connection is the reason they drove past three closer centres to see ours.
A short drive over the ridge.
Turramurra is the closest of the surrounding suburbs to us, about seven to eight minutes by car via Mona Vale Road or Bobbin Head Road. Both suburbs sit along the same Ku-ring-gai ridge, with similar quiet residential streets and the same kinds of established trees in the yards. For Turramurra families used to a leafy local feel, our outdoor space tends to look familiar from the first visit.
We see children whose older siblings attend Turramurra Public School, St Ives North Public, or Sydney Grammar Edgecliff Preparatory, and families coming from the streets near Bannockburn Oval, Karuah Park, or up toward the Wildflower Garden side of Mona Vale Road. The drive in passes the very reserves many of these families walk on weekends.
Turramurra has good preschool options nearby, and we know we're not the most convenient choice for every family there. What brings Turramurra families to us is usually one of two things: they want a smaller, calmer centre than the chains further down toward Pymble, or they want the kind of outdoor classroom you can't fit on a small inner-suburb block. We can't be everything to everyone, but for those two families we tend to be a good fit.
Reggio practice that holds up next to the real thing.
Trained at the source
Tina took part in the 2025 Reggio Children Study Group at the Loris Malaguzzi International Centre in Reggio Emilia, Italy. She came home with documentation practice, studio ideas, and a sharper sense of how children should be taken seriously.
The hundred languages, in practice
Children paint, build, move, ask. We plan around what we notice them doing. Real materials. Real questions. Real time to think.
Bushland classroom on the doorstep
Forty children. A generous yard with mature gum trees. A worm farm. A vegetable garden. An actual cubby with grass underneath.
What our families say.
I have had experiences with 5 nurseries and pre-schools in three different countries over the past 5 years and St Ives Chase Kindergarten has been the best. The team brings such warmth, calm and enthusiasm to all of their activities.
I cannot express enough how much I cherish St Ives Chase Kindergarten. The team is truly exceptional, going above and beyond to care for our children. Tina, with her kindness and nurturing spirit, runs the school seamlessly, making me feel completely confident that my son is not just looked after.
We absolutely love the warm staff, community vibe and huge space here, couldn't recommend it enough. The app posts show how much fun they're having whilst learning so much through all the well-structured, play-based activities. Our little girl is off to St Ives North Public School next year.
Two flexible daily options.
Choose between preschool hours or extended long day care, from 2 to 5 days per week. Child Care Subsidy approved, so most families pay significantly less out of pocket.
- Applies to preschool & long day care
- Enrol & start by 31 December 2026
- Automatically applied to your first invoice
Preschool
Long Day Care
Come and see the playground for yourself.
Families from Turramurra are very welcome. Book a tour with our team, a walk around the space, time to ask questions, no pressure. Usually 30 minutes, and you're welcome to bring your child.