Exploring nature in Bush Kinder allows young minds and bodies to fully engage in their environment. Painting or knee-deep in mud, our students love learning through ‘messy play’ whilst developing their resilience and imagination.
Connecting parents and families with the day-to-day of Kinder life is essential. Creating an authentic community that shares in our child-centred approach means that the ‘Kinder Community’ doesn’t stop when the bell goes – learning and life go hand-in-hand.
Empowering students to follow their natural curiosity and to learn experientially through collaborative play is central in our Kinder philosophy. Given the right stimulus and a passionate teacher, our children always find something surprising and exciting.
Reaching beyond the immediate day-to-day experiences, students are immersed in family events like the Easter and Pentecost Festivals, VIP Morning Teas and the Kinder Nativity Movie and Picnic at the Cameo Cinemas. Each experience connects learning with families, and families with each other.
Sharing ‘wonder’ moments of learning is at the heart of our Kinder communication. Whether through Learning Stories, our ELC Facebook page or more regular two-way communication, we work to keep you informed and welcome partnership in shaping the learning journey of your children.
Creating and experimenting in the Maker Space provides more than the stimulation of technical and conceptual skills. Thinking skills - like logical deduction, cause and effect and the ability to forecast - are teamed with a student’s unique imagination and creativity.
With a focus on investigation and hands-on learning, our students are always discovering new things. Using our unique Story-Based Learning curriculum, students are encouraged to incorporate these discoveries into insights about who they are and empowered to overcome learning struggles in order to uncover hidden strengths.
Our emphasis on Environmental Studies encourages students to know that what they do can make a difference. Whether it is tending the veggie patch, looking after the royal hen family at ‘Cluckingham Palace’, cooking what they grow, or sparking connections with bigger issues of Science and Sustainability, our students are encouraged to ‘live out’ responsible stewardship and care.
Opportunities for expressing our students’ gifts and talents flow beyond mere lessons and into so many of the ‘experiences’ of our students. Whether it is a camp at Oasis or acting and singing in a Junior School Production, each child is given the opportunity to shine.
We treasure this transition time for students as they begin to explore and discover new facets to their identity and launch out into greater independence.
The play environment is designed to encourage innovation and creativity, with interactive spaces such as an outdoor giant chessboard, a permanent table tennis table, a six metre high climbing web and a rock amphitheatre.
At the same time, we value the need for a safe base for students experiencing major developmental shifts to feel known and understood, so we structure our classes to ensure that the majority of time is spent with one familiar teacher. This enables the provision of improved pastoral care and support.
With Middle School comes greater opportunities to discover new passions and further creativity, through elective tasters (such as media, food tech, art, wood craftsmanship and environmental studies) that open up into greater choices in later years. There is also an Instrumental Program (Year 7) and a PUSH Program (Year 8) which focuses on the furthering of academic engagement via musical and physical challenges.
We believe that this part of adolescence can be meaningful and rewarding, with great opportunities for formation and growth - in both learning and character - setting all of our students up for a great transition to their Senior School adventure.
Senior School offers a chance for students to experience the world from a different perspective with our Gravitate Fiji expedition and our French-flavoured New Caledonia experience. We do all we can to prepare our students to emerge from the highest mountain top ready to seize the future.
From immersive experiences in the form of high-quality dramatic productions in which students can build confidence and artistic skills to our Year 9 program which offers a community service component and a wide range of electives - we focus on providing opportunities for students to learn whilst doing.
Each student is wired differently, so we design pathways that fit. From our work experience program in Year 10 exposing students to the reality of work, access to careers counselling advice, VET options as well as providing access to university courses - this is a time to make great strides towards future outcomes.
Relationships are at the core of all we do. With fun and challenging camps at all year levels and a purpose-built VCE/VCAL Centre that enables students to form healthy relationships, we love seeing these connections flourish. Our Story-Based Learning curriculum focuses on educating students with wellbeing in mind, helping them to craft stories about their lives that are positive and connected to a hopeful reality.
