From the ELC

Tate Hillas, Jay Goel and Charlie Wei learn through play

Play is the way we learn together

Early Childhood is a time for young children to wonder, explore, discover and make meaning of the world around them. Our students in the Early Learning Centre are presented with these opportunities through our educational program. Encouraging our students to live in the moment, to enjoy the here-and-now and to spend unhurried time using processes such as exploration, investigation, collaboration and problem solving underpin all aspects of the Early Learning Program.

Learning and teaching in the early years is holistic. Play reflects the holistic and authentic way in which children explore, grow and learn. It focuses on the cognitive, physical, social and emotional growth and wellbeing of our students.

Skills relating to language, symbolic exploration and expression, literacy and numeracy are also developed through play. With these skills, children can explore, respond to, and negotiate the world around them.

Our students are naturally curious to learn. The sounds and sights of children exploring, wondering and making new discoveries is evident to see throughout the ELC. Our aim is for the children to become confident and engaged learners over time, enabling them to develop and increasingly take responsibility for their own learning and personal regulation in the social environment.

Our students develop understandings of themselves and their world through active hands-on investigation. It is important they are provided with many opportunities to play, explore and discover using all their senses. This is how they start to construct their understanding of the world around them, as well as building their understanding of concepts, creative thinking and inquiry processes, which are foundations for life-long learning. Young children are naturally drawn to one another and seek out the company of others. All our students have been through a period of time when they were not able to interact with their friends which was incredibly challenging for them. Currently, our students are relishing the opportunity to spend time with their friends and peers and engage in dramatic and imaginative play, creating and participating in games inside and outside, talking and laughing in small groups and working on small group collaborative projects together, as well as having opportunities to share and negotiate.

Watching our students engage in social opportunities and collaborative learning is truly wonderful to see.

Naomi Wright

Director of the ELC