“Culture arises and unfolds in and as play.”- Johan Huizinga

Melbourne is home to over 200 languages. At last count, Meadows Early Learning Hub has 30 languages intermingling across the school of 300 children. Over 43 years, Maureen Leahy has been part of this ever-changing landscape. Not one fragment of this community hub in Broadmeadows is standalone, rather lots of seeds are dispersed and grow together.

“Capturing people’s skills, working from a skill base is really important to me,” said Maureen.

“We always go to the deficit and say, ‘Oh poor people who have come into Australia, we must help’ and that is a lovely sentiment but for me I see the skill that these people have, the resilience that they bring with them, the will to come in and to grow a better life and the personal skills that they bring is so wonderful to share.”

Maureen is the early years coordinator here and has indeed changed lives. Part of the recipe for success has been empowering others, listening and creating opportunities.

“One of the best things that the hub does is it allows people to grow in the volunteer pathway,” said Maureen.

“Last year we had over a 100 people go through the volunteer pathway which in a small school of 300 children, that is quite unique.”

Throughout the volunteer pathway, families are encouraged to use their skills, share and bond.

The Cook and Learn program has been a vital link in empowering individuals and as such, the community. Each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning, over 100 children and their parents come to the breakfast club and this is run vastly by volunteers.

Two enormous zucchinis sit by side by side on the kitchen bench on this particular Wednesday. Apart from their size, the zucchinis don’t seem too worthy of note, but the vegetables brought into the kitchen play a crucial role in the inner workings of Meadows Community Hub. They are part of a chain reaction or as Maureen Leahy describes it as part of the ‘ripple effect’.

A garden runs alongside the left wing of the school property. In the garden, people gather beside one another, some with little English, some with life altering stories that we do not know- yet in the garden they communicate because here they can do, they can show, they can share.

“The garden is a wonderful place and the kitchen is a wonderful place because you don’t need a lot of language. For our new migrant families and for folk that are perhaps a little shy there is nothing like hands-on work to start the conversation growing.”

Here in the garden people of all ages share skills and knowledge. Here in the garden people find a sense of belonging.

“I find that the friendships that we make in the garden are very powerful and when people begin to get comfortable and competent, they then ask if they would like to work with the children in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden. Some choose to be in the garden with the children and some choose to be in the kitchen.”

Others find a sense of belonging in the auditorium where music guides them, others in art therapy classes and for many others it all begins at playgroup.

“I don’t think there is anything quite like playgroup,” said Maureen.

Playgroup became a focus for Maureen when her own children were young and there wasn’t much going on in Tullamarine back then. She remembers mothers would often wait at the door. Quickly she realised that it was not just about the child, it was about the parent and the parents own story, and the parent’s story was unique from the child.

Understanding the needs of the parent, helps us to understand the child, it helps the child to understand the parent, and it helps them to be a strong unit, enabling them to connect with others and find a sense of belonging in the wider community.

Maureen is a huge advocate for playgroup and early intervention. She has watched as hardships turn a corner, as skills build, as confidence builds.

In the past, Maureen said that so many community services were working in isolated silos.

“We really thought there has to be a better way, we have to bring people to the table, we have to know the workers, we have to understand what it looks like from that particular person’s service delivery but also from the parent point of view.”

“It’s been a real joy for me to see. There have been so many hubs now. Across Australia there’s almost 100 hubs and that came from this one space- of people recognising that if you come together and understand what the family want then we can all deliver, and we don’t duplicate the service so it is economical as well. There is a rationale to it but also a better outcome when people feel empowered and know what they can ask for, then we get the better outcome for the child.”  

For the child, the great development that occurs in the first few years of life makes this time all the more precious.

“Looking at what the brain does in the first three years is so powerful,” said Maureen.

“When you say to Mum, you have three years to grow a brain, don’t waste a minute of that time. This is your time with your child. You’re going to be with that child forever, with the relationship you build here, but at this time you get to teach them so many things.”

Maureen cares deeply about this place and the people that are part of the ripple effect. She has been part of many amazing cultural experiences. She has taken new arrivals to the Peace and Prosperity garden at Government House, she has taken a group of community hub leaders to the Shrine. The Shrine had a travelling exhibition at their Global Learning Centre and two women ended up in tears and when Maureen asked if they were alright, the translator explained that they were from the same village, they had lived only streets away from one another.

“That was just amazing for me because that showed me that sharing stories are important but sharing culture is also important and I think that’s an opportunity,” said Maureen.

Many families have experienced trauma and sorrows and Maureen and her team try their very best to make the families feel that they have found a place of belonging.

“Personally for me, I think it is about building a trust. I remember one time we were having a meeting and I had girls that were traditionally from places where they were at war with each other back home.”

“I asked the girls, what do you want to see for your children? They both said peace.”

That trust is vital, and so is the sense of fun. Maureen reminds us that there must be fun. At the end of the day, it is the fun, the play, the connections that Maureen loves and that is what has kept her returning after so many years.

Maureen remembers playing ‘make believe’ in the play corner with a mother and child. For them, it was the first time that they had played in this way together.

“The laughter that we had, the fun we had with mum saying this is such fun! I said this is what being a mother is, you get the best job because you can have fun with your children while you’re teaching.”

“To me- that fun, that sense of laughter, the sense of enjoyment, is why I’m still doing it. It is what playgroup offers. There are so many magic moments in a playgroup that at the end of the day we come and say, ‘Oh! Did you see that!’ It’s capturing all of that, that’s very important.”   

“Play is training for the unexpected,” said Marc Bekoff, a Contemporary American biologist. Here at Meadows Early Learning Centre this rings true. Play helps us to find a place to belong. Play is part of us. Play welcomes us into spaces and allows us to be ourselves. Maureen has reminded us to play, and as such inspire one another and learn. That’s what the feeling is at Meadows, inspired.

Article by Sinead Halliday

Learn more at Meadows Early Learning Community Hub here