02 May 2023
Offering integrated services for families with children from birth through age 8, Canberra’s five Early Childhood Schools provide high quality early learning and education in the one location. The five schools are:
- Belconnen: Southern Cross Early Childhood School
- Inner South: Narrabundah Early Childhood School
- Inner North: O’Connor Cooperative School
- Woden: Lyons Early Childhood School
- Tuggeranong: Isabella Plains Early Childhood School
At each location there is an early childhood education and care (ECEC) service run by a private provider offering long day care access from birth to age 4 operating alongside an ACT public school providing preschool to year 2 education. As part of this integrated service offering, these schools also provide child and family support, access to community coordinators and seamless transitions from the onsite ECEC service into government preschool.
Choose a location that suits your family
One of the advantages of choosing an Early Childhood School is flexibility for families to choose a location that suits their lifestyle. Priority Enrolment Areas don’t apply, so many choose a location nearby their work which offers the convenience of one-drop off location for their children.
The combination of an onsite ECEC service and public preschool enables parents to utilise a combination of both private and public preschool to assist with their family’s work and home life should they require it. Many ECECs also offer before and after school care for preschoolers.
Narrabundah Early Childhood School also provides to Koori Preschool for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from age 3 to 5.
What makes these schools great
Early Childhood Schools were designed to provide children with the best start to their early development and education. They use the highly successful model of co-located early years services and provide a curriculum from preschool to year 2 which embodies the principles and teaching practice of the Early Years Learning Framework Belonging, Being, and Becoming
Smaller in student numbers compared to other schools, many families find the community connections their students and families make with each other and the early childhood educators and teachers to be one of the highlights of attending these schools.
What happens at the end of year 2
After your child completes year 2, they can then enrol in year 3 at their local public school where they are guaranteed a place. Priority Enrolment Area requirements apply to this process. The early childhood school will work with your child’s new school to ensure a smooth transition for them.
How to enrol
You can enrol now in an Early Childhood School from preschool to year 2 using the online enrolment application for ACT public schools. Each school’s website provides more information about their school and the onsite ECEC service offering.
