Crookwell Early
Learning
Programs
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world". Nelson Mandela
Crookwell Early Learning
At Crookwell Early Learning Centre, we have 2 rooms available to 0-5 year olds Education and Care programs, that are specifically designed to meet the age-appropriate stages of your child’s development. All rooms adhere to regulations regarding educator/child ratios and educators in each room remain consistent each day.
Each room follows a flexible daily routine and educators ensure that each child’s needs are being fulfilled throughout the day. The children progress through each room at their own pace according to their development and willingness to transition.
We endeavour to present learning environments which are enchanting and inviting for each child, furthermore aspire to provide a safe, respectful and compassionate centre to support and enhance awareness of your child's inner strengths, esteem as individuals, dignity and autonomy, self-confidence and enthusiasm for learning.
Educators work closely with families to foster collaborative relationships that will assist children to achieve quality outcomes. We believe that a working partnership between families and educators is beneficial to the ongoing development of each child.
Belonging, Being and Becoming - The Early Years Learning Framework describes the principles, practices and outcomes that support and enhance young children's learning from birth to five years of age, as well as their transition to school. We use The Early Years Learning Framework for our 0-5 years curriculum program.
Families are welcome to come and have a look at our centre anytime. We are open from Monday to Friday, 8am- 6pm, 50 weeks a year.
Discovery Room - 0-3 years
Our 0-3 year old room can have 13 children per day, and follows a one educator to 4 children ratio. Our discovery room is designed to reflect the home environment to allow the babies to feel safe and secure while they are growing and exploring. A separate, tranquil sleep room with soothing music and dimmed lighting helps accommodate each child’s individual sleep routine. The nursery’s daily routine is relaxed and progressive and follows each child’s individual preferences regarding bottles, meals, sleep and play.
Our room leader plans for each individual child on a regular basis through a cycle of observation, implementation and evaluation. This means that the children are engaging in activities of interest and working on areas of need.
As a child progresses through the discovery room we will support their growth in major areas such as walking, talking and other developmental milestones. Children are involved in a range of age-appropriate experiences such as art, music, movement, and story telling that aide development and encourage children to grow at their own pace.
Our room leader provides an educational program that focuses on encouraging independence, and the development of language, self expression and fundamental social skills. The room leader will provide children with resources and activities according to what they have observed, what the children have shown interest in and/or suggestions from families.
Our programming is designed to support all areas of learning and development, both indoors and outdoors. When we explore and play in our yards, we are engaging with the environment and actively learning about sustainability.
Children move up to the Preschool Room when they are emotionally and developmentally ready.
Preschool Room - 3-5 years
Our 3-5 year old Preschool Room can have 16 children per day, and follows a one educator to 10 children ratio. Our Preschool Room program is lead by 2 early childhood educators and is assisted by another early childhood educator.
Our 3-5 year old Preschool program runs all day 8am-6pm from Monday to Friday. There is no minimum time requirement that a child needs to attend.
Our Preschool program focuses on growing self-confidence, problem-solving skills, self-esteem, skill development and independence. The room leader utilises the children’s current interests and identified strength and need areas to form the basis of the Preschool program. The children are given opportunities to express which experiences and activities they would enjoy exploring throughout the program.
The routine in the Preschool room is relaxed, flexible and allows for both spontaneous and planned experiences. Children are provided with interesting, aesthetically pleasing and engaging activities throughout the indoor and outdoor environments. Activities are designed to provide concepts that enhance understanding and learning in areas of literacy, maths, science, music, environment and creativity.
Our outdoor spaces provide children with multiple opportunities to explore nature, sustainability and develop physical skills. Children have access to the development of edible gardens, as well as areas to run, explore and engage in quiet, solitary play. Educators provide many small and whole group experiences, both indoors and out, to encourage cooperation and build on social skills such as turn taking and sharing.
Our Preschool Room includes a comprehensive school readiness program.
Play is the children’s work through which they learn and make sense of the world around them. Play is also a process of development in everything a child does whereby a child’s curiosity is fulfilled by use of fantasy, imagination, independence and sensory exploration. Our play based curriculum is child-oriented; emerging from current interests, needs and developmental levels of the group. We provide an indoor/outdoor program where children can choose where they wish to play and explore. We find that kinder aged children learn most readily when the curriculum is relevant to their lives.
Our program is interactive and exploratory involving interaction with a rich variety of materials and equipment. We also incorporate as many ‘real life’ play experiences as possible into the program, e.g. home corner. Our first priority is to instill a love and appreciation for meaningful learning, thus helping to ensure children reach their full potential in later years. It is through this child-oriented play based curriculum that children gain a range of social, emotional, cognitive, lingual and physical skills.
The way we incorporate letters and numbers in our program is with experiences such as group games that include counting or recognising letters & numbers, singing songs and the letter of the week show and tell. We don't have specific times in the day where we focus on academic skills or knowledge as we know that children learn all they need to know through play (with gentle intentional teaching by educators).
We like to encourage family participation across all aspects of our program. Families can contribute to our programs through many ways, such as parent duty, feedback and an open-door policy which allows families to come in to the centre to play or share a story, talent, cultural experience etc. We value contributions from families and part of our aim is to make your family feel that this is a home away from home.
Some of the areas that we focus on are:
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Independence – e.g. getting the children to put their own belongings in their bags, self-serving themselves meals, using “real-life” objects in play
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Social Interactions – e.g. helping the children solve problems during social interactions so they can negotiate their way out in the playground
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School Readiness – e.g. providing the children with scissors, sticky tape, glue sticks, hole punchers etc.
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Sustainability – e.g. growing our own produce, becoming environmentally responsible, recycling
By providing small group activities such as home corner and block corner, we believe this gives children the opportunity to work on social and problem solving skills like working out an issue between two or more children, turn taking, sharing etc.
Throughout the year, we provide numerous learning experiences that will assist children in the transition to school and become apart of the wider community. For example: we take part in Flying Start at the Crookwell Public School for 8 weeks for children transiting to school the following year.
Occasional Care- Extra Days
Occasional care is a flexible service which provides high quality child care on an occasional or ad hoc basis. We have Occasional Care option for families that need flexible days of Education and Care for children aged between 0-5years. This could be for work or studying families that are on rostering shift work or need a extra day of care to study.
While in occasional care children have the opportunity to play in a safe, child focused environment and may engage in painting, craft, dramatic play, language and music activities, gross motor activities, building blocks, playing with puzzles and games and so on.
Families can access occasional care on a casual basis and may use it for: work and non-work related reasons, to attend meetings, as a stepping stone to long day care or preschool, to help children develop social skills, assisting families with a limited support network and/or emergency care.
At Crookwell Early Learning we employ trained and experienced early childhood educators and aim to provide a relaxed, friendly and inclusive environment. Our Centre offer some regular positions and provide a quality program to meet the needs of all children attending the centre.
Vacation Care
At Crookwell Early Learning we offer vacation care for school- aged children 6-12 years for the school holidays. We run a Vacation care Program throughout the holidays which includes different activities and excursions age appropriated.
Vacation Care has been designed with a focus on having fun while learning new skills, making new friends and having new experiences. Children can get involved in a host of exciting day excursions and learn important social skills in a safe and supportive environment.
Our Vacation Care programs encourage children to be involved in a variety of activities, including art, craft, cooking, sport, role play, group games and outdoor games.
Vacation Care is opened every School Holiday- Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm and is programmed by a Education and Care Educator
Before and After School Care
At Crookwell Early Learning we cater for school-aged children 6-12 years Before and After School Care. We have a bus service that drops off and picks up the children from local public schools around Crookwell. This is important service for the local community and we will continue offering our ever growing Before and After School Care. After School Care is full of activities that are planned ahead by an Education and Care Educator. Each session is based on a structured theme or activity which is tailored to each child of the program under the Government’s My Time Our Place Framework. Themes and activities are based around arts and crafts, cooking, sports, science, team games, and music.
Childcare Benefit and Childcare Rebate are both available for eligible families through Centrelink to reduce Before and After School care Fees.
Before School Care opens from 8am- to - 9am and After School Care starts from 3pm to 6pm
New Parent App
At Crookwell Early Learning we have just introduced a new Parent App call Kids Xap to follow children's learning in real time! Information such as programming, child development observations,event invites, special days, sleep times, nappy changes, play times, photos, meals and much more are delivered to you instantly.
Be a part of your child's daily activities while they are at Crookwell Early Learning Centre. It's a more convenient way to communicate and keep all records in one place. Access your child’s complete profile, portfolio, statements, medication history, injury records, attendance records and more, with all information available at your fingertips 24/7.
With Kids Xap™, you can view real-time Crookwell Early Learning centre updates via your online portal or even get notifications on-the-go through our convenient childcare app. From keeping in the loop with learning developments through to viewing photos of your child, these updates are a great way to stay aware of your child’s activities throughout the day, ensuring you’ll never miss a moment of your child’s life. The Kids Xap™ child care software provides you with a simpler way to access all your statements and billing information online.
