About our ELC
Our Early Learning Centre welcomes children from 3 years of age up to the age of 5 into our Pre-Kindy and Kindy Programs. We pride ourselves on providing students with a smooth transition to school through visits to our primary school and accessing school facilities during the week. The quality of our ELC has been recognised by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) who rated our centre as Exceeding the National Quality Standard in all areas.
The Centre is open from 7:30am – 5:30pm, 48 weeks of the year and is a purpose built facility designed to enhance learning for our youngest students. Eligible families may be able to claim the Child Care Subsidy (CCS).
Our ELC program is underpinned by the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (IB PYP) and based on the Reggio Emilia philosophy, as well as aligning with the national Early Years Learning Framework, ‘Belonging, Being, Becoming’. Our program is specifically designed to provide outstanding learning opportunities, with a particular emphasis on play-based learning and the communication, social and emotional development this facilitates.
Within our Early Learning Centre, we provide a kindergarten program staffed by qualified teachers and child care co-educators during school terms.
Book a tour to find out more about the head start our Centre can give your child or for any specific questions about our ELC please call us on 08 8562 4312 or via the school at 08 8562 1655.
Learning Program
We are committed to providing excellence in education where inquiry, exploration, questioning and wondering are fostered to develop children who see themselves as part of a global community and as life-long learners. Through our combination of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program and the Reggio Emilia philosophy, we facilitate meaningful experiences for students to explore, which reflect children’s interests as well as nurture a sense of wonder and curiosity
International Baccalaureate PYP
While also forming the structure for our Primary School programs, the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (PYP) has been designed to meet the needs of learners from the age of 3. Early Learning in the PYP is a holistic learning experience that integrates social, physical and cognitive development.
The PYP as a model for Early Learning is supported by research, including a study by Deakin University in Australia and Singapore which found that in PYP Early Learning settings, literacy skills were better than or equal to other settings in terms of school readiness; and children were developing learning skills at higher rates than similar settings.
By embracing the Reggio Emilia philosophy and combining it with the International Baccalaureate PYP, our Early Learning program ensures your child’s crucial early years are those in which their natural curiosity is fostered, and their knowledge and understanding of concepts is enhanced.
Reggio Emilia Philosophy
The Reggio Emilia philosophy is a world-renowned approach to early learning which has been in use for well over fifty years.
Reggio Emilia is based upon the following set of principles:
- Children must have some control over the direction of their learning;
- Children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, and observing;
- Children have a relationship with other children and with material items in the world that they must be allowed to explore;
- Children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.
Reggio Emilia also views the learning environment as the ‘third teacher’, facilitating and presenting new learning opportunities. This view was central to the process of creating our purpose-built, engaging and natural Early Learning Centre environment.