Our Learning Environment
Inside Environment
The indoor environments at Stepping Stones are designed to be cosy, challenging and inviting. The rooms are carefully and intentionally set out by Educators to create spaces for children that are comfortable and engaging, without being overstimulating or busy.
Resources are provided for the children at their level for them to access, focusing on open-ended play which encourages role-playing, problem-solving, and imagination.
Rooms reflect the children that play in them. Family photos, bespoke artwork curated by the children - even the resources available are determined in collaboration with them as they get older. This helps create a space in which children have a sense of belonging, a respect for their environment, and engaging in learning.
Outdoor Environment
Our indoor environments are designed to be inspiring, beautiful, and engaging. Children have access to a wide range of sensory experiences, with natural materials featuring heavily.
We boast a large, natural outdoor space with open areas of grass, secluded areas for reading and relaxing, gardens with flowers and herbs, undercover softfall areas for safe climbing and building, mud kitchen and sandpit, as well as housing our service pets.
Our playground has a focus on sustainability, with worm farms, water tanks and compost bins all accessible to children for their exploration and learning.
Our Outdoor educator Dallas maintains our outdoor environment and pursues his passion for permaculture throughout the centre. Dallas works with the children to learn these concepts that support our vision for the centre.
Studio
The Studio is a recent addition to the learning spaces at Stepping Stones. Situated between the two Preschool rooms, the Studio hosts small groups of children over several days of the week who engage in interest-based learning and research.
Groups are carefully orchestrated, placing children of mixed age, gender and skill sets into groups that will undertake research projects for a ten-week period. Guided by our Studio Educator, these groups will take an interest shared by the children and delve into a range of experiences in order to draw out their knowledge, theories and questions so as to deeply extend their learning - all of which is documented by the children in floorbooks: daily diaries of the children's work and quotes.
