Our Organisation

Froebel Australia is proudly a not-for-profit organisation, established in Sydney in 2009 as a subsidiary of the charitable Fröbel Group, based and founded in Berlin in 1990. We operate Bilingual Early Learning Centres in Sydney and Melbourne for children from 6 months to 6 years of age, and initiated the Little Scientists project, a professional development program for early childhood educators and teachers that builds STEM confidence and empowers everyone working with young children aged 3 to 6 years to actively include playful and inquiry-based scientific exploration in their educational practice. 

Fröbel is Germany's largest non-profit provider of early childhood education and care, with centres across Germany and in Poland and Australia. Fröbel operates around 185 nurseries, kindergartens and after-school clubs, as well as other facilities in ten federal states. More than 3,700 employees work together to achieve the best education, upbringing and care of more than 16,500 children.

A unique mix of different cultural and professional backgrounds has ignited a vivid and fascinating educational and philosophical exchange which enriches our organisation & early childhood practice and improves the quality of our work with children every day.

Board of Directors and Advisory Board

Olde Lorenzen has been Managing Director of Froebel Australia since 2009, after having worked as solicitor and barrister as well as chief executive in various roles in Germany. Martine Joly, chartered accountant and tax agent, and Stefan Spieker, CEO of Froebel's parent organisation, are Non-Executive Directors and members of the board. 

Froebel is grateful to have a committed and supportive Advisory Board: Dr Wolfgang Babeck works as solicitor both in Australia and in Germany, is Vice-Chairman of the German-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and has been chairing Froebel's Advisory Board since its foundation in 2011. Florian Dehne is Strategy Director at Seek Employment and founder/chairman of Deutsche Schule Melbourne. Peter Tesch accepted our invitation to join the Advisory Board in early 2015. He is Australia's former Ambassador to Germany and currently Ambassador to Russia (since 2016).

Guided by Friedrich Fröbel's philosophy

We are guided by the ideas of Friedrich Fröbel, renowned as the founder of the kindergarten concept in 1837, a pioneer of progressive education, a victim of political persecution, a life-long fighter for children’s right to access education and to a protected family life. He was a visionary whose name and work are largely unknown or underestimated - despite the fact that many of Fröbel’s ideas are ground-breaking even today. His educational goal was to raise responsible people through a holistic approach to fostering children’s learning and development in partnership with their parents.