Early learning providers are connecting children with their environments in innovative push to support their growth and boost resilience. After the disruption of the COVID-19 years, educators say young people are embracing a connection with the world around them, while also building a solid foundation to thrive in their primary school years.

Strathcona Girls Grammar is one early learning provider with a new learning space in the heart of Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. The school has converted three buildings into an Early Years Campus. At the centre of the space, which integrates the early years students with those in prep and grade 1, sits an established gumtree. “The initial brief was around light, space and time –we wanted those to be the guiding words,” Lisa Miller, Strathcona’s head of Junior School, says. “The playground is all natural timbers, logs, rocks, and it really is a beautiful urban landscape in nature, integrating those two together. “Our young families go to these beautiful parks in Melbourne, and we wanted to represent those parks, and that’s what it is – it’s really beautiful. Even the birds are coming in!”

In Melbourne’s western suburbs, Westbourne Grammar School is harnessing local First Nations knowledge to help its children develop a strong connection with the local environment and sustainability. In collaboration with the Bunurong Land Council, the school has developed an early years program called Mark Making, which features an Indigenous artist in residence. “It’s really focused on developing children’s understanding of local Indigenous culture,” Teagan Collins, Westbourne associate principal, says. “We’ve been working with the children around Indigenous symbols and representative drawings of nature. “The intentionally crafted experiences and thoughtful provocations have engaged families in our Reconciliation Action Plan, which has provoked a lot of wonder and thinking about how they can meaningfully connect with the Bunurong First Nations community.”

For Westbourne, this is tied to helping the children develop their senses of awe and wonder for the world around them, while also developing foundations for academic learning. “These play-based experiences provide children a meaningful context for the construction of their knowledge and understandings,” Collins says. “This deepens their thinking processes and is an opportunity for self-regulation of their learning environment, which is a beneficial skill as they move throughout their educational journey. “Something we’re finding increasingly so with our diverse community – regardless of their race, religion, background or ethnicity – is their desire to be involved and understand First Nations culture. It is quite remarkable.”

Like Westbourne, Strathcona’s approach is heavily influenced by the Reggio Emilia principles of education, with children at the forefront of their learning experience, Lisa Miller says. “What we’ve created is this seamless journey from three-year-olds right through to year 1 that are really well connected in terms of the pedagogy and play-based learning,” she says. “But also having intentional teaching of numeracy and literacy, we’re able to scaffold that quite closely between the ELC, prep and year 1.”

Source: The Age- Early Learning Guide

Published: 20 July 2024

Words by: Peter Lenaghan