Nurturing Penrhosies from day one

Penrhos College announce an exciting new vision for 2021. They are reviewing their pricing structure, so more ‘Penrhosies’ can join their ELC from an earlier age. They want more families to have the opportunity to benefit from the sense of love and belonging they provide for their youngest girls, while experiencing the best possible early learning journey.

Everything in our Early Learning Centre starts and ends with love and belonging – your daughter (our Penrhosie) will quite simply love coming to school and she will know she belongs here, in our warm and welcoming, fun and stimulating environment. Continuity between the home and the classroom is most important in the very early years – that’s why we want our Penrhosies to enjoy their learning with specialist staff, who the girls say are almost part of the family. Parents are a child’s first and most influential teachers, so you too have an important ongoing role to play in the education equation too – not only do we welcome your involvement, but we value it as an important part of the learning support infrastructure we put in place for each and every girl.

Childhood is not a race – our Penrhosies are encouraged to treasure each experience and every day in happiness, wonder, curiosity and exploration. In understanding and respecting each child’s own personal sense of time, we allow them to make individual choices in a calm and unhurried, unpressured environment. We facilitate inquiry in hypothesising and experimenting, and we extend our investigations by following the lead of the children. We listen and then we listen some more – so we can be quite sure we have the best understanding of your daughter’s perception of the world and of her place in it. We explore the importance of empathising with others, of expressing ideas and feelings. We engage with and respect our Penrhosies as active young collaborators in their own learning processes.

What do we offer – how are we different?

Love and belonging – above all else, we know our girls flourish when they know they are loved and they feel they belong
Focus on personal growth at an individual pace – strong foundations for each girl’s extended learning journey through Penrhos
Comradery – our Penrhosies value their friendships and learn to support each other
A safe and caring community – our parents feel part of the ELC family
Dedicated class teachers – parents always know who will be with their daughter; her teacher is constant figure in her world, who is always accessible and available
Literacy and numeracy support teachers – your daughter will start her learning journey from the very beginning
High standards and expectations for learning – in the happiest and most secure environment
A timetable that is specifically aligned with a child’s attention span
Small class sizes – our teachers provide personalised plans for each Penrhosie
Specialist subjects in our ELC include Art, Music, Drama, Dance, Sport, Library, Language (Mandarin)
Strings Program Year 2 – each girl learns to play a string instrument, so that she can most fully appreciate the wonder of music

Our pedagogy – or teaching practice – is complex but balanced to ensure those all-important literacy and numeracy standards are met, as the foundation for all your daughter’s future learning. We will keep you informed of her progress, every step of the way; we will celebrate each success with you, and we will partner together in supporting your daughter across any bumps there may be in the road of her journey.

We understand this time of your daughter’s life is a vital stage in her development, during which it is important for her to enjoy positive facilitated learning experiences to inspire her lifelong learning. The early years form the base upon which to build competence in all aspects of girls’ development – across learning and behaviour, physical and mental health. We understand that all children have different strengths, challenges and interests – our strong specialist, extension and support programmes contribute to the provision of a balanced curriculum which is designed to give each Penrhosie every opportunity to develop to her full potential.

Discover the strength of the little red dragon

Our DRAGON principles:

Discovery: promoting curiosity and play-based learning
Respect: leading by example, in demonstrating respect for all – adults and children
Appreciation: all good deeds are recognised and rewarded – by replacing expectation with appreciation, our world becomes a better place.
Growth: numeracy and literacy from day one
One team: working closely as a team, comprising girls, teachers, parents and members of the community to achieve our goal of happy, healthy children who embrace life.
Natural environment: ‘going natural’ everywhere possible – our environment enhances and reflects each child’s learning and development.

From the youngest Penrhosie in Pre-Kindergarten, who explores and discovers through play-based discovery in our Early Learning Centre, to the young woman in Year 12 sitting her WACE exams, we deliver an inspirational learning environment in which each and every girl is encouraged to strive for the highest and achieve her personal best.

Learn more via www.penrhos.wa.edu.au/elc