Mrs Clarke’s School

After five wonderful years, we are writing to share that Mrs. Clarke’s School has now officially closed. While this chapter comes to an end, we want to take this moment to sincerely thank each and every family and friend, who has been part of our journey.

It has been an absolute privilege to not only teach your children but to walk alongside your families—sharing in milestones, laughter, and so many special moments. Your trust, support, and partnership have meant the world to us.

We are so proud of the strong connections we have built and the sense of community we’ve created together. Although our time together at Bowen Street has come to an end, we remain deeply interested in your children’s growth and future successes. We look forward to hearing about their achievements and hope to continue sharing in their journeys in the years to come.
Wishing our families the very best health and happiness,

Liz and Lisa ❤️❤️

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At Mrs. Clarke’s School our program reflects the children’s interests while intentionally promoting their learning.
We observe their curiosity and incorporate it into activities that encourage exploration, creativity, and critical thinking.
Through intentional teaching, we provide meaningful experiences that build on their knowledge, introduce new concepts, and develop essential skills.
We also promote imagination through visits to the park, where little hidey-holes suddenly become fairy houses full of possibilities.
By balancing child-led play with guided learning, we create an engaging environment where children feel valued, supported, and motivated to grow.
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Mrs Clarke’s School At Mrs.Clarke's school the emphasis is creating a fun and nurturing environment where children learn through stories, games, singing and dancing which has been intrinsically incorporated into the curriculum.

Last week an exciting project unraveled, after kick starting in the morning while completing a much loved pirate puzzle!

While working on the puzzle some of the children began a conversation on ‘pirates treasure’ and ‘X marks the spot.’

To extend the children’s interest, an idea was turned into reality as each child began to draw a treasure map, adding points of interest and an X on the map for a clue as to where the treasure was hidden.

Later in the day we ventured to our park, putting our treasure maps to use. Each child took the time to bury a gold play coin as treasure, marking their spot with an X made from sticks! With maps in hand the children spread out, actively searching for X’s, all using the reference of their map’s.

It was a delight to watch, some needing a few clues while others confidently knew exactly what they were looking for!

This is an example how one simple activity, conversation or idea can develop into a project that explores teamwork, problem solving concepts and communication.
All in a days work at Mrs CLARKE’S School!

What a wonderful start to Term 1 at MCS! It was gratifying to see how happy our returning children were to see us after the long break. We felt and shared the same joy!

A big welcome to the new families joining us. We are excited to provide a small nurturing environment that will support your child’s individual needs and development. Our program develops the ‘whole’ child, so we look at their social, emotional, physical and cognitive development.

All the children were happily engaged and active participants in all the learning throughout the day.

Today the children were introduced to the medium of clay. We asked the children to use the clay and other loose parts to make representations of their faces. It was wonderful to see how the children explored the clay, moulding, shaping and exploring its form. We asked the children to describe themselves and their completed masterpieces.

The children’s enthusiasm to be actively involved in new learning experiences and activities – they embrace all we have to offer with such passion. Whether it is learning a new song, cooking up a storm, or acting in a performance, the children are up for the challenge. The Gingerbread puppets were a huge success – and the children used their puppets to help recreate the story.
It is important to reflect on some of the special moments we have shared throughout the term. We are proud of how the children continue to grow and develop into such wonderful, caring, motivated and engaged learners!

Last week the children were very excited to also experience one of the magical moments of nature…. little chicks hatching before their eyes! We were lucky to have a little chick visit us in the classroom… the children were thrilled!

We have been fortunate to share in the celebrations being hosted at Bowen Street Community Centre. The Animal Farm was a wonderful opportunity for the children to see little lambs, guinea pigs, hens, ducks – and have the hands-on experience of petting and brushing them! The children were all so respectful of the animals, listening carefully to the farmers instructions on how to care for the animals.

The wonderful way the children welcome new friends into our little school- this was so clearly shown in the last few weeks. The children were so excited to show their new friends around the centre and include them in their play. We are always encouraging the idea that we ‘share the love’ and should be inclusive of others – and to see how the children are embracing these values, makes us truly proud!

We were jumping out of our skins on our last day of term…...creating our very own Potato people!

After reading "The Potato People" story by much loved author Pamela Allen, the children got to work individually creating their own personality filled spuds!

Take a look at our wonderful creations!

It was all systems go with our 'Stick man' project last session!

After reading the adorable
'Stick man' story written by Julia Donaldson the week before, a stick collection began and little minds got to work to create our own lovable figures!

We didn't stop there, with the children's adaptation of the story expanded by their own creative performance for all to enjoy!

Extending a simple discussion or story using props and creativity really gives the children a sense of pride and achievement in their own work and capabilities!

At Mrs CLARKE’S School, our range of activities are planned to help develop the many skills children require throughout life, be it social and emotional, physical, language and cognitive skills.

Strong fine motor development is necessary to manipulate objects, write, draw, grasp, build, dress and put on shoes and socks. Little hands are kept busy and grow strong from our puzzles, box construction, clay, cutting, building and cooking.

All in a days work!

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Last week we enjoyed every element of Autumn in Melbourne, from collecting a range of fallen leaves, creating our own fine art and exploring nature in our beautiful neighbouring parkland!

The children practiced their fine motor skills by carefully tracing around the leaves, adding a range of colour to their finished products. On completion, we ventured to the park to experience the sights and colours of Autumn.

The children took delight in running through the leaves, and even discovered a huge palm frond which had fallen down. A small group of children sprung into action, working together to carry the frond through the park and into a hiding spot to hopefully enjoy again next week! "It's our crocodile branch!" They exclaimed as their team transported it across the leaves.

After lunch we enjoyed a very interactive story of Wombat Stew. Mrs Clarke had a starring role of ‘dingo' as each of the children were encouraged to act as one of the animals who collected their own special ingredients for the wombat stew!

We are so proud in watching the children as they laugh, interact, take turns and build confidence in all they do at Mrs Clarke's School.

We would love it if any of our community could please help this very worthy cause!

It’s that time again, and with more and more families doing it tough, the need for nappies is reaching crisis level. We are once again supporting the amazing work of The Nappy Collective
We have a bin outside the front doors of Bowen Street Community Centre
Please bring any unused nappies. It’s okay if the packet is open, just as long as they’re clean.
Thank you!