Nurturing Penrhosies from day one
Everything in our Perth Early Learning Centre starts and ends with love and belonging – your daughter (our Penrhosie) will quite simply love coming to school and she will instinctively feel 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 our specialist staff, who the girls say are almost like 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 – 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.
At Penrhos, we have an exciting new vision. We have reviewed our pricing structure, so more Penrhosies can join us from an earlier age. We want more families to have the opportunity to benefit from the sense of love and belonging we provide for our youngest girls, so their daughters may benefit from the best possible early learning journey.
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. In As one of the best kindergarten Perth, we engage with and respect our Penrhosies as active young collaborators in their own learning processes.
What do we offer – Early Learning Centre Perth
- Love and belonging – above all else, we know our girls flourish when they know they are loved and feel they belong
- Focus on personal growth at an individual pace – we build 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 very much part of the Early Learning Centre (ELC) family
- Dedicated class teachers – parents always know who will be with their daughter; her teacher is a constant figure in her world, who is always accessible and available for parents
- Literacy and numeracy support teachers – our girls are fully supported with any specific learning difficulties, and are also extended when they demonstrate high intellectual potential, to ensure that each and every child is individually engaged on her learning journey from the very beginning
- High standards and expectations for learning – girls achieve more in a happy, secure environment
- Stimulation and balance – a timetable that is specifically aligned with children’s attention span
- Small class sizes – trusting relationships are formed, on the basis of which 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 and play-based learning experiences to inspire her lifelong learning. The early years form the base upon which to build competence in all aspects of girls’ development – learning and behaviour, physical and mental health. We understand that all children have different strengths, challenges and interests – strong specialist, extension and support programs contribute to the provision of a balanced curriculum which is designed to give each Penrhosie every opportunity to achieve her full potential.
The red Penrhos dragon is a wonderful symbol for our girls – when she is fully grown, she is timeless and magnificent, loyal and empathetic, ethical and kind. From their very first day with us, Penrhosies follow the little red dragon – they are encouraged to form their own beliefs, to speak to what they believe in, to have the courage of their convictions, the strength to speak up for themselves and for others, to do what is right and to stand up for what they believe in. And from little acorns do great oaks grow, little dragons learn to fly, and Penrhosies grow into Penrhosians – young women who are committed to the pursuit of their dreams, to supporting each other and to making a positive contribution in the world. Penrhosians don’t let barriers get in their way – they are confident and empowered, prepared to challenge convention and smash ceilings. This is what we stand for; it is what makes Penrhos quite different, and very special – from day one.
Our little red DRAGON principles:
- Discovery: promoting curiosity and play-based learning
- Respect:leading by example in demonstrating respect for all members of our community, 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 family: girls, teachers, parents and community members working together to achieve our Penrhos family goal of happy, healthy, balanced girls
- Natural environment: ‘going natural’ as far as we can – our environment enhances and reflects each girl’s learning and development.
Research shows girls do especially well in single-sex learning environments – we can see this from the earliest numeracy and literacy testing, to tertiary entrance scores much later. Penrhos girls are empowered from the very beginning; they are supported and encouraged to behave competitively, without inhibition or social pressure; our girls become generally more confident and assertive in both their learning and personal environments, performing at higher-than-average levels in sport and physical education from the very early years.
Our ethos extends beyond academic performance, across the ‘whole person paradigm’ – we know we need to nurture the mind, heart, body and spirit of each girl for a complete, rounded and balanced learning experience, in preparation for life. Personal wellbeing and happy, meaningful relationships underpin every girl’s success and achievements, so each is supported by a strong pastoral care framework throughout her time at Penrhos – this is known as Connect in the Junior School (including the ELC) and Thrive in Secondary School. A unique and complementary new initiative, the Full Circle wellbeing program, has also been launched this year for all adults in the Penrhos community, so that they may feel best equipped to deal with the challenges their daughters’ face.
In our positive, diverse and inclusive culture, our shared values of knowledge, growth, synergy, respect, integrity and empathy define our girls as Penrhosies and Penrhosians. Our programs and practices combine to support our girls’ growth as happy, confident, independent, resilient young individuals with a strong sense of self and respect for others. Our focus on wellbeing and relationships is warm and positive, grounded in empathy and respect, and underpinned by facilitated self-awareness, self-control and self-regulation as girls develop both socially and emotionally – each at her own pace. Every child has unique needs, interests and strengths; each girl is catered for as an individual as she learns through doing, experimenting, experiencing, predicting and achieving. Her healthy self-esteem is nurtured, for positive intellectual, social and emotional growth, and her teachers always lead by example, in demonstrating equal respect for all (without bias), so that strong bonds and trusting relationships may be created.
28 August 2020
A warm focus on wellbeing in our Junior School
9 December 2019
Welcome Mr Wayne Revitt - Penrhos' new Head of Junior School in 2020