Our Junior School – Donvale campus allows students to follow their passions, inspires them to learn from nature and encourages them to be creative and collaborative.
The purpose-built facilities for Early Learning to Year 6 students blends seamlessly with the surrounding natural, native bushland. The peaceful setting is enhanced by community artwork; the treehouse-inspired and well-resourced library; mindfully designed classrooms; fun outdoor playspaces; and large, dedicated spaces for art, music and sport.
Inviting classrooms
Our campus is inspired by neuroscientific understandings of how the brain learns. This involves creating the ideal classroom environment, including the use of the colour blue to encourage concentration, thinking and study; student artwork displayed around the room; the purposeful use of technology; and multi-sensory learning. Indoor plants around the rooms reflect the Donvale environment and help to maintain a calm learning environment.
Collaboration is an important aspect of the Junior School classroom. Sliding doors open up to reveal large co-operative learning spaces for the year levels, fostering creativity and innovation. When required, small individual classes work closely together to allow for a more personalised approach to learning.
An inspiring outdoor environment
Donvale is an area with a distinctively Australian character, populated by native plants that are home to a magnificent array of bird and animal life. The campus joins the Mullum Mullum Creek Linear Park, which provides a unique opportunity to learn from nature throughout the Junior School journey.
Functional, safe and engaging playspaces are prioritised in our Junior School. The Prep playground, which includes a mini creek and sandpit, as well as an adventure playground for Years 1 to 6, encourages imagination and rejuvenation. Another popular space during recess and lunch is our covered, all-weather astro-turf courts, which are also used for Physical Education lessons and sports practice.
Creativity throughout the campus
A defining feature of Carey’s Donvale campus is its outdoor artwork. The two major art installations, ‘Mindi the Serpent’ and ‘Landscape of Learning’, are large-scale collaborative works that each student and member of staff contributed to. These installations are powerful symbols of the sense of community and creativity in our Junior School.
Music and Art classes take place in dedicated spaces that are specifically designed to inspire. Within the music building, students explore music and movement in our large classroom spaces or individual lesson studios. The art studio is bright and colourful, allowing for the exploration of individual creativity through a range of techniques.
Our iconic treehouse-inspired library is designed to fit perfectly within the natural environment. This inviting space fosters a love of reading and learning, and its unique architecture and comprehensive programs make it a central feature of the Junior School experience.
The Early Learning experience
Our newly renovated, spacious Early Learning Centre (ELC) caters for three-year-old and four-year-old groups in a space that fosters curiosity, exploration and individual expression.
The classrooms are inspired by the surrounding environment, with natural materials and diverse playscapes. The outdoors is an important aspect of the ELC at Carey’s Junior School – Donvale campus as the Bush Kinder program is a cornerstone of the experience.
Bush Kinder allows ELC students to explore, investigate and learn about the abundance of flora and fauna they can find there. During Bush Kinder sessions, children encounter and engage with the natural environment, establish a meaningful relationship with it and develop their curiosity, resilience and sense of agency.
