St Catherine's ELC Prospectus

Play

L e a r n

G r ow

AT ST CATHERINE'S EARLY LEARNING CENTRE

Providing an exceptional educational experience for every child and instilling strong learning foundations are at the heart of the St Catherine’s Early Learning Centre (ELC). Our highly qualified and professional educators create a vibrant learning environment that offers every child the best possible start to their education. Guided by the Australian Early Years Learning Framework and inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, the rich educational environment encourages children to wonder, to imagine, to explore, to investigate, to create and to belong. The play-based experiences crafted and interwoven through each day enables every child to flourish and develop a love of learning.

We Belong

The nurturing and caring environment of the St Catherine’s ELC is a reflection of the experience and expertise of our educators. It is visible in the development of the children’s wellbeing. Their learning and their development is fostered through a warm and welcoming community.

Our classroom environments reflect the children’s personalities, their family and their interests.

Developing a sense of belonging allows all children to feel connected and involved in the life and learning of their class and the Early Learning Centre.

The Four Leaf Clover Program, hosted by our Year 4 Junior School girls with children in the 4 Year Old ELC Program allows both respective age groups to learn from each other and build trust, confidence and friendships. The transition to Prep the following year is greatly enhanced by these connections.

The St Catherine’s ELC is a place for every child to belong, grow and build life-long learning practices.

We Wonder

At St Catherine’s, we believe every child has an innate sense of wonder about the world around them. In our ELC, children are encouraged to explore their interests and ideas to build their confidence and curiosity.

The educators at St Catherine’s are highly qualified and professionally passionate about providing the best start to learning for every child. It is with expertise, that each learning experience is crafted to enable an exploration and understanding of sustainability and care of our natural environment.

Such learning experiences are further explored through unique excursions to gallery exhibitions and coastal environments where children can question, wonder and explore the world in which they live.

We Imagine

The rich learning environment at St Catherine’s ELC provides the opportunity for children to immerse themselves in role-play about their families, friends and a range of real-life situations.

We believe imaginative, creative and inspired play connects children to each other and their learning environment, allowing an exploration and discovery of new knowledge. Our educators carefully guide each experience enabling children the opportunity to learn to socialise and step into the world around them.

We

Explore

An inquiry-based program program in the St Catherine’s ELC provides children with hands-on learning experiences which foster their confidence to explore, investigate and discover.

The weekly Perceptual Motor Program is an active, fun and enjoyable experience for children.

This program, located in the St Catherine’s purpose built Gymnastics Facility, focuses on developing and extending every child’s balance, coordination, agility and strength through active play on a range of gym equipment.

Classroom experiences provide hands-on opportunities for exploration of light, shape, texture and colour. The children in our ELC learn to confidently explore their perception of objects and topics, whilst building fundamental skills in numeracy and literacy.

We I n ve s t i g a te

Passionate and skilled educators guide students to develop learning projects from small ideas originating from the children. Building confidence to explore deeply and develop innate problem-solving skills establishes a strong foundation of learning for a smooth transition into school.

Learning experiences, such as the weekly visits to St Catherine’s Junior School Library and 4 Year Old French classes extend learning opportunities through a love of literacy and investigation of French culture and language. Here, children learn to research and collaborate in small groups and share their learning with friends.

We Create

Creativity is embraced in our ELC as children learn to express their ideas through a range of different mediums. The selection of materials and experiences reflects the Reggio Emilia approach, designed by our educators with a clear intention of developing skills and expressing thoughts and ideas through drawing, collage, painting, sculpture and construction.

The inclusion of weekly Music in the 3 and 4 Year Old programs offers children the opportunity to explore and develop musical skills such as rhythm, singing and dramatic performance.

The encouragement of creative story making and the wonder of writing fosters a love of print and the exploration of sounds. All of which are vital as young learners prepare to make the transition to school.

St Catherine’s School

Early Learning Centre for Girls and Boys 17 Heyington Place Toorak VIC 3142 Telephone +61 3 9822 1285 Email info@stcatherines.net.au www.stcatherines.net.au CRICOS 00574F ABN 90 004 251 816