Our Curriculum

Our learning environments frame tailored experiences to encourage the unique potential of each child.

With one educator to every eight children, our little learners are encouraged to ask questions through our ‘real life’ investigations and ‘provocations’.

Working with their interests, a context is created in which literacy, science and numeracy (STEM) are organically explored and embedded in our day to day.

Ideas are shared and discussion encouraged to build understanding, social development; collaboration, respect and empathy.

Our educators go on this journey with the children and are always there to lend a caring hand or prompt with a small nugget of knowledge or wisdom to support their inquisitive explorations.

Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF)

The Early Years Learning Framework recognizes that children experience of learning is most successful when it is engaging and relevant. As they grow we engage with their sense of belonging (safe and secure relationships), being (who they are) and becoming (what they are capable of).

As children participate in everyday life, they develop interests and construct their own identities and understandings of the world. The Framework conveys these expectations through the following five Learning Outcomes which we reference when we document what learning is taking place:

• Children have a strong sense of identity (LO.1)
• Children are connected with and contribute to their world (LO.2)
• Children have a strong sense of wellbeing (LO.3)
• Children are confident and involved learners (LO.4)
• Children are effective communicators. (LO.5)

The Framework, therefore, provides broad direction for us to facilitate children’s learning and guides us in curriculum decision-making, planning, implementing and evaluating the quality of learning taking place.

Reggio Emillia

To support a culture of lifelong learning, we invite every child to be an active participant in their own learning and development. To support this, we draw from a range of early childhood theorists, in particular the Reggio Emillia approach which promotes using ‘The Environment as the Third Educator’.

We aspire to create learning environments which foster a child’s innate inquisitive and curious nature by providing a range of ‘provocations’, open-ended materials and equipment. Through these learning spaces, we also engage with developing social skills such as collaboration and negotiation.

Educators use the child’s interests to create projects where children are able to investigate, hypothesise and explore using the environment around them.

“A child is the master of their learning, and in saying so, must be exposed to the right educational, psychological, and sociological influences. An educator’s main task is to create opportunities for a child that encourage ‘self-expression, logical thinking, problem-solving, and communication."
- Reggio Emillia

Typically, our preschool program formally commences from 9:00am through to 3:00pm.

• We commence our day in a Yarning Circle, wehere we share ideas openly and inclusively.  This is an opportunity to explore the children's curiosities, news and interests.  These discussions guide us in determining the activities and things we focus on as a class. Be it space, dinosaurs or whatever is of most interest, this provides educators with the context upon which specific learning areas are delivered.
• From there we progress to morning tea and outdoor investigations, where the children’s activities are facilitated, self-determined or naturally arise through collegiate play.
• At 11 we build on the morning’s discussion with planned and spontaneous activities through to lunch at 12pm
• Yarramundi time follows, where children are invited to rest, read or engage in quiet individual activities that encourage calm independence.
• During the afternoon a further group time is held, focused on music and movement.

Our Environment

To enhance each child’s experience and memory of these special day at preschool we aim to progressively build upon its quality and ambience.

Our planning is guided by the belief that these days, too often, children’s experience of the world is limited to the standardised ‘safe’ playground of rules, cottonwool and softfall; where anything remotely appearing as a risk is hastily removed from the environment. This contributes nothing to spontaneous natural play, learning and challenge.

We believe playing in the natural setting of our garden teaches children to better take care, be aware, estimate risks, make decisions and to cope with life with confidence. We infuse these attributes into our future planning; encouraging the judging of risks and not simply removing them all together.

That said, we remain wholly committed to maintaining the Preschool as a safe place, but recognise the benefits for a child in better understanding their world through experiential play which should be a natural part of childhood.

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