Preschool Room. 4-5 years

We would like to welcome you to The Pre-School Room, this booklet has been produced to provide you with more comprehensive information about the room and its functions and to assist in a smooth transition for you and your child into our service. We have 15 children in the room each day, our room is designed to cater for the needs of children aged 4-5 years of age.

The ratio in our room is set to DECS regulations (1:10) which provides your child with quality care and interactions, and thus more opportunities to develop strong attachments to caregivers, which is of high importance to us at Play Learn and Grow

Educators in Room

There are three educators in The Pre-School Room, so at all times in the day there are at least two staff (which is guided by DECS regulation on ratios of 1:10 in the 3-5 years). There are three shifts in the room, these shifts are staggered throughout the morning to ensure that at all times of the day we can provide high quality care for your child.

Routines

We have a set routine each day where children can comfortably engage in play-based activities and experiences across a range of learning areas. We have a ‘Summer’ and ‘Winter’ routine, with flexibility between transitional months. The daily routine provides opportunities for children to make choices about experiences and equipment, to engage with the indoor and outdoor environment and to explore and work independently or engage socially with others, developing their friendships as well as language and communication skills.

The routine encourages children to develop self-help skills, gain confidence in their abilities and to take responsibility for their actions within the environment. Our daily routines provide consistency and stability for children, so they can feel safe and secure in their surroundings. At times, experiences may change in order or time, due to weather conditions, spontaneous experiences and emerging interests, excursions and other special events.

Our Experiences

The Pre-Schoolers have planned group time experiences each day, this is where the children are encouraged to actively participate as part of a group. These experiences involve music and movement, language and early literacy and action / circle games. All children are provided with individual experiences determined by observations and based on children’s interests and developmental requirements. We also enjoy many spontaneous experiences throughout the day as well. .

Preparing for School

Our learning programs is designed to build and help prepare children for the next step in their learning journey, Kindergarten. Over the year, we will work on building children’s emotional, social and cognitive development. We will provide a rich literacy and numeracy environment where children are immersed in quality language experiences, opportunities to practice their motor skills and control as they practice writing and recognising their names and counting. .

We will also focus on building their independent skills such as looking after their belongings, their ability to self regulate their emotions, express themselves confident manner and improve on their cooperative skills to work well with others. We look forward to instilling and fostering their natural curiosity for learning and building on their school readiness skills.