At the Y Canberra Region’s Early Learning Centres, we are dedicated to inspiring and nurturing children to become independent and confident young people.

We have been running children’s programs here in Canberra since the 1970’s, with our first dedicated Early Learning Centre opening in Belconnen in 2010.

Today, we have five ELCs based across Canberra in Gungahlin, Holt, Macquarie, Belconnen and Holder. Our Educators are passionate about creating a nurturing, play-based environment to help children learn, grow, gain confidence and discover who they are.

Early Learning is different at the Y. We recognise the first 1,000 days of a child’s life as critical, and we understand the crucial role that learning, nurturing community and home environments play in setting a child up for success. We create real-world environments that allow children to have true experiences, we encourage children to explore and be adaptable to their environment, and we promote community connections and sustainable practices as an embedded core in all of our centres.

Each Centre has its own Pedagogy and a unique layout and environment that has been co-created with the Director, educators, children and families. Whether your child is six weeks old or transitioning to school, every second of the day they are learning more about the world they live in. Our play-based early learning curriculum focusses on allowing children to “learn in action”. Play-based learning encourages children to use their imagination – the best way to learn is through exploration – digging, drawing, splashing, creating, role-playing, singing, crafting and more!

We base our care and education programs on the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) to give children the best start in life. Under the framework, we foster a child’s sense of Belonging, Being and Becoming.