Between birth to 1 year of age, babies grow at a remarkable rate, where every moment is spent absorbing new skills and learning new things.

At this age, our focus is on creating a routine for babies to establish healthy eating, sleeping and play patterns. As well as promoting the development of fine and gross motor skills, language and cognition, and setting the foundation for a lifelong love of learning.

Children are natural explorers, and as they move into their second year of life this is when we really see children become genuinely curious about the world around them. It’s an exciting time as this is the age where most toddlers begin to learn to walk, speak, and establish their own sense of independence.

To support their early learning journey, educators will start introducing activities such as music, dance, yoga, sensory games and reading to help develop their cognitive and language skills.

Once your toddler is 2 years old you’ll start to see them grow by leaps and bounds. If they were just learning to walk last year, this year they’re running and climbing up stairs!

More curious than ever, our educators continue to nurture this through lots of play and opportunities for self-discovery. Construction games, dance, singing and make-believe games are fantastic for supporting your child’s physical skills and creativity.

The years before children start school are some of the most exciting and thrilling, as this is the stage where they begin expressing more and more of their own unique personalities!

Our childcare program for children at this age is focused on encouraging them to follow their own interests, while building a healthy body and a positive mental wellbeing. In a safe and secure environment, children are able to explore risky play and other extracurricular activities like science experiments, gymnastics classes and painting.

All our childcare centres offer integrated, funded 4-year-old kindergarten programs delivered by a qualified early childhood teacher. Through the program, our educators will implement play-based activities to assist children to prepare for school.

Your child’s first five years are full of wonder, growth and important lifelong milestones. Our Childcare centres are designed to support the development of children from birth to five years old every step of the way.

With warm trusting relationships central to what we do, our play-based learning programs are designed to inspire curiosity and create meaningful learning opportunities where children feel safe, connected and confident to explore.

While each of our Centres are unique, at every one of our Childcare centres you will find:

• High-quality play-based educational programs designed around children’s interests and developmental needs.
• Highly qualified and dedicated Educators who work in close partnership with families to maximise children’s learning outcomes in the lead up to starting school.
• Safe and stimulating indoor and outdoor learning environments filled with resources to support children’s learning.
• A program that encompasses the community and cultural context of the children and families attending and takes a family-centred approach.

We believe that fostering strong relationships and maintaining open communication is crucial for a child's growth and development. Our Childcare centres take a family-centred approach, with many of our children and families from diverse cultures and backgrounds. We encourage the use of first languages, as well as family histories and rituals within our programming. We strive to create learning communities that are rich in diversity and opportunity where all children can access high-quality learning and care and are given opportunities to reach their full potential

Sparkways is committed to providing inclusive, high quality early education and care services. We understand that our children, families and communities have a range of diverse needs and that a trauma informed practice model benefits all but is essential for many.

Sparkways therefore uses a consistent, trauma informed approach to underpin the delivery of our education and care services.

A trauma informed approach emphasises physical, emotional and psychological safety for children, families and communities, ultimately supporting children's cognitive and social development.

We have engaged Berry Street to train our workforce in Trauma Informed Practice, through the Berry Street Education Model – Early Years. This highly regarded, evidence-based program is specifically designed for early childhood educators to equip them with the perspectives, strategies and skills to support all children to thrive.

Sparkways has dedicated Practice Partners, who provide on-site coaching and support to our Early Years teams in embedding the trauma informed approach and continuously developing their educational program and practice.

We also have Family Support Partners, who work closely with our service leaders to assist families facing barriers to participation, including supporting families to access the assistance they need from the wider community services sector.