Early Learning

Inspire to grow

Our Early Years Vision Statement

At Yanchep Beach Primary School, together with families and the wider community, we promote the development of the whole child. Our students are independent lifelong learners who have opportunities to learn through a balance of Explicit Instruction and Intentional Play- Based experiences that are differentiated to support each child’s characteristics of effective learning, these include playing and exploring, active learning and creating and thinking critically. As dedicated teaching staff, we ensure that we design open-ended learning experiences to provide children with access to an integrated curriculum that maximises their individual potential.

We value parent engagement and are committed to providing a quality

holistic education that values each child’s ability, cultural background

and interests; providing opportunities for students to be the best they

can be. There is no one definition of play however, there are several agreed characteristics that have been brainstormed by our dedicated team of Early Childhood Practitioners.

“It is becoming increasingly clear through research on the brain, as well as in other areas of study, that childhood needs play. Play acts as a forward feed mechanism into courageous, creative, rigorous thinking in adulthood.” – Tina Bruce

The Early Years Framework defines play as “a context for

learning through, which children organise and make sense of

their world as they actively engage with people, objects and

representations”.

Play Based Learning - Yanchep Beach Primary School

Play based learning defined by our staff in Early Childhood is a holistic

approach to learning and development. Through play, children

learn valuable life skills that support their social, emotional, physical and

cognitive development. As highly skilled early years educators, our role

is to create strong, positive relationships so that we can engage

children in the learning environment and maximise learning

opportunities. through open-ended questioning we ensure that

our children are thinking creatively.

Types of play at Yanchep Beach

Free play- Unstructured, child-initiated play allows children the

freedom to explore, create and discover without predetermined rules

or guidelines. It’s been shown to foster cognitive development while

boosting physical development and social and emotional development.

It specifically helps creativity and imagination, problem-solving

abilities and social skills. Most of this type of play happens in our

beautiful nature playground.

Teacher led / directed play – Intentionally planned open-ended

provocations led by educators to practise skills with a curriculum

learning intention.

Guided / mutually directed play- Emphasised as a child directed

practice. Control is with the child and educators intervene during play

to scaffold and capitalise on skills through co-playing, questioning or

demonstrating new ways to interact with materials.

Our Daily Routines

At Yanchep Beach Primary School we are committed to hands on,

developmentally appropriate learning practices within our Early

Childhood Classrooms.

Each day in our Kindy and Pre-primary classrooms there is a blended

approach of Explicit Instruction leading into Play-Based learning

opportunities. Our environments are designed within the Continuous

Provision Model

Basic Provision- is not directly linked to assessment of strengths, needs or learning preferences.

Continuous Provision- Resources that continue the learning when an

adult is not present.

Enhanced Provision- supports what we are focussing on in teaching

considering learning and specific interests.

Linked Provision – linked to a need that has been identified through

observation and assessment.

Adult- led provision- Adult initiates a n activity or play experience

identifying a teaching opportunity using the children’s interest as a

springboard.

Challenges- In our Kindy and Pre-Primary classrooms we set our

children challenges each week which become our ‘non-negotiables’.

These are differentiated according to assessment and observation

Children are expected to complete the challenges by the end of the

week and evidence it either using a photograph or a piece of work.

This encourages our children to become independent learners who can

explain their learning to an adult and also gives children opportunities

to practise the skills being taught during Explicit Instruction time. The

result is authentic learning where our children thrive both

academically and socially and emotionally.