Welcome to Elk, where your child’s journey of self discovery and wonder begins…
Welcome to ELK Early Learning & Kindergarten, where curiosity is nurtured, individuality is celebrated and every child is supported to thrive. We believe childhood is a time of wonder, possibility and discovery, and we are committed to creating environments and experiences that help each child grow into a confident, capable and joyful learner — whatever their dreams for the future may be.
Our Story
ELK’s two founders bring their individual 20+ years of experience together to create a centre that focuses on fostering the whole child, nurturing children’s curiosity, and offering families a community to be proud to be a part of.
Both with children of their own, they understand the balance of parenting, educating and the demands of busy everyday lives.
At ELK, we believe every child is capable of achieving great things. Our role is to nurture their curiosity, support their discoveries, and create an environment where they feel confident to grow, explore and thrive. We are proud to partner with families on this important journey.
— Jenna Ferguson and Jane Matthews, ELK Early Learning & Kindergarten
In the Sanctuary
From birth, babies are inquisitive, communicative, and loving, they are ready to embrace their world with wonder. Every day is a new opportunity to learn, explore and take on new challenges.
At Elk, we embrace young babies learning and development, and will enjoy every step with your most precious. In the Sanctuary rooms, our youngest are nurtured to ensure all their needs are met in a calm and loving manner.
Curriculum
Inquiry-Based Learning
At ELK, we follow children’s natural curiosity. When children ask questions like “Why does this happen?” or “What will happen if…?”, we don’t rush to give the answer — we explore it together. Our educators gently guide children to investigate, think, experiment and discover. This helps build confidence, independence and a genuine love of learning that stays with them as they grow.
STEAM Integrated Through Experience
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) is seamlessly embedded within everyday experiences at ELK. Whether experimenting with water flow, constructing complex designs, exploring artistic patterns or observing the natural world, children engage in purposeful, hands-on learning. Educators extend these moments with intentional questioning and carefully curated materials, nurturing creativity, resilience and sophisticated problem-solving skills.
Play with Purpose
We view play as intentional and powerful. Through rich, open-ended experiences, children develop language, collaboration skills, emotional intelligence and self-regulation. Our architecturally designed indoor and outdoor environments inspire imagination, creativity and connection, allowing children to engage deeply in their learning.
Our School Readiness Approach
School readiness at ELK is about preparing the whole child — not just learning letters and numbers. We focus on building confidence, independence, resilience and social skills, alongside early literacy and numeracy foundations. We want children to leave ELK feeling capable, curious and excited about starting school.
Creative Play
At ELK we are committed to enriching our curriculum with opportunities for children to develop their creativity.
It is through creativity that children express their thoughts and feelings and solve problems as they approach new tasks. When children’s creativity is nurtured, they are learning to innovate using novel ideas to solve problems in their everyday.
At ELK we provide an abundance of opportunities for creative play from painting and drawing, working with clay, music experiences, and working with different materials to represent ideas and learning.
Our educators facilitate these experiences within our play-based curriculum and develop skills alongside the children with visiting experts which could include artists, clay creators, musicians and design technicians.
Food
At ELK we are committed to providing children with a variety of nutritious, fresh, and wholesome food. We understand that nutritious food plays a vital role in early childhood development, directly impacting a child’s physical, cognitive, and emotional growth. During the first few years of life, children experience rapid brain development, increased physical growth, and the establishment of lifelong eating habits.
Our cook and educators support children in developing positive dispositions towards healthy food through our menu, curriculum and making mealtimes a valuable time for social engagement and enjoyment.
