FAITH & LEARNING
Three Year Old Kindergarten
In 2023, St Vincent’s will offer one full-day Three-Year-Old Kindergarten Program. This is designed to give children who have already turned three an opportunity to participate in a program which nurtures readiness for the Four-Year-Old Kindergarten the following year.
Our Three-Year-Old Kindergarten will run every Friday. A qualified Early Childhood Teacher and qualified Education Assistant will run the program.
The maximum class size is 20 children. Once the class has reached its capacity, there will be no more places available. Children must have already turned three before commencing.
Children who turn three later in the year can be placed on a waiting list and will be notified when a place becomes available once they have turned three. Children will be eligible to commence the session following their birthday.
Please be aware that enrolment into our Three-Year-Old Kindergarten Program does not guarantee your child a place for Four-Year-Old Kindergarten the following year. The formal enrolment process for Kindergarten, including an interview with the Principal, will still be required.
Early Years
We believe:
- Every child matters, every day.
- All children can be successful learners.
- In scaffolded and embedded learning.
- In acknowledging the best in each of our children.
- In the importance of intentional play.
- In providing engaging, stimulating learning experiences.
- In having a strong oral language program.
- In developmentally appropriate learning opportunities.
- In catering for differences – we are all different and unique!
- Positive, respectful relationships must be at the heart of all we do, say and think.
- In affirming and reciprocal partnerships with parents and families.
Kindergarten is often a child’s first experience in an educational setting and at St Vincent’s, we believe it should be an introduction that helps to build confidence, joy and a love of learning.
With a strong focus on BELONGING, we create a caring, safe and supportive environment that honours the children’s individual backgrounds and families while building a strong sense of community.
We embrace the magic of childhood and allow children to enjoy BEING a child. To be in the present and know themselves, to build and maintain friendships with others, to engage with life’s joys and complexities and to meet the challenges of everyday life.
We focus on the concept of the ‘whole child’, nurturing their emotional, social, spiritual, physical, as well as academic development. The children love exploring the wide range of intentional learning provocations each week, allowing them to be curious, share their ideas with one another, and develop their persistence and creativity. It is important therefore, to embrace all the wonderful things each child can do and nurture all they are yet to learn.
By offering this intentional environment that nurtures the children’s dispositions to wonder, to explore and construct meaning about the world around them, we support the children as they grow and develop each day. We help them on their journey to BECOMING confident in knowing their unique self and in their abilities as a capable learner.
“Childhood is a time to be, to seek and to make meaning of the world.”
(Early Years Learning Framework, 2009. pp. 7)
Kindergarten days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.