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LEARNING IN A SAFE ENVIRONMENT
At Woodleigh’s Penbank Campus, we know young learners need a safe environment – one where they can make mistakes, struggle and grow. This is especially true of our littlest students as they transition from home to new and unfamiliar school spaces.
What we also know about children is that they are knowledgeable, caring, and principled learners. We recognise their force as co-contributors to their learning, evidenced by growing interpersonal skills, critical and creative thinking skills, self-management skills – and sheer joy - as they move through our Early Childhood Centre as three and four-year-olds.
Our rigorous Early Childhood programming is inquiry-based, designed to engage and intrigue the curious mind, developing communication, social and problem-solving skills along the way. Woodleigh’s ECC is pedagogically diverse – it is academic, immersive, and, being set in a small-school environment, enables students to develop and test theories in real-life scenarios.
On Thursday mornings – rain, hail, or shine – our four-year-old children wrestle little feet into gumboots and wet-weather gear in front of the woodfire heater. A gumboot lost, another stuck, laughing, sharing, and frustrations abound, and everybody eventually wanders down to Bush Kinder.
Carrying the day’s essentials between themselves to a spot tucked into Penbank’s beautiful 35 acres, students spend a day tree climbing, cubby making, a picnic lunch and games aplenty. Tired and happy, they wander back to the warmth of the indoors to rest, read and play.
Penbank is a special and beautiful place for your child to begin their significant journey through school education. In an evolving world, and attuned to their own natural environment, your child’s voice, confidence and preparedness to grow are fostered here at Woodleigh Penbank Early Childhood.
