Windermere Early Learning Centre is teaching children the life skills they need before entering school through play-based learning.
From interactive outside play spaces with chickens and a veggie garden, to dedicated workrooms and separate sleeping areas, children and toddlers are able to thrive at the leading early childhood centre led by Narre Warren’s Windermere Child and Family Services.
Chief executive officer Dr Lynette Buoy said play-based learning was not just about general play, but was a structured learning strategy.
“It’s creating an opportunity for children to engage, to develop motor skills, social skills and the capacity to self-regulate,” Ms Buoy said.
“There are so many very clever, intricate skills that our early learning teachers put into play for children that have significant learning behind them.
“It teaches them how to interact in a group of 20 or so other children their own age and gives them those foundational skills to be built upon.”
Ms Buoy said there was a lot of theory behind play-based learning.
“A play-based approach has much more fluidity compared to when children get to school where it is much more structured,” she said.
“It’s certainly a foundation of our approach to working with children.”
She said parents needed to consider the full day of activities at a centre when selecting a kinder for their child.
“I think all parents should be asking what are the foundations of the way they work with the children and what are the developmental approaches they use in order to get a good sense of what will actually happen when their child is there,” she said.
Early childhood professional and mother Sarah Harrif chose to send her children to Windermere ELC.
As a kindergarten teacher, she has asked more questions than most when selecting child care and kindergarten for her family.
“I work as a kindergarten teacher and educational leader in a long day care centre and initially had my children with me at the centre I work at,” she said.
“For a number of reasons I didn’t want to be my children’s kindergarten teacher.
“I believed they needed the time away from me, and the opportunity to explore a new environment and develop attachments with other people.”
The busy mum of three boys has a son in primary school, four year old Marley, who is enrolled in the kinder program at Windermere next year.
She wanted a childcare program that would facilitate her children to form a love of learning and also to establish and maintain friendships.
“The children’s relationships are very important to me, and straight away from our first visit we felt that Windermere was welcoming and genuine, and offered a very warm environment,” she said.
“The educators didn’t just call me with updates if they had a query about him, they would also let me know if he had settled or was having a good day. It’s such a relief as a parent to know that the children are being cared for in such a way.”
To enquire about enrolments, visit: windermere.org.au or phone the team on 1300 946 337.
