Play Spaces
Nursery
Aqua Room and Green Room
The youngest rooms of the service cater for ten children each, and we follow the 1:4 ratio of Educators to Children.
We work alongside you and your children as we follow each child’s daily routine. We encourage each child to explore, learn and develop at their own pace. Each room is warm and inviting to aid in a smooth transition between care and home for all.
Strong relationships with both the children and their families are important to foster a feeling of belonging. High-quality care is provided through education and positive learning experiences in spaces that are flexible, safe and stimulating.
Toddlers
Pink Room, Yellow Room and Purple Room
Pink and yellow rooms are designed to cater 15 children each and we follow the 1:4 ratio of Educators to Children. Purple Room is designed to cater for 10 children.
Children’s learning and growth comes through the freedom to play and explore. We provide each child with a play-based program that is flexible and deigned for each child’s unique needs and interests. By guiding their learning one on one and encouraging social interactions in small groups and in whole group settings we scaffold their curious minds.
We work alongside each family to set meaningful and achievable goals for your child. With open communication and reciprocal relationships, we can all work together to support every child to achieve these goals.
SMILING CHILDREN ELC’s KINDER PROGRAM’S
Three-Year-Old Funded Kinder
From 2022, Smiling Children ELC has offered 3-year-old funded kindergarten. Our program is funded for 15 hours per week per child and operates between 9am -3.30pm. For those who attend our program receive a discount off their fees. Our funded kinder program is seamlessly embedded into our extended hours of 6:30am -6:30pm.
Rainbow Room and Orange Room are both designed for 15 children. We follow the over three ratio in these room as we run on a 1:11 educator to child ratio and both programs are led by a qualified Early Childhood Teacher.
While both of these rooms are providing funded kinder, we also provide the opportunity for long day care as well.
We ensure that childcare and a child’s early years should be filled with fun, love and curiosity. It is our desire to provide a play based program that is interesting, creative, challenging and considered environments and spaces based on every child’s goals, interests and developmental needs.
We encourage and guide every child to participate and learn using a hands-on approach through experiencing, experimenting, exploring, imitating, and Scaffolding while we listen, care, support and trust them. We hold high expectations for each child and encourage risk taking and decision making. We believe all of these aid in a child positive self-confidence, individuality and identity.
Four Year Old Funded Kinder Program
We follow the over three ratios in this room as we run on a 1:11 educator to child ratio and the program is led by a qualified Early Childhood Teacher. Our core Kinder hours are between 9am and 3.30pm with a room designed to facilitate 30 children in their learning and development each day. For those who attend our program receive a discount off their fees. Our funded kinder program is seamlessly embedded into our extended hours of 6:30am -6:30pm. This room also has availability for families who choose to access long day care instead.
Our four year old kindergarten program focuses on School Readiness. This refers to a child’s ability to transition smoothly into School. When children are confident and involved in learning they are more likely to experiment, explore and try new ideas.
Play allows children to learn about their inner world and their physical world. The room and its equipment is designed to provide a nurturing space for unhurried, self-directed play that allows each child to engage their innate talents and develop their skills. Through play, they are practising their language and communication, negotiating, problem solving, cooperation and collaboration skills. They are utilizing their imaginations, creativity, developing their social and emotional skills and becoming resilient, assertive and building their confidence. Play is the corner stone of child development and essential to a child’s cognitive, physical, social and emotional wellbeing and development.
Our Kinder program reaches out to many educational excursions and incursions throughout the year. These are complementary to our families as they are included into the Kinder funding. These extra-curricular moments are catered to the group’s current interest and learning styles.
In addition to all the special moments mentioned above we also enjoyed our weekly if not daily Enrichment program activities.
Outdoor Rooms
Under 3 years outdoor space is designed to cater for Aqua, Green, Pink and Purple rooms. In this area we follow the 1;4 educator ratio.
Over 3’s years outdoor space is designed to cater for Yellow, Rainbow, Orange and Kinder rooms. A 1:11 educator to child ratio is followed in this area.
We believe that our outdoor spaces are just as important as our indoor spaces.
At smiling Children, we value the importance of building connection to country, a respect for the environment and the resilience, strength and freedom that comes from a robust outdoor educational program.
We are fortunate to be situated in a semi-rural setting and as such this year we have utilised the open space directly in front of the centre as part of our funded Kinder programs. We will continue to develop this program and our space and resources over time.
