Embrace program was developed with the intention of supporting the inclusion of all children at Unicare. Our purpose is ensuring that every child in the Centre has an opportunity to grow, thrive, and engage meaningfully in their environments.

In this way, Embrace works to ensure that all children at Unicare have the support they require, irrespective of their abilities, culture, language or socio-economic situations.

Services offered through the Embrace Program:

Working with families and specialists, to develop and implement Inclusion plans that support the specific needs of the child.

Attending or hosting specialist appointments for children at the Centre, to ensure that children’s wellbeing programs are integrated into their day at Unicare.

Building the capacity and knowledge of all educators through our program of development, so that staff are better equipped to understand and support the needs of children at Unicare.

Providing information about various support services available for families within the community.

Collaborating with service providers in the following areas:

Physical 

Developmental 

Behavioural/Emotional

The Body Buds program at Unicare is aimed at supporting the development the children’s social, physical and emotional resilience through various outdoor and indoor activities.

Physical Activity

Driven by the latest research in the field of children’s physical and outdoor education, the Body Buds program provides various learning experiences to support the development of children’s movement skills. These include:

Obstacle courses

Bat and Ball Skills

Yoga

Games from a range of cultures

         Catching

         Turn taking

Supporting Emotional Resilience and Social Skills

The Body Buds program fosters the development of children’s social skills and emotional resilience through learning activities such as:

Meditation and mindfulness

Attenborough program at Unicare is driven by nature pedagogy, which places children’s connection with nature at the forefront of all their learning. By working alongside children, their families, and the broader community, the Attenborough program aims at extending children’s understanding of their responsibilities and relationships with the natural world.

Educators in the Attenborough program do this through learning experiences such as:

Leading walks around the university campus and surrounding natural areas. 

Teaching children about taking care of Unicare pets, which include the chickens, fish, the birds, the guinea pigs and a range of pet visitors through the year.

Working collaboratively with children on implementing sustainable practices at Unicare, such as composting food waste.

Discussing with the children the importance of reusing and recycling resources.

Designing and growing a herb garden and vegetable patch within the Unicare grounds.

‘Camping’ within the UWA grounds

The Attenborough team also seeks to strengthen children’s relationship with their community through frequent visits to the local shops, cafés, and the museums and galleries around UWA.

The Polyglots program provides children at Unicare opportunities to learn languages such as Auslan, Spanish, and Mandarin. With more than 17 languages spoken in the Centre, we celebrate culture and communication.

Through a play-based focus, children engage in small sessions in Auslan language, with new words and phrases being introduced and consolidated over the year. This program provides the perfect foundation to introduce and engage children in various languages. Check out the Auslan signs around the Centre.