Gowrie NSW Erskineville Early Education & Care

Why Gowrie NSW Erskinveille Early Education and Care?

Erskineville Early Education and Care is Gowrie NSW's flagship centre, and has a rich history spanning 80 years. In our fully restored, historic building in Erskineville, families are connected by a deep sense of community.

Our not-for-profit preschool, and early education and care centre caters for children from 6 weeks to 6 years. We believe that every child brings with them unique strengths, capabilities, culture, interests, knowledge, ideas and experiences…

…and that every day is filled with possibility and chances for discovery.

Our dedicated and passionate educators implement a high-quality educational experience in a nurturing, stimulating and supportive environment. We keep you involved in their day via a secure online platform, so you can get through your day knowing your child is safe and happy.

We are committed to excellence and strive to make a lasting impact on children’s lives.

Meet some of the Educators from Erskineville Early Education and Care Centre

Primary Educator Relationships

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Gowrie NSW teachers and educators allocate one staff member who will be your child’s primary educator to work closely with you and nurture your child through the first three years of life. Your child's primary educator will be highly attuned to their routines, rhythms and unique cues.

Our emphasis and commitment to working towards key educator relationships promotes continuity, consistency and nurturing relationships between educators and children both individually and in small groups.

Your child will benefit from;

routines that are at their own pace and where they can participate in their own way
educators who take their ideas seriously
support to express feelings and show empathy for the feelings of others
encouragement to interact with other children and develop language and social skills
support to interact with children and adults in ways that are respectful and responsive
encouragement to listen to and respect the ideas of others.

How we encourage capable learners:

All our programs at Erskineville Early Education and Care are based on children’s strengths, knowledge, interests, concepts, and cultural backgrounds. The National Quality Framework stipulates that learning occurs best through play-based experiences.

Your child will enjoy;

• Interesting and engaging experiences providing opportunity for inquiry, exploration, discovery and problem-solving

• Active engagement with people, objects and representations

• Experiences and provocations based on children’s emerging concepts and thinking

• Rich play experiences by sourcing materials and creating environments which engage children’s sense of curiosity, wonder and investigation

•Opportunities for the development of a wide range of skill areas: social, emotional, cognitive, creative and physical

Extensive early childhood research shows that for children under the age of five years, play provides the best vehicle for learning. Children are more likely to persist at something in which they are interested in and play-based learning provides a great context for acknowledging children’s interests.

How we prepare your child for school

Our school readiness program begins from the moment children enter our centre. Building children’s confidence, strong sense of self, conflict resolution skills, creativity and collaboration are part of our program from the start.

Your child will have many opportunities to engage with literacy and numeracy. This will also be scaffolded and extended upon. In the final preschool years, we run a dedicated Transition to School Program for children and their families. This program is delivered by Early Childhood Teachers in consultation with local primary schools and will extend children’s social and emotional skills to build sound foundations for primary school.

Children will build their confidence and resilience levels, become accustomed with school routines and lunchboxes, learn how to work in teams, develop independence and much more.

For more information about our Transition to School Program, please enquire with our Centre Manager and Early Childhood Teachers based in the preschool rooms.

How we communicate with you

We use Storypark to document your child’s discoveries and learnings and this ensures open and clear communication. We document in real time, as it happens, and share photo’s, video, audio and observations with you in a secure online environment. storypark badge

Families are encouraged to participate in this process to ensure children achieve the best learning outcomes.

It’s just like you’re there with them, every day.

Age groups and learning environments

Erskineville Early Education and Care caters for children aged from 6 weeks to 6 years. There are six learning environments. The age groups in each room vary each year according to our waitlist and service capacity.

• Birth -1 years: 12 children
• 1-2 years: 20 children
• 2-3 years: 30 children (two rooms of 15 children)
• 3-5 years: 40 children (two rooms of 20 children)

Each learning environment has been designed to support the individual learning, development and needs of the child.

Children enjoy large outdoor spaces that include beautiful historical trees with rooms focusing on small group experiences with historical features throughout.

Each of the four learning environments has an outdoor play space which uses natural materials and soft colourings that support our commitment to an engaging and well-resourced learning environment for children. We also have an outdoor dining area and art studio.

We have a separate indoor dining area located adjacent to the kitchen where children can participate in the preparation of meals and engage in cooking experiences using ingredients from our edible garden.

Two younger learning environments have separate outdoor areas with equipment and experiences appropriate to the children's developmental stages and physical capabilities. Two older learning environments share large outdoor spaces which accommodate children of various gross motor abilities and is surrounded by trees and adjacent to a local park.