Cherry Bridge Station Austral has specialised educational programs to suit children aged 6 weeks – 5 years:

Our Koalas require lots of nurturing and interaction, in which to grow and be. The ideal environment for developmental growth includes a balanced blend of experiences and a consistent, attentive approach. Our focus is on each child, building the foundations for language and discovering gross-motor and fine-motor skills. We role-model emotional growth with caring, positive interactions and engagement. Our nursery is created to provide a safe and home-like environment, with separate cot rooms and a cosy, relaxing and comfortable sleep area for babies. By attending to individual needs, Cherry Bridge Station educators ensure your child’s evolving routine is met, with an optimum balance of stimulation and rest.

We’re walking and talking now! With more mobility and communication, peer engagement forms a big part of social growth at this age. Activity is encouraged as gross motor skills and curiosity collide! We work to develop each child’s ability to maneuver their way around the environment in safety. Consistency around daily rhythms and routines is important, in ensuring your child’s individual needs are met. For our Wombats, play programs include a range of sensory experiences that are stimulating and engaging, with different textures, sounds and natural materials. Rest rhythms are taken in a safe and home-like environment, with a separate sleeping room for cosy sleep time.

Now we’re talking! At this age, children are fascinated by their environment – everything is new! And adults have a lot of explaining to do! Cherry Bridge Station educators find days in the Kookaburras room are filled with talking . . . lots and lots of talking. Your child’s language development is likely to be skyrocketing right about now. Our educators look for different ways to extend their language skills every day, both in learning and play sessions, encouraging your child to use this strong foundation as a tool for navigating those new experiences. Play activities are created with education goals and independence in mind while sparking their imaginations with peer-related games such as pretend play. Education programs are activity-based and cover mathematics concepts, self-help skills, negotiating socially, dealing with challenges and making choices.

Level up! At this stage, we focus on preparing children for the preschool program, at the 4-5 years age stage. Our Wallabies love socialising and learning to interact with new friends. This stage is about expanding social skills and learning different ways of being social, in groups and independently. Educators engage those expanding language skills with increasingly complex vernacular. This important social stage in the learning journey is where a growing awareness of rules and boundaries is balanced with curiosity and exploration. Educators focus on encouraging cooperation with others, enhancing prosocial skills, taking care of friends and making and following simple rules. We actively encourage kindness towards each other, as part of building solid foundations for personal growth and self-reflection.

The Emus are really-nearly ready for school! It’s all about Kindergarten preparedness, in our education programming. Our preschoolers are learning skills that will help them feel more confident and settled at primary school – including familiarity with education technology and structured learning environments. The program is a fun, comprehensive approach to letter and number recognition, sight words, basic science concepts, reflective thinking and applied strategies for solving problems. Whether it’s counting backwards, tying a shoelace or telling a story, school-readiness learning takes place alongside self-awareness, structured play and individual interests. Our Emus get ready to take the leap, with small and large group story sharing, drawing and writing, learning about colours, shapes and numbers, developing personal and communal responsibilities and caring for their own belongings, problem-solving, self-help skills and social interaction with their peers.