Our Philosophy

At Kentish Community Services, we believe that quality child care options are an integral right of all families.

Our staff support and encourage the interest and involvement of families, Northern Territory educators and staff. We embrace the diversity of the community and respect the individual needs of families.

Consultation and information sharing is of vital importance to us, and we encourage all stakeholders to contribute to, and feel part of, the organisation.

We believe that each family, educator and staff member comes to the organisation with knowledge and life experience, and that these experiences and differences should be embraced and developed. We work together to build on this knowledge and experience through opportunities for training, professional development and ongoing support.

At Kentish, we believe each child should have the opportunity and guidance to develop self-discipline, self-expression and confidence in their own abilities. Children should be encouraged to make choices, take responsibility and build independence within a loving and accepting care environment.

Our NT learning environments incorporate opportunities for problem solving, creative expression, tolerance, fun and laughter. At our safe, healthy and developmentally appropriate child care settings, your child will learn literacy, language and numeracy skills.

We aim to embrace the global community and to provide a service that reflects diversity and tolerance.

Our Vision

Positive outcomes for children, young people, and communities

Our Mission

Creating a community where everyone has the right to education, identity, culture, belonging and to feel safe, respected, and nurtured

Our Values

At Kentish we will strive for excellence for each child and young person sharing with joy their nurturing and care which is defined by our motto “Valuing Families, Communities and Each Other” and the belief that each child is an able and capable human being. We will ensure that we deliver high quality learning experiences and care which meets the physical, social, emotional, spiritual, cognitive, and language developmental needs of all the children, young people, families and Kentish members and/or families. Best practice is aspired to in all activities and endeavours.

Professional Development & Training

At Kentish we are committed to helping children achieve the best learning outcomes possible.

We stay up to date with the latest research to help instill integral literacy, numeracy, creativity and social skills for the children in our care. We believe learning should be fun and that children should develop confidence and creativity from an early age.

We hold regular professional development training in Palmerston, Katherine and Alice Springs, for our Family Day Care, In Home Care and Out of Home Care educators and parents. In addition, staff, educators and board members attend a variety of national and international conferences; where they are exposed to cutting edge information in our sector.

Our History

Kentish Community Services is named after Rupert Kentish, an Australian politician who represented Arnhem in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in the 1940s. A proud Territorian, Mr. Kentish advocated for families, women, children and primary industries during his time in parliament.

In 1994, Kentish Child Care was incorporated in the Northern Territory. As the organisation grew from strength to strength, providing early education, as well as other broad community services, the name was changed to Kentish Lifelong Learning & Care Incorporated in 2013. In 2024, Kentish became a company limited by guarantee and now our name is Kentish Community Services Limited.

Our Artwork

This painting is specially created for Kentish by Tara Briscoe from the Anmatjere tribe in Central Australia.

I was asked to symbolise Kentish through the medium of Indigenous art using the organisation’s colours.

The large teal-coloured blend in the centre of the painting surrounds the most important factors to Kentish; that being the children in Kentish care and the growth of each and every one of them as well as the growth of the organisation.

 The children are symbolised by the white “U” shaped figures that flow from the very top of the painting all the way around to the left-hand side of the painting. These figures are shown to be continuing beyond the border of the painting to demonstrate that Kentish will continue to care for the children.

 The yellow, green, and blue circles in between the children represent the support provided by Kentish. The children require less and less support as they journey to independence.

The white witchetty grubs symbolise growth within Kentish. Witchetty grubs were chosen due to their ties with the Aboriginal culture because they are one of their main food sources and help their people to grow.

The green circles surrounded by the light blue and white blend are the Kentish educators who provide a home and care for the children.

The large area of blue and white blend with lots of green circles at the bottom represents the educators who are already members of the Kentish team.

The smaller area of blue and white blend with green circles on the upper left represents the potential educators waiting to become a part of the great work that Kentish is doing.

The path connecting both areas and flowing through the centre represents upcoming educators who have met the criteria of Kentish’s core values and are now on their journey to join the Kentish family.

The “U” shaped figures with the chiefly white feathers at the top right symbolise past and present Board of Directors members and directors who lead and guide the organisation. These “U” shaped figures are gathered around at a meeting place.

The honey ants at the bottom right indicate the hard-working staff who keep Kentish running. Without their time and effort, Kentish would not be able to accomplish all the great things that it does.

 The bush “kutjea” sultanas represent nourishment and growth.