A Place To Grow: Inside The Patricia Roberts Precinct

Article by Georgia Greig, Learning Area Leader - Early Learning

The newly opened Patricia Roberts Precinct on the Junior Campus is more than a beautiful collection of spaces - it is a living expression of our school’s early learning philosophy.

Designed with purpose, care, and creativity, the precinct brings to life our belief in holistic, play-based, and inquiry-driven learning. The precinct comprises three thoughtfully reimagined buildings: the EL Street Building, once the library for our Broadland House Old Girls; the Resource Centre, transformed from a single large space into three flexible learning areas including a light-filled art atelier; and the Hargreaves Building, now home to our two Kindergarten classes. Each space has been refurbished to support seamless indoor-outdoor learning, with bifold doors that encourage flow, freedom, and discovery. 

Inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy, we see the environment as the third teacher. It shapes how children feel, think, and connect. We ask: what do we want the space to communicate? Our answer: you belong here, you are capable, this is a safe place to explore and create. 

Every design decision - natural timbers, soft lighting, open-ended materials - aims to support emotional safety, regulation, and joy. We’ve drawn from biophilic design principles to connect children with nature through indoor greenery, gentle light, and textured, organic materials. As one of our favourite Creativity Project reflections reminds us: “When children are given beautiful materials and meaningful spaces, they rise to meet the environment with wonder.” 

Our outdoor spaces are just as thoughtfully considered. Rooted in our belief that nature is a powerful teacher, these areas are designed to offer rich, sensory, and motor experiences through natural planting, large rocks, logs, a sandpit, and winding pathways. Children will be invited to climb, balance, dig, and create, developing proprioception, physical coordination, resilience, and imagination through active exploration. These experiences are already reflected in our nature play excursions, where time in the bush fosters the same deep engagement, connection, and creativity we aim to embed in our purpose-built environment. 

Our environments are intentionally flexible. In true Reggio spirit, they evolve with the children and educators, responding to interests and inquiry. Indoors and out, provocations and open-ended materials support deep, child-led learning. 

This is a place where relationships flourish - between children, educators, ideas, and the environment. A typical day might include collaborative block play, painting in the atelier, outdoor storytelling beneath the oak trees, and reflective drawing in a quiet corner - all acts of meaningful learning, supported by a space that honours children’s rights to wonder, to belong, and to grow. The Patricia Roberts Precinct is a confident step forward in Early Learning at our school - and a place where the future feels both grounded and fullof possibility.