Fundamental to our beliefs, is that a spirit of joy should underpin all teaching and learning and thus, inspire a love of learning in each and every one of our girls.

In our Early Learning Centre (ELC), the uniqueness of each of our girls is honoured, celebrated and enriched. Our teaching and learning program is inspired by the principles of the Reggio Emilia philosophy, guided by The Early Years Learning Framework, connected to the high quality, innovative teaching practices at Wilderness School and, most importantly, created especially for your daughter.

Through a play-based program and a carefully constructed learning environment, our girls are encouraged to follow their interests and actively engage in their education. They are encouraged to think independently, embrace challenges and work collaboratively. We believe that a combination of nurture and opportunity provides a firm foundation for a successful lifelong learning journey.

Inspired by the work by Loris Malaguzzi in Reggio Emilia, the concept and value of joy is deeply embedded in our pedagogy. Joy in our ELC is experienced through the development of friendships, creativity, imagination, new learning, play and simply by being together in the moment, enjoying this special time of early childhood.

From the very beginning, our ELC girls see themselves as ‘Wildy girls’. They wear the uniform, attend specialist lessons, walk amongst the ‘big girls’ and, most importantly, they are connected to the School Values, especially that of Respectful Relationships. As the girls play and learn together, the spirit of unlimited kindness is reinforced and valued at every opportunity.

The children in our Early Learning Centre are offered opportunities to learn from highly-skilled specialist teachers within the School, including lessons in Music, Yoga, Library and Physical Education.

Belonging, Being and Becoming are celebrated in our Early Learning Centre, with the opportunity for community connection further strengthened as your daughters transition together from one House to another, and move together at the same time into Reception. This strong sense of belonging allows our girls and families to truly build strong lifelong relationships at Wilderness.

What will make our ELC the ‘perfect start’ for your daughter may be difficult to articulate now and even in the future, but you can be sure that it will provide a calm, joyful, nurturing environment and an education for your daughter that will prepare her for the next step on her journey to being the ‘best she can be throughout her life’.

Taking her first step into the Wilderness

Your daughter may begin her early learning journey in the Mamie Brown House in the year that she turns 3, as long as her birthday falls before 30 June in the respective year. If your daughter turns 3 years of age after this date, she will commence in the following year.

In the following year, the children move through to the Annie Brown House. This is the year prior to commencing school.

If you would like to learn more about our Early Learning Centre please email Natalie Klein, Academic Registrar. Alternatively, we invite you to register your interest.

A New Era in Early Learning at Wilderness

We are thrilled to announce a new Masterplan, commencing in 2022, that will define a new era in Early Learning at Wilderness; where our dearest-held traditions will endure in high-quality, engaging and beautiful learning spaces for our smallest custodians. Discover more here