First Five Early Learning Reservoir

A glimpse of our 2026 Annual Children’s Art Gallery Exhibition titled ‘Celebrating the Special People in Our Lives’ proudly showcasing artwork by children at

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To recognise and celebrate Mothers and special people in children’s lives, our Educational Leader, Casey, curated a Children’s Art Gallery in collaboration with educators from each of the children’s programs.

With the support of educators, children were invited to explore their sense of connection with the caregivers in their lives and create an artwork about or for a loved one. The Children’s Art Gallery showcases a range of art mediums including clay, sculptures, collage, paints, and paint markers, threaded beading and mixed media portraits.

The Children’s Art Gallery demonstrates respect for children’s thinking, voices, individual expression, and the arts as a language for young children. In line with our Statement of Philosophy, “we recognise family and community as children’s first and most influential teachers”. The gallery is an extension of home and community, and we have delighted in viewing the children’s expressions of the special people with whom they share their lives.

The Children’s Art Gallery will remain open until Wednesday to ensure all families and children can visit and enjoy the space.

Thank you for joining with children and educators to honor all of the parents and guardians who make a difference in the lives of children here at First Five Early Learning Reservoir

Links to National Quality Standards
• QA5 Relationships with Children: Focuses on the quality of interactions between educators and children, ensuring they are respectful, responsive, and supportive.
• QA6 Collaborative Partnerships with Families and Communities: Highlights the importance of working with families and community members to support children’s development.

Kindergarten Insect Inquiry 🐛🐝🐞🐜🪲🕷️

Our 4 year old kindergarten children spent time last week sharing with such pride, everything they know and adore about their class pets, Charlie & Rose. Charlie and Rose are the Kindergarten children’s much-loved spiney leaf stick insects.

From gently misting their enclosure each day to refreshing their leaves and watching closely as Rose lays her many tiny eggs, these moments are full of curiosity, care, and wonder.

Back in January, our kindergarten teacher Clair noticed a strong interest in bugs and used this as a meaningful way to enrich children’s transition from 3 to 4 year old kindergarten. From there, a rich inquiry into insects has grown and morphed, with children exploring insect anatomy, life cycles, and collecting data on the different types of insects they discover in our garden and at home. Clair has thoughtfully extended this interest to embed early literacy and numeracy concepts and understandings within, as children illustrate and label insects, collect and record data on findings, sort and categorise insect figures and document their own learning journey.

It’s amazing to see and hear just how much these small creatures have inspired our next generation of entomologists, ecologists, conservationists and scientists 🌿✨



NQS: Quality Area 3 – Physical Environment (3.2.3 Environmentally responsible). This reflects how children are actively learning to care for and respect living things through hands-on, sustainable practices in the classroom and transferring this into their home life.

CSS: Collaborative learning, responsibility, and respect for living things. This video highlights the way children work together, build responsibility, and develop an understanding of the natural world through shared experiences with peers and their teacher.

This week, all children enrolled in our 2026 3 year old Victorian Government Approved funded Kindergarten program received their Kinder Kits!

These kits are designed to be shared and enjoyed as a family, providing rich and meaningful opportunities for continuity of learning between home and Kinder for all children.

Everything inside the Kinder Kits encourages creativity and open-ended play. The backpack folds out to a felt surface that can be secured with the Velcro tabs and used for imaginative play. Inside the Kit you will find objects and ideas to help you support your child to thrive at the kindergarten.

All items in the Kit are carefully chosen to support the following five important learning and development outcomes for children from birth to eight years of age:

🔴 Children have a strong sense of identity
🔵 Children are connected with and contribute to their world
🟢 Children have a strong sense of wellbeing
🟡 Children are confident and involved learners
🟣 Children are effective communicators.

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Our centre goldfish are such a special part of daily happenings here at First Five Early Learning Reservoir 🐠

Each morning and afternoon, the children make sure to greet and farewell the fish, checking in on them, chatting to them, and sharing their day. Some of our fish have even been affectionately named, a true sign they’re a critical part of our community!

This week, we welcomed two new white goldfish to the tank! We can’t wait for the children to enjoy meeting them, observing them, and maybe even choosing some new names.

Experiences like interacting with the goldfish, helps to support emotional regulation, nurture responsibility, empathy and a sense of belonging within our learning environment.

At First Five Early Learning Reservoir, even the smallest members of our centre are cared for with big hearts.

National Quality Standards link:
Quality Area 3 – Physical Environment, Standard 3.2: The service environment is inclusive, promotes competence and supports exploration and play.