Teachers aim to instill the idea that children have the ability to make a valuable contribution towards a sustainable future.

Situated within natural bushland and with views to the Dandenong Ranges, students at Yarra Valley Grammar’s Early Learning Centre have a passion for caring for and engaging with the outdoors.

The purpose-built centre makes use of the natural slope of the land and the children’s play is often focused around a pivotal gum tree, complete with a resident owl. The children are able to access the wider school environment, where bush picnics and adventures often see them exploring and making discoveries for hours. It is their outdoor classroom where they are inspired by hands-on experiences of the natural elements they encounter. They clamour over trees and make collections of natural objects to take back to the centre to use in their play, art work and literacy and numeracy tasks. The open spaces afford them the opportunity to run without stopping, slosh and splash in natural water forms or just be still as they listen to bush noises.