The children in the Early Learning Centre are provided with opportunities each and every day to learn and discover using the ‘hundred languages’. Our curriculum is inspired by the principles of the Reggio Emilia approach to education, inquiry and nature pedagogy. We believe that the children have many ways of thinking, communicating and doing and thus at the ELC we provide them with many opportunities to express themselves on a daily basis.

“Young children are encouraged to explore their environment and express themselves through all of their available expressive, communicative and cognitive languages, whether they be words, movement, drawing, painting, building, sculpture, shadow play, or music, to name a few.” Edwards, Gandini & Forman,1998

Throughout the year, the children in the ELC are offered the opportunity to experience a range of languages such as painting, drawing, construction, storytelling, light and shadow, sculpture, music and movement. This enables them to express their thoughts and ideas, to learn about themselves, and to discover the people and world around them.

Through their experiences at the ELC and in life, the children develop a natural affinity for particular languages. Whilst one child may enjoy drawing as their preferred language for expression, another child may prefer to represent their thoughts and ideas through construction. The children are provided with a range of materials, equipment and resources so that they have the opportunity to explore and experience many different languages and to engage with their learning and thinking to a deeper level.

ELC Parent Seminar – ‘Understanding Children’s Behaviour – Top Tips for Parents’

An ELC Parenting Seminar has been planned for Wednesday 19 May. This event will be held in the Selina Yao Auditorium in the Junior School from 6.30pm to 8.00pm. Our guest speaker, Andrea Cummins from the Early Life Foundation, will present ‘Understanding Children’s Behaviour – Top Tips for Parents’. Andrea has over 20 years’ experience working with young children as an early childhood professional. Her presentation will offer parents an insight into why children behave the way that they do and provide practical strategies for managing a range of scenarios. This is a great opportunity not to be missed.

Please RSVP to the Parenting Seminar using this form.

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Out of School Hours Care

St Catherine’s School offers an Out of School Hours Care program to all ELC and Junior School families. The program is implemented by our provider ‘After the Bell’, and operates within the ELC building. Parents are reminded that if you need to use the Before School Care or After School Care service, registrations need to be made in advance with ‘After the Bell’. Please allow up to five business days for your registration to be processed before your child can begin attending the program. Registration is free. All families are encouraged to register so that you can use this service in the event that you are unable to pick up your child.

Before School Care – 7.00am to 8.45am

After School Care – 3.00pm to 6.00pm

Registrations can be completed via the ‘After the Bell’ website.

Please phone 9758 6744 for all enquiries.