The Toorak Campus Early Learning Centre (ELC) is housed in a building known as The Pottery, a beautiful, joyful and inspiring learning space for children aged three to five years. Our Early Learning programme is designed to support and nurture the whole child, to foster a passion in discovery and exploration that builds the foundations for a lifelong love of learning. For us, building confidence, happiness and trust are vital – right from the start.
Our Early Learning programme is a place where we value quality relationships between children, their families and educators and believe this is at the centre of an exceptional education.
We recognise that inquiring minds are stimulated best through interactive, interest based, play centered and investigative learning. Our exceptional educators design experiences that encourage children to explore and engage, to observe and to wonder, to challenge and question their world around them.
From learning how to use Art to express ideas and understanding, to pottering in the Children’s Garden or engaging in physical activities in the Isabel McComas Hall gymnasium, the children are engaged in authentic, interesting and purposeful learning experiences each day. Small group learning is combined with large group experiences, as each child is guided along their own individual learning pathway.
Our bespoke learning programme is heavily influenced by the Reggio Emilia Approach and guided by the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme (PYP). At their core, both educational frameworks, recognize young people as active, competent and capable drivers in their own learning.
Central to our learning curriculum is Positive Education. This is an educational pillar at our School, placing wellbeing at the heart of our learning community and embedded in all learning experiences in the school-wide curriculum. In the early years, we focus on fostering positive social and emotional skills and awareness, with a view to foster a sense of belonging and connection where all children can flourish and grow together.
Beyond active engagement in their classroom, children are enriched with a range of specialist learning activities across the campus’s magnificent facilities. Access to specialist programmes depends upon the child’s days of attendance.
Art is a valued, daily component of the ELC programme. Dedicated areas both indoors and outdoors encourage children to design, explore, create, manipulate, build, experiment, construct and translate their ideas.
The Children’s Garden is a wonderful space where our young learners can engage in the fresh produce that is being grown and harvested through the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Programme.
Through drama, children can foster self-confidence and practice important language and social skills. In our ELC, this can take many forms including storytelling, role playing, movement and improvisation.
A weekly visit to our school library enables children to borrow books and listen to stories read by our Teacher Librarian.
Music is an important component of the weekly programme. Children learn through movement and dance, singing, listening, creating and playing percussion instruments in order to develop initial rhythmic, aural and vocal skills. Experiences are planned to encourage children to create, listen, compose and share music. In addition to these experiences, the children attend a specialist Music session every week.
Children engage in a variety of activities that enhance their gross motor skills, body awareness and control of movement. They also learn about co-operation and participation. In addition to daily outdoor play and weekly Physical Education sessions the children in the 4-year-old programme participate in the Perceptual Motor Programme (PMP).
We are an Anglican School and Christian values and concepts such as love, honesty, friendship and sharing are incorporated into all aspects of our daily life.
Our educators take advantage of the exceptional Toorak Wellbeing Centre and engage our early learners in experiences such as yoga or meditation within the spaces.
Every day is an adventure in The Pottery! Whilst no two days are ever the same, there is a structure to our day that brings security and familiarity to support positive learning.
Outdoor play is a vital part of the learning experience in our programme and influenced by research which clearly shows that natural environments and outdoor play are beneficial to children in developing capacities for creativity, symbolic play, an appreciation for nature, problem solving, social connection, intellectual development as well as physical benefits.
Our educators design for learning experiences that are rich and varied in our beautiful outdoor spaces.
Our School seeks to inspire all our learners, across all year levels, to celebrate diversity whilst fostering inclusivity and belonging. At Toorak Campus, we draw on the expertise of Murrundindi, head elder of the Wurundjeri people, to help us embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander perspectives into the learning experiences for all of our students.
Our programme caters for children aged three to five years and is offered during school terms.
Our ELC in ‘The Pottery’ provides a lovely, warm learning environment to support our children. Situated on Wallace Avenue, on the western pocket of the Toorak Campus, our young learners enjoy being a part of the primary campus and its exceptional facilities that it has to offer, whilst also enjoying a secure and nurturing environment with the freedom of space to confidently explore.
Starting Prep is an exciting time for children and families.
Our ELC provides the ideal foundation to transition into Prep at Toorak Campus, given that ‘The Pottery’ sits adjacent to the Sutherland Centre, which is also home of our Prep and Year 1 students. This means that the children are already familiar with the classrooms and learning spaces that they will be moving into. In addition, they already have had exposure to specialist subjects and educators and have been connected to the learning community through assemblies and whole-school events.
In Term 4, we run a comprehensive transition programme over several mornings to allow children to get to know each other and their educators and familiarise themselves with the Prep learning spaces and routines.