Our Program

The staff at Clunes Community Preschool are committed to a child-centred approach to learning, with children’s learning and wellbeing at the centre of our planning and decision making. Under the Education and Care Services National Regulation, we are required to provide a program of development and education for the children enrolled in the service.

At Clunes Community Preschool, our program is based on the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia and reflects the children’s strengths, interests and needs. Much of the day at preschool is spent in learning through play, with time also planned for learning through routines like mealtimes and rest, and also for teacher-led learning in small groups.

Our practice is influenced by the philosophy of the Reggio Emilia schools in Northern Italy. The principles of seeing each child as a capable and active learner, self-expression through the arts and the hundred languages, the intentional building of a learning community through group and project work, purposeful planning of an engaging physical environment, and the importance of social relationships to the learning, are all key to they way we work with children.

The Early Years Learning Framework informs the staff as they develop learning programs responsive to children’s ideas, interests, strengths and abilities, and recognises that children learn through their play. The Framework focuses on your child’s learning. It asks us to work with you in order to get to know your child well, create a learning program that builds on your child’s interests and abilities, and keep you in touch with your child’s progress.

Through the Framework’s five learning goals, we will assist your child to develop:

a strong sense of their identity

connections with their world

a strong sense of wellbeing

confidence and involvement in their learning; and

effective communication skills.