The human brain develops rapidly during infancy and early childhood stages, laying foundations for the child’s future development of intelligence, emotion, physical and interpersonal abilities. Therefore, many parents put extra focus into their children’s learning environment and educational experiences.

Recently I bumped into Eva Ho at CASS Head Office. She is the Centre Director of our CASS Gumnut Early Learning Centre – Hurstville. In our conversation, she mentioned their Centre received a thank-you letter from a parent. This is not unusual, but this letter tells a story of a unique relationship between the parent and the Centre.

Eva said, “Around twenty years ago, a mother brought her daughter to our Centre and used our child care service. In 2016, while her daughter has grown up, this mother came to our centre again – this time bringing her granddaughter. She chose our Centre once again. In 2018, she had another granddaughter which they decided to continue to use our Hurstville Centre. We deeply valued her fondness and trust towards our centre that have extended for over 20 years!”

This mother even wrote a two-pages-long handwritten gratitude letter and brought it to the Centre in person. In her letter, she wrote “As soon as a new life comes to this world, the excited parents would start to think and plan on how to provide the best care and bring up the child, as all parents would hope their child will have a bright future ahead. After our daughter was born, my husband and I paid extra attention on matters related to early education and development. Being a Chinese family, we let our child learn Chinese and understand the Chinese culture as this could help her in the future.  So as soon as my daughter turned one, we taught her in both Chinese and English at home”.

“We started to search for a suitable child care centre when she turned two and a half. After making some comparison, we chose CASS Gumnut Early Learning Centre – Hurstville. Firstly, the educators are skilled in bilingual education. They can better attend to the needs of children who has not yet grasped English language well enough and those who are learning bilingually. The educators are also very professional in designing curriculum and teaching strategies for children according to the different age groups. What’s more, I really like the setup of the Centre. When I first visited the Centre with my child, it was like stepping into a child’s playground, very welcoming, warm and comfortable. In the years spent in the Centre, my daughter adapted quickly, and the high-quality early education laid a solid foundation for her. She has now got accepted into the University of Sydney with excellent grades.”

Under the instructions of the educator from CASS Gumnut Early Learning Centre – Hurstville, the children performed science experiments.

The letter continued, “I have now become a grandmother with two granddaughters. I immediately thought of CASS Gumnut Early Learning Centre – Hurstville when the elder granddaughter was ready to start child care. After so many years, we visited the Centre again and found that it has improved in many aspects. My son and daughter-in-law really like the Centre, so they enrolled their daughter immediately. Having received bilingual education in the Centre, she has good grasp of both English and Chinese language at the age of four and a half. Not only has she developed good communication, independent living and academic skills, she is also very confident. These have laid a concrete foundation for her future journey into primary school. Through our personal experience from two generations, we have immense trust and confidence towards the Centre’s service. When my younger granddaughter reaches the age to start child care, we will still take her to CASS Gumnut Early Learning Centre – Hurstville.”

As a community services organisation, CASS has looked after the community from cradle to seniors across the generations for more than 30 years. I sincerely hope the provision of high-quality services that leads to endearing relationships will be continued in the future.

(Feedback and enquiries are welcomed. Please contact CASS Head Office at (02) 9789 4587.)