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Curriculum

At Cameron Park Early Learning Centre, we believe that early childhood is a sacred time of discovery, belonging, and boundless learning potential.

Our approach

Our Learning Curriculum

Embraced in our vibrant family community, our educational programs are meaningfully anchored by the National Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), honouring each child’s unique voice, rights, and identity.

Our curriculum and learning programs are intentionally designed to nurture the whole child, interweaving intentional teaching with child-led exploration to ignite a lifelong love for learning. Driven by curiosity and empathic care, we cultivate environments where every child feels safe to innovate, create, and develop at their own pace. This ensures your child builds the confidence and resilience required to flourish.

In planning and implementing learning programs, we view children not as passive recipients of knowledge but as powerful, capable agents in their own learning stories, driven by an innate desire to understand the world around them.

Early Years Learning Framework

Belonging, Being and Becoming

Guided by this framework, we support your child’s daily journey through three important stages.

Belonging

This is about connection. We ensure your child feels safe, secure, and deeply connected to our educators, their peers, and the Cameron Park community, knowing they truly belong here.

Being

This is about the present. We celebrate the magic of the right now, giving children the time and space to play, explore, and just enjoy the wonder of being a child in the present moment.

Becoming

This is about the future. We nurture the unique strengths and capabilities your child is developing, helping them grow into confident, resilient learners ready for the world ahead.

How learning takes shape

An enquiry-based curriculum

Our curriculum takes shape through an enquiry-based learning model, where the sparks of children’s natural curiosity are intentional catalysts for deep investigation. In our collaborative spaces, teachers and children work together as co-researchers. Our educators support and encourage children’s learning by closely observing, noticing, and responding to their strengths, interests, and ideas.

Through skilled planning and analysis, and by making visible the diverse ways children think, imagine, and invent, educators can understand the conditions and approaches to teaching that can enhance and provoke deep learning.

Together, children and educators embark on shared journeys of discovery, slowing down to explore emerging topics of interest, test theories, question ideas, and actively engage in learning. In this relationship between educator and child, a dialogue of mutual respect, listening, and shared wonder evolves.

The responsive curriculum skilfully integrates creative arts, maths, sciences, literacy, technology, music, and movement, and encourages children to explore, experiment, and express their thoughts and feelings in multiple ways. Alongside these domains, healthy food, nutrition, health safety, physical, mental, and social wellbeing are also implemented in our learning programs.

Our spaces offer high-quality resources and materials that invite children to test complex ideas, invent, voice their perspectives, and imagine through social collaboration. The resources are consistently made available so children know they can freely access the provisions, giving them the opportunity to revisit, practise, and build on their ideas and learning pursuits.

The Power of Play

Play is how children make sense of the world

Decades of research have shown that play is the best way for young brains to develop, so our curriculum is intentionally developed around play.

We hold a profound reverence for play as the vital heartbeat of childhood and the ultimate vehicle for meaningful learning. Through unhurried, purposeful play, children navigate complex ideas, build strong, connected relationships, and expand their physical, emotional and cognitive abilities.

Play isn’t just something children do; it’s how they make sense of the world. It’s how they connect, express themselves, and discover who they are.

Our thoughtfully planned experiences, implemented to strengthen language, problem-solving, and early literacy and numeracy, are developed through the joy of play.

These early experiences of imagination and exploration lay the foundation for lifelong skills such as resilience, empathy, and creative thinking.

Age group programs

A program for every stage

Early Learners (0–2 years)

Our nursery is a sanctuary of warmth, safety, and gentle care. We focus on building trusted and secure attachments that form the foundation for all learning and well-being. We view babies as curious researchers of their world who learn and discover by moving their bodies, engaging their senses, and sharing meaningful connections with our educators.

Active Learners (2–3 years)

The toddler years are a dynamic time of claiming autonomy and exploring their abilities. We celebrate their drive for independence by creating an environment that respects their choices and honours their unique voices within our community. Our active learners are natural scientists; their play is physical, purposeful, and driven by curious investigation.

Inquiring Learners (preschool 3–5 years)

Our preschool program prepares children not just for school, but for life as critical thinkers and compassionate citizens. Whether exploring how insects build homes or how water flows, children and educators work side by side as co-researchers. They voice hypotheses, test theories, and debate ideas, ensuring their intellectual curiosity and creativity are expanded.

Rhythms and rituals

Daily routines

At Cameron Park Early Learning Centre our daily routines, rhythms of the day, are inspired by the principles of slow pedagogy. We believe that children thrive when they are granted the luxury of time — time to think, to feel, to wonder, and to simply be. By slowing down, we create a responsive environment in which the unique needs and natural rhythms of individual children direct our pace.

Slowing down

  • Uninterrupted play: Expansive blocks of time for deep, meaningful investigation.
  • Unhurried transitions: Gentle, respectful movements between transitions throughout the day.
  • Responsive to children’s pace: Aligning the routine schedules in response to children’s needs and natural rhythm and pace.

Wellbeing and regulatory support

Specialised programs

Sensory Therapy Room

Our sensory therapy space

At Cameron Park Early Learning Centre, we recognise that wellness, wellbeing, and regulatory support are foundational to a child’s capacity to learn, communicate, and connect. Our state-of-the-art Sensory Therapy Room is a dedicated, tranquil sanctuary. This space is intentionally utilised by our educators and visiting allied health partners — including Occupational Therapists (OTs) and Speech-Language Pathologists — to conduct tailored, therapeutic sessions within the comfort of a familiar environment.

Occupational Therapy

For our visiting occupational therapists, the room serves as a dynamic space for sensory integration, emotional regulation, and motor skill refinement. The environment is richly resourced to provide both calming and regulating inputs, allowing OTs to tailor it to each child’s unique support needs.

Speech Therapy

Speech therapists leverage the room’s unique properties to create optimal conditions to support children’s language and communication development.

By embedding this extensively resourced space within our centre, we ensure that therapeutic intervention is seamless, dignified, and perfectly integrated into each child’s regular day, maximising their developmental outcomes.

A therapeutic sanctuary for holistic development

Purpose-built design

Tailored for targeted sensory processing and therapeutic support.

Collaborative care

A purpose-built environment for our visiting allied health professionals.

Resource richness

Fully equipped to support diverse speech and occupational therapy goals.

Transition to school

School Readiness

In collaboration with Newcastle University, our service undertook a major research study into Transition to School in May 2017. The research insights improved our transition to school programs and due to their success were highly recognised in our school communities for their innovation. Affirming the integrity of our teacher research project we also won first place in the prestigious international Early Childhood Awards in Italy in November 2017.

The credibility of our research was founded on the importance of consulting children and drawing from their insights, learning how we can best tailor and improve transition to school programs.

We continue to forge out effective and collaborative transition to school programs, providing children with every opportunity to make a positive and successful transition to school.

Supporting school readiness through school liaison

Transitioning to school is a monumental step, and we ensure our children walk that path with confidence and support. We liaise closely with our local schools to organise annual transitions and excursions. These purposeful visits allow our preschoolers to experience real school environments — exploring the classrooms, meeting teachers, and playing on the big playground equipment.

Documenting learning

Their work, on display

Children’s creations are displayed at their height, named and cared for — so each child sees their own thinking valued in the room they learn in.

Growing together

Our community connection

At Cameron Park Early Learning Centre, we believe that it takes a village to raise a child, and we are deeply committed to being that village for your family.

Annual family events

Shared celebrations that weave strong community bonds.

School readiness excursions

Close collaborations with local schools for smooth transitions.

Community footprints

Real-world learning through regular local excursions.

We view early childhood education as an invitation to build a warm, inclusive, and connected community. By stepping beyond the walls of our centre, we nurture a rich sense of belonging for our children, their families, and the broader community.

Our calendar is marked by joyful annual community events designed to bring our families together, foster lifelong friendships, and celebrate the magic of childhood. These much-anticipated gatherings are the heartbeat of our community spirit.

01

Edgeworth Trains family picnic day

A spectacular annual day out where our families gather at the nearby Edgeworth Trains. Children and parents share picnics, ride the miniature trains, and connect in a relaxed outdoor setting.

02

Annual disco celebration

A vibrant, fun-filled event with music and dance. It is always a wonderful opportunity for children, families, and educators to celebrate our shared community.

03

Preschool graduation evening

A deeply heartfelt, significant milestone evening where we honour our oldest children as they prepare to take their next big steps. We gather as a community to reflect on their learning journeys, celebrate their growth, and wish them well.

Exploring our local community

In alignment with the EYLF’s emphasis on children being connected to their world, we love expanding our learning environment into the local area. We regularly arrange excursions to our local shopping centre, turning an everyday space into a rich landscape for learning. During these community walks, children practise road safety, engage in real-world mathematics while shopping, and learn to confidently interact with the shopkeepers and workers who make up our vibrant local community.

Connecting with our senior community

Our service also visits with the local over 55’s resort located in our street, connecting with the senior community, sharing in story time, singing and art and craft experiences.

Incursions

To further enrich our curriculum and spark new areas of inquiry, we also host a diverse range of incursions throughout the year. We invite specialist educators, artists, and community professionals into our familiar environment, allowing children to engage with complex topics through a secure, supportive lens. These immersive workshops are carefully selected to complement our daily child-led projects and deepen children’s understanding of the world around them.

Enrolment Enquiry

Join the waitlist or book a tour — we would love to show you around.

Waitlist Enquiry