Welcome to ECMS
Thank you for choosing ECMS for your child’s early learning. We’re delighted to welcome your family to our diverse and multi-faceted community.
At ECMS we foster lifelong learning by providing high-quality early learning and care for Victoria’s children, families, and communities. We work with over 6500 children in our 75 kindergarten and long day care centres weekly.
Smooth Start
The smooth start guide gives you practical information about what to expect and things you need to know about early learning with us.
Find out about how we meet you where you are, how we safeguard children, how we can work together, a detailed guide to health safety and wellbeing and how we keep you up to date.
There’s also information to help you prepare for kindergarten or long day care, including orientation sessions and meeting your educators, what to bring to kindergarten, what to wear and eating nutritious food at kindergarten.
Our place-based approach
At ECMS, the place in which a child learns and grows and who is with them in their learning is important to us. We know that every person comes from someplace and that someplace matters in the context of who they are and the relationships they are in.
Our vibrant early childhood education programs empower children to become active participants in their education by connecting them with their surroundings and fostering a sense of identity and purpose in the process. We invite children to know who and where they are and encourage them to make their own meaning of the world around them.
Recognising that relationships matter includes more than just the relationships between people. It is also the relationship of place. The importance of place at ECMS means that we honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and their connection to this land.
How we celebrate diversity and support inclusion
The wellbeing and safety of children is at the centre of everything we do, and part of that is ensuring children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds feel welcome and develop a sense of belonging.
Celebrations
As a child safe organisation, we have an ongoing commitment to equity and inclusion. While we don’t host gender-titled events, there are many different ways we celebrate families and special people in a child’s life. Our place-based approach means those ways will be informed by the unique characteristics of your service’s community.
Supporting all children
We’re committed to ensuring our services are accessible and meet the needs of all children. In some circumstances, additional support can be provided. This may be for short periods or ongoing. Please speak with your child’s educator if you believe your family or child will require additional support. If you are already engaged with an allied health professional, your educators would be keen to support this work within the program.
Our support team
As well as your child’s educators, we have a support team that includes experienced leaders, teachers, coaches, and social workers who aim to help our teaching teams create inclusive environments that foster lifelong learning.
Family information session
Watch now to learn about the kindergarten program, what a day at kinder is like, what to bring, what food to pack, child safety awareness, and more.
Learn more about starting kindergarten
If you have a question, fill out the form and one of our team will get back to you.
ECMS acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and the traditional custodians of the lands on which we live, learn, work and play. Aboriginal people have a long tradition of teaching and learning through sharing their connections with country, community, language and culture. We recognise their continuing connection to the country, and we pay respects to elders past and present.