A Place for Conversations That Matter
A safe, private space for children and families to receive counselling, health checks and wellbeing support.
· Kep, Cambodia
Education does not happen in isolation.
A student's ability to learn can be affected by what is happening at home, their physical and emotional wellbeing, relationships, family pressures and challenges that may never be visible inside a classroom.
This understanding has become increasingly important to EDGE Worldwide's partnership with Kep Gardens, a community education organisation in Kep Province.
During 2025, discussions between EDGE and Kep Gardens founder Janine Judd identified an important gap. As both organisations assessed the needs of students, teachers and families, it became clear that Kep Gardens needed a dedicated, private space where sensitive conversations and pastoral support could take place.
Together, we decided to do something about it.
From an identified need to a dedicated centre
Previously, Kep Gardens did not have an appropriate dedicated space for private meetings with students and families. Sensitive conversations sometimes had to take place within the personal living areas of Kep Gardens' leadership.
The need was practical, immediate and clearly identified by the people working with students every day.
EDGE Worldwide committed A$15,000 to fully fund the construction of a new Pastoral Care Centre, while Janine and the Kep Gardens team oversaw the construction and management of the build locally.
Contributions from supporters in Australia, made through EDGE Worldwide, helped make the Centre possible. EDGE Worldwide thanks those supporters. A small, dedicated space can make a considerable difference to a community.
In November 2025, the new Centre officially opened.
The result is more than a new building.
It is a dedicated place where people can talk, listen and seek support with privacy and dignity.
Supporting students, families and educators
Since opening, the Centre has already become a practical part of life at Kep Gardens.
It provides a private setting for parent-teacher meetings, sensitive discussions with students and families, counselling-style conversations, teacher meetings and liaison with local support personnel.
The Centre’s services include counselling, health and dental screenings, safeguarding and crisis support. Alongside these, it offers parenting and livelihood education.
Kep Gardens can also invite health workers and other appropriate local support providers into the Centre, creating a connection between the school community and people with specialist knowledge or services.
This is an important distinction in EDGE's approach. The Centre is not intended to turn teachers into counsellors, health professionals or social workers.
Instead, it gives a trusted local organisation an appropriate place to listen, identify when additional support may be needed and connect people with those who are better placed to provide it.
Pastoral care is part of educational opportunity
For EDGE, the project reflects a broader understanding of education.
A classroom, a capable teacher and access to learning resources are fundamental. But they are not the entire picture.
Young people do not leave difficulties at home when they enter a classroom. Family circumstances, wellbeing, safety and other pressures can directly affect attendance, engagement and a student's ability to learn.
Sometimes supporting education therefore means addressing the circumstances that make learning difficult in the first place.
The Pastoral Care Centre creates a space for those conversations.
It also complements EDGE's broader partnership with Kep Gardens, which has included support for educator development, mentoring and community education.
Local ownership from the beginning
An important part of the project was the way it was developed.
The Pastoral Care Centre was not an external idea brought into Kep Gardens with a predetermined solution.
The need emerged through conversations and assessment between Janine Judd, the Kep Gardens team and EDGE Worldwide. Together, we considered what was happening on the ground, what was missing and what could make a meaningful difference.
EDGE provided the funding, while Kep Gardens took responsibility for overseeing and managing its construction locally.
That division of responsibility reflects a principle increasingly central to EDGE's work: supporting locally led solutions rather than attempting to replace local leadership.
From one Centre to a bigger idea
The experience at Kep Gardens is also influencing how EDGE thinks about its future.
Our developing Education & Pastoral Care Hub concept seeks to explore how education, teacher development, digital learning, mentoring, pastoral care and connections to appropriate community services can work together within trusted local institutions.
Kep Gardens provides an important real-world example of this approach.
It demonstrates that strengthening education does not necessarily mean creating an entirely new organisation or imposing a new system. Sometimes the greatest opportunity is to identify a strong local organisation that already has the relationships, knowledge and trust of its community, and give it additional tools to do more.
The Pastoral Care Centre represents that principle in physical form.
It is a place for parent and teacher to sit together.
A place for a young person to have a conversation that requires privacy.
A place where teachers can discuss concerns.
A place where local health and support workers can connect with the school community.
And ultimately, a place designed to help ensure that challenges beyond the classroom do not unnecessarily become barriers to education.
That is why EDGE invested in it, and why the lessons emerging from Kep Gardens will continue to inform our work in the years ahead.
The Centre is an expression of Education, Growth and Empowerment, the principles that guide EDGE Worldwide’s work.