Orchard Early Learning Centre Austral

Our Paddock to Plate philosophy, quite literally, sits at the heart of our curriculum. It is the reason we have surrounded our centres with extensive produce gardens and orchards, ensuring children not only have abounding access to the natural environment but also learn first-hand where their food comes from.

Children and families are encouraged to be actively involved in the planting, upkeep, and harvesting of our garden produce, as well as caring for our Australian native stingless bees, and much loved free-ranging centre chickens.

Every day, our Kitchen Team brings this produce to life as they prepare 5 delicious and seasonally based meals. Where possible, produce is picked directly from our Children’s Garden and Orchards or sourced locally from our smaller community suppliers. Our tempting have been developed by an experienced Nutritionist, to nurture both the body and the mind and provide the fuel children need to learn, play, and develop.

AT ORCHARD EARLY LEARNING CENTRE, WE VIEW SCHOOL READINESS AS SO MUCH MORE THAN A CHILD’S ACADEMIC ABILITIES.

Our School Readiness program embraces 21st Century research and several child development theories that have a strong focus on social and emotional development.

Today there is greater research on how we understand 'readiness' and the range of additional factors which may affect a child’s ability to adapt and cope in a school environment. At Orchard Early Learning Centre our preschool educators focus on readiness through the lenses of social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills, communication and regulation of emotions and fostering independence and self-help skills.

Our Preschools are run by 4–year bachelor–trained Early Childhood Teachers who work alongside qualified and experienced Diploma and Certificate 3 educators. We provide a school readiness program that builds knowledge, skills, and behaviours that enable children to participate and succeed in school.