Kindergarten and Pre-primary students attend classes in the Early Childhood Centre which is located upstairs in the recently completed classroom block.
Times
Kindergarten begins at 8:50am every day and finishes at 3:05pm. For safety purposes children need to be accompanied by an adult until the Kindergarten centre opens. Parents are encouraged to stay for the first ten minutes of the day for puzzle and book time.
Pre-primary begins at 8:50am every day, with doors opening at 8.35am. The day concludes at 3:05pm
It is a school rule that Kindergarten and Pre-primary children and siblings do not play on equipment before and after school.
1. The Early Years Learning Framework – Play as a medium for learning
The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) is a national framework for all early childhood educators ensuring that children in all early childhood education and care settings experience quality teaching and learning.
The Early Years Learning Framework describes childhood as a time of belonging, being and becoming.
Belonging – Acknowledging children’s interdependence with others and the basis of relationships in defining identities. Belonging shapes who children are and who they become.
Being – Recognising the here and now in children’s lives. The early childhood years are not solely preparation for the future but also about the present.
Becoming – Reflects the process of change in children’s identities, knowledge, understandings, capabilities, skills and relationships.
The EYLF has a specific emphasis on play-based learning and recognises the importance of communication and language (including early literacy and numeracy) and social and emotional development.
Purposeful play is a powerful medium for learning and helps children make sense of their world. Play is an important part of your child’s first years of life because it helps the “wiring” of your child’s brain. Children need opportunities to choose from a wide variety of activities, materials and equipment that will stimulate, challenge and involve them in interesting tasks.
Educators respond to children’s ideas and play and use intentional teaching to scaffold and extend each child’s learning.
Loose Parts Play
Research tells us that the degree of inventiveness and creativity and the possibility of discovery are directly proportional to the number and kind of variables in it. To support this we have embraced a Loose Parts style of play in our outdoor environment.
A commonly used explanation for Loose Parts play is: materials that can be moved, carried, combined, redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways. They are materials with no specific set of directions that can be used alone or combined with other materials. At VPPS we call these materials our ‘precious junk’. Loose Parts play promotes independence, experimentation, resilience and creativity. It also provides endless opportunities for problem solving and critical thinking. Given the children will be engaging in this type of play, they may come home with a few minor bumps, bruises or splinters. This is how children develop resilience and learn how to alter their play if necessary. It is beneficial to learn to face the knocks and challenges of life and what better way to do this than through play!
Daily Program
The Pre-primary consists of a combination of teacher directed activities and inquiry based learning opportunities, where children are able to make choices about their learning. Young children do not learn in the same way as adults, they need to experience things in a concrete form through their five senses before they can translate this knowledge into symbolic forms. The carefully planned and structured play-based activities create an interesting, engaging and meaningful curriculum, that uses children’s interests and questions as a starting point for effective learning. Through inquiry, your child is learning about the world around them and how he/she can fit within it.
When children play they are showing what they have learned and what they are trying to understand. This is why play is one of the foundations of the EYLF. The modelling and explicit teaching of social skills will help develop the children’s self-awareness and self-control.
The main aim of our program is to make your child’s first contact with school a happy and satisfying experience, which will help to establish positive attitudes to learning. We aim to encourage the development of your child’s confidence, concentration and social skills, to foster their imagination and creativity and help build their self-esteem.
We provide a warm, positive atmosphere in our Pre-primary and allow children time to interact and learn with their peers and adults in a happy, relaxed, yet purposeful environment. We recognise that each child is unique and develops at his/her own pace and we observe each child in order to provide the appropriate environment to stimulate more learning.
2. Western Australian Curriculum
Pre-primary is the first year of compulsory schooling and the curriculum provided by teachers is the same as all other Australian states.
3. Incursions / Excursions
During the year at Pre-primary we may be involved in some incursions (visitors/events within the school) and excursions (visits to places outside the school). Both are part of the educational program we provide at Pre-primary. A cost is involved in these events and we will endeavour to give you as much time to pay as possible. If you experience difficulty paying for an event, please contact the school office manager.
Pre-primary children are involved in swimming lessons. These are usually in Term 4. More information about swimming will be given later in the year (in previous years, the cost was $60.00 per child for two weeks of lessons).
EFTPOS facilities are available in the front office.
4. Literacy
At Victoria Park we implement a strong oral language and comprehension program for all children. The children will be exposed to all phases of Phonological Awareness including syllable awareness, rhyme recognition and initial sounds. Recent research suggests that early knowledge of letters and sounds has a strong and direct relationship to success and ease of reading acquisition in later years. It is also very important that parents read to their child (children) every day in order for them to develop an interest in reading. Each year at the beginning of first term, all Pre-primary children will be assessed using the On-entry Interview (On Entry Test). Early intervention can then take place for those children who display some difficulties with their oral language development, comprehension, numeracy skills and communication skills.
Soundwaves and Reading Eggs
Victoria Park Primary School uses the Soundwaves spelling program from Pre-primary to Year 6. Soundwaves is complimented by the online Reading Eggs program.
5. Numeracy
Mathematical understanding in early childhood is integral to developing proficiency in numeracy. We teach the numerical concepts that are required for everyday life. We do this by providing opportunities for students to reinforce their mathematical learning in practical, everyday situations during play in whole group/small group and individual settings. Throughout the Pre-primary year, your children will be exposed to aspects of numbers, measurement and shape.
6. The Learning Environment
At Victoria Park we know that learning occurs both inside and outside of the classroom. The children become actively involved in planned and incidental learning to assist with their mental, physical and social/emotional development. The indoor and outdoor learning environments are organised and planned to engage children, making use of the natural and built environments. Activities promote independence and social interaction through structured tasks and intentional play opportunities.
7. P.A.T.H.S.
The early childhood classes follow a P.A.T.H.S program that lays the foundations for lifelong social – emotional learning. P.A.T.H.S stands for Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies. Children will learn how to do “Turtle” when upset, frustrated or angry as a way of dealing with their emotions in an appropriate manner. The curriculum is intended to help prevent or reduce behavioural and emotional problems in young children.