Explore, Grow, Thrive
Our Robina childcare programs are designed, implemented and evaluated by our highly qualified educators. We draw on a combination of contemporary educational theories to ensure that we are able to deliver inspired and holistic education. You will see inspiration from Waldorf (Steiner), Montessori, the Abecedarian Approach (3a) and Reggio Emilia, as well as play based, projects and emergent perspectives all skilfully interwoven within our curriculum. Through blending these philosophical beliefs we are able to implement flexible child co-constructed programs rooted in the principles and practices outlined in the Early Years Learning Framework.
Our curriculum decision-making aligns with the principles and practices of the Early Years Learning Framework, Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines and the My Time, Our Place.
Active and Informed Citizens
Our holistic programs provide children with opportunities to develop personal values and attributes such as honesty, resilience, empathy and respect. We equip children with the capabilities and dispositions to act with moral and ethical integrity showing a commitment to humanitarian values and sustainable practices.
Robina First children develop a respect and concern for others and their rights. Our programs build a foundation of global citizenship through awareness, responsibility and participation. By providing children with authentic cultural experiences we are able to support developing skills, knowledge and understanding of respectful interactions with culture, that will enable them to engage effectively with and prosper in a globalised world.
Successful Learning Environments
We are committed to providing rich and stimulating indoor and outdoor environments where children are free to explore, investigate, imagine, make choices and problem solve. We believe our children deserve to have beautiful things to engage with and learn in a environment of warmth and encouragement.
We recognise importance of the physical environment in supporting children’s learning and development and construction of knowledge. As children approach learning by using their senses, the physical environment has enormous potential to influence a child’s learning and experiences. This belief system is adopted by both eastern and western schools of thought. For this reason, the physical environment of our centre is designed to improve the quality and meaningfulness of learning, guided by basic principles from Reggio Emilia (Western) and Feng Shui (Eastern) philosophy.
Our learning environments are lovingly designed through a conscious use of space, colour and natural light. Furnishings and resources are carefully selected to create warm and stimulating environments with balance, harmony and flow. Our furniture is made of a balance of both natural (warm) and synthetic materials (cool) and is arranged to create natural barriers allowing steady flow through spaces. Our play spaces are designed to be safe, welcoming, empowering and respectful and allow children to extend their thinking, problem-solving skills and learning.
Focusing on what's Important
Family Values
We recognise that family involvement is integral to any high quality program and are dedicated to genuine and meaningful conversations with our families. We seek to develop collaborative partnerships based on respect, trust, sincerity and authenticity with families, and encourage families to involve themselves in meaningful interactions in the program.
The cultures and values of our families and staff are of great importance to our centre and are viewed with the utmost level of respect at all times. As many of our educators and families hail from different cultural backgrounds we endeavour to honour difference. Our educators are culturally competent and respect multiple ways of knowing, seeing and living. We seek to celebrate the benefits of diversity and bestow children with a considerable number of social and cultural experiences
Wellbeing and Restorative Practices
Growing and learning at Robina First instils in children personal qualities such as a sense of self-worth, self awareness and personal identity that enables them to manage their emotional, mental, spiritual and physical wellbeing. Through affirmations, self love practices, mindfulness, discussions about feelings, gratitude, creativity and friendship, our aim is to enable children to become confident enthusiastic learners, who are flexible, resilient and open minded.
Our routines are strong and established because we recognise that children order their lives by events that happen rather than time. Routines happen in the same order each day so that children have a better understanding of their world and therefore feel more secure. This regular rhythm gives children a way to organise and order their lives. We understand that when young children know what to expect, they become more confident as they know they will not be confronted with unfamiliar tasks for which they are unprepared.
Confident and Creative Individuals
We value children as individuals and seek to empower them by embracing their interests and ideas when developing our programs.
Robina First children are enterprising, innovative and show initiative and resourcefulness. They use their creative abilities to solve problems in ways that draw upon a range of skills. As capable learners, we believe in encouraging our children to reach their maximum potential and strive to promote each child’s confidence through experiences that facilitate challenge and develop children’s capabilities to initiate and lead learning. We view learning as holistic, dynamic and complex and aspire to provide secure and trusting environments where children feel safe to take risks.
Our Rooms
Click on the down arrow on the right to choose a room to read about.
MacKillop
MacKillop Program
(15 months to 2 years)
About the MacKillop Program
As this is the youngest room at Robina First, it is often the time when children are first introduced to a long day care environment.
We strive to provide a warm and gentle welcome into this momentous stage of life. Our educators lovingly and carefully select furnishings and resources that create a warm and stimulating environment where children feel safe and secure. We gently introduce children into the setting through play dates with our families to give children opportunities to form warm and genuine relationships with our educators.
At 15 months children like to do things in their own way, in their own time, so it’s important they have a safe environment to learn, patient educators to allow them time to play and explore.
Our routines are strong and established because we recognise that children order their lives by events that happen rather than time. Routines happen in the same order each day so that children have a better understanding of their world and therefore feel more secure. This regular rhythm gives children a way to organise and order their lives. We understand that when young children know what to expect, they become more confident as they know they will not be confronted with unfamiliar tasks for which they are unprepared.
Our program fosters socialisation by guiding children through the first stages of playing and interacting with others. At this age, children's concentration starts to develop and they become better listeners so we are able to start to teach important self help skills such as using a spoon and identifying their belongings as well as developing their vocabulary and communication skills.
"We must teach more by example than by word"
St Mary MacKillop
Why did we name our MacKillop room after Saint Mary MacKillop?
Saint Mary MacKillop valued the dignity of all people and dedicated her life to helping others in need. Her belief that all children deserve the opportunity to flourish and be treated with respect are values that we admire. Mary MacKillop is a shining example of kindness, compassion and charity; qualities that we seek to instill in our children.
Who was Saint Mary MacKillop?
Co-Founder of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart. St Mary MacKillop helped to open schools and orphanages throughout Australia in the late 1800s. She believed that if we ever see someone in need, we must do something to help them.
With an emphasis on supporting rural, disadvantaged children, St Mary MacKillop spent the majority of her life travelling the world helping others. She valued the importance of education and alongside the other sisters, founded charities to provide opportunities and housing for the poor.
On October 17th 2010, Mary MacKillop was canonised as Saint Mary of the Cross by Pope Benedict XVI. She is Australia's first and only Catholic Saint.
Mabo
Mabo Program
(2 years to 2.5 years)
About the Mabo Program
This age group has often been referred to as 'Toddlers'. This is one of a child's most important ages for emotional development so our educators are focused on teaching little bodies how to deal with big emotions.
Children's oral language is beginning to blossom so we are ready with lots of literacy-rich experiences to help develop and extend their vocabulary.
At this age children are becoming progressively more independent and are understanding concepts such as cause and effect.
This opens up a wonderful door for our educators to begin to introduce the concept of toileting.
Going to the toilet is one of the hardest concepts for a child to learn. We are very sensitive about the ways in which we approach this. Our educators watch out for the signs children are ready to try toileting and work with families to help children master this skill.
"What is on the land, what is below the land, what is in the sea, what is under the sea, belongs to my people"
Eddie 'Koiki' Mabo
Who was Eddie Mabo?
"Eddie 'Koiki' Mabo was born and raised on the island of Mer (Murray Island) between Mainland and Papua New Guinea.
In 1982, a group of Meriam men including Eddie Mabo brought a legal action claiming traditional ownership of the Murray Islands.
The Mabo case is considered one of the most significant legal cases in recent Australian history. Eddie Mabo fought tirelessly over 10 years for recognition of indigenous rights to land and 'Native title'.
In 1992, the high court conceded that indigenous Australians had lived in this country for thousands of years, enjoying rights to their land according to their own "set of laws" and customs.
This was a landmark victory for Indigenous peoples throughout Australia and the Torres Strait Islands. Eddie Mabo was awarded an Australian Human Rights Medal. This award acknowledged his campaign for justice and his tireless work over many, many years to gain legal recognition of Indigenous people's rights.
Why did we name our Mabo room after Eddie Mabo?
Eddie Mabo's courage, strength and unwavering determination are qualities we truly admire and ones that we seek to instil in our children.
In the face of adversity, he fought for what he believed in and continues to campaign for indigenous rights and equality.
Hollows
Hollows Program
(2.5 years to 3 years)
About the Hollows Room:
This is the age of wonder where we hear children asking lots of 'who' 'what', 'when', 'where' questions. Our educators are focused on helping children to understand the world around them and answering questions that become increasingly more complex such as 'how does a flower grow?' or 'what is a planet?'
Children begin to have more control with smaller objects and our educators provide lots of fine motor experiences to help strengthen the tiny muscles in their hands which will assist them as they learn to write later on.
At this age children can start to show a preference for a dominant hand, however, it is common to continue to swap hands so our educators are more focused on strengthening muscles rather than hand preference.
Children's language typically develops a lot during this age and our educators are focused on developing listening skills and expanding vocabulary by exposing children to lots of literacy-rich experiences and modelling extended sentence structures.
At this age our educators also work with children to develop and maintain stronger and more complex friendships.
Who was Fred Hollows?
Dr Fred Hollows was born in Dunedin, New Zealand.
He was a prominent doctor who specialised in eye treatment and surgery. He passionately advocated for equal access to affordable and high-quality eye care, irrespective of a person's race, background or wealth.
After travelling throughout Indigenous Australian communities, Nepal, Burma, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Eritrea, he founded the Fred Hollows Foundation. In 1991, Dr Fred Hollows was awarded a companion of the Order of Australia (our country's highest honour) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to ophthalmology and philanthropy.
The Fred Hollows Foundation now operates in over 25 countries worldwide and has helped restore sight to over 2 million people.
"To my mind, having a care and concern for others is the highest of the human quality"
Dr Fred Hollows
Why did we name our Hollows room after Fred Hollows?
Fred Hollows dedicated his life to helping others and restoring eyesight to those living in third world conditions. He believed in a world where no person is unnecessarily blind and worked tirelessly to educate doctors in rural communities.
Fred was also a champion of Indigenous Australian health rights. We believe that Fred Hollows is an empowering example of selflessness, compassion and equality.
Chang
Chang Program
(3 years to 4 years)
"Whatever you give, if you give it freely and without conditions, it'll come back to you two-fold"
Dr Victor Chang
About the Chang Program
The Chang room is our senior kindy room and it educates children aged between three and four years old. As it is the gateway to our Kindergarten program, we provide variety of learning opportunities where children can acquire all the skills, they need to succeed in Pre-prep room.
At this age children show more confidence, responsibility and develop their social skills such as sharing and being kind to each other. Our educators role model positive social behaviours and through positive guidance ensure that children can further develop these skills.
Carefully designed learning environments provide numerous opportunities for children to participate in either group or individual activities and allow children to choose areas where they can challenge their gross motor skills or quietly rest and relax.
Educators regularly provide a variety of hands-on activities to satisfy children’s natural curiosity in the natural world. Through activities like planting seeds, watering the gardens or feeding earthworms children explore, investigate and learn how to respect our environment.
Who was Dr Victor Chang?
Born in Shanghai, Dr Chang grew up in Hong Kong before moving to Australia. Over the course of his medical career, he saved hundreds of people's lives and is credited for the success of Australia's youngest heart transplant recipient (a 14 year old girl). Dr Chang founded the National Heart Transplant Program at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney and helped to develop both an artificial heart valve and an artificial heart assist device.
In 1986, Dr Chang was awarded a 'Companion of the Order of Australia', recognising his outstanding contributions to cardiac surgery and research. This is considered our country's highest honour.
In 2000, the Australian people also named him ' Australian of the Century'. The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in N.S.W is dedicated to his legacy.
Why did we name our Chang room after Dr Victor Chang?
A national hero, this Chinese-Australian doctor was also a caring humanitarian who dedicated much of his life to medical research. We believe that Victor Chang is a shining example of what can be achieved through cultural diversity, advocacy and selflessness.
Monash
Monash Program
(4 years to 5 years)
"Adopt as your fundamental creed that you will equip yourself for life, not solely for your own benefit but for the benefit of the whole community"
Sir John Monash
About the Monash Program
The Monash room is a Pre-Prep room and operates a Queensland Government Approved Kindergarten Program.
Kindergarten (or Kindy) is an educational program for children in the year before school. Your child must be at least 4 years of age by 30 June in the year in which they are enrolled to participate in a Queensland Government-subsidised kindergarten program. If you're not sure if your child is eligible to attend kindy you can use the Kindy Calculator.
Attending a kindy program lets your child learn through play, make friends and prepare for the transition to school. Children in Kindy learn to:
- use language to communicate ideas and feelings
- make friends, share and play with others
- learn through new experiences
- become more confident and feel strong
- express themselves through art, dance and dramatic play
- build on their knowledge, explore new ideas and help them enjoy a great start to school.
Who was Sir John Monash?
Sir John Monash was born in 1865 to German-Polish Jewish parents. At the age of 16, he began studying at the University of Melbourne while working part time on the Princess Bridge.
This was the first step in his hugely successful engineering career. He completed a Bachelor of Arts and Masters in Science (Civil Engineering), later going on to study a Doctor of laws, a Doctor of Engineering and a Doctor of Civil Law.
When the First World War broke out in 1914, Sir John Monash was sent to Gallipoli and became the only Australian commander among the original troops to not be killed or evacuated.
By 1918, he was placed in charge of the entire Australian Corps and was knighted on the battlefield by King George V. Returning to engineering, he became one of Australia’s leading experts on reinforced concrete for major railways, bridges and other large construction works across Australia.
Why did we name our Monash room after Sir John Monash?
Well known for his excellence in battle, Sir John Monash was also an academic who firmly believed in the power of education. Throughout his life, he sought to use his abilities and education to improve the living conditions of the whole community. Hardworking and diligent we admire the great contributions he made to Australia.
What do our room names mean?
We recognise that children are the future of Australia. The experiences we provide to children today will shape the people they become in the future of our great country.
We want to challenge them to be the best that they can possibly be.
We want them to have high expectations and positive role models.
We want them to shoot for the stars, full of confidence and self-belief and the knowledge that they can make a difference.
We thought long and hard about this concept and thought we need to show children just how incredibly innovative, compassionate and talented Australians are!
Well, if we are going to talk the talk then we need to walk the walk!
We thought, how we can implement this concept from the ground up?
So, we decided to name each room after Australian's that have truly made a difference in Australia. We want the names of our rooms to be a constant reminder to the children, educators and families that with perseverance, strength and courage they can make a profound difference.
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