FORMER and current students of Bennett Road Kindergarten in Horsham came together to celebrate 60 years of the centre on Friday.
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The kindergarten was the second to be opened in Horsham, opening its doors on November 15, 1959.
Madelaine Deckert has taught at Bennett Road for 17 years.
She said a lot had changed since she started and would continue to change, especially with the extension of state government funding for three-year-old kindergarten programs.
"The kindergarten has become more multicultural, with lots of children from migrant families and Aboriginal families," she said.
Mrs Deckert said there were new learning opportunities for children as well, with a developing focus on sustainability with facilities such as a worm farm.
"Children often bring in food scraps which provides a way to connect kinder to the home," she said.
Mrs Deckert's granddaughter Miranda will be one of many children attending Bennett Road next year for three-year-old kinder.
Miranda's mother Jacinta Deckert said she looked forward to her daughter having fun and playing with other kids.
Sarinah Malik has been attending Bennett Road this year but will leave to start Prep in 2020.
She said she would miss the friends she had made at kinder as well as the monkey bars.
Ena Meyer said her sons Craig De Paola and Mark De Paola had attended the kinder in 1977 and 1979.
"I have many happy memories of their time here," she said.
Ms Meyer said sending her children to Bennett Road had been advantageous for their education.
Naomi Kafegellis and Peter Kafegellis have strong ties to the kinder as their sons have attended the centre and Mr Kafegellis is the president of the kindergarten committee.
LJ Kafegellis attended the kinder before going to primary school, and his brother Lachlan Kafegellis said he had been enjoying attending kinder there this year.
Karl Carman and Jennifer Taylor have been sending their son Henry Taylor-Carman to the kinder this year and said they wished their older daughter Elizabeth Taylor-Carman had attended Bennett Road as well.
"If I had known how good it was I would have sent her there," Ms Taylor said.
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Eliza Berlage
Eliza Berlage made the move to Horsham to report for the Wimmera Mail-Times in October 2019. Originally from Sydney, she has a sociology background and spent two years working in the press gallery in Canberra.
Eliza Berlage made the move to Horsham to report for the Wimmera Mail-Times in October 2019. Originally from Sydney, she has a sociology background and spent two years working in the press gallery in Canberra.
