Rooms
Kookaburra
3 Year Old Kindergarten
With an understanding of the proven benefits of children attending two years of funded Kindergarten before school we are proud to offer two three-year-old kindergarten rooms that offer an integrated long day care and Kinder program.
Our Kinder program runs between 8.30am and 3pm from Monday to Friday over the school terms. On the school holidays our teachers are on annual leave, and the room is run by a Diploma trained educator in the room.
Our Wombat and Kookaburra rooms accommodate up to 18 children, with a consistent team of experienced educators in each classroom. The Kindergarten teacher in each classroom hold a minimum of their Bachelor of Education, and support team are qualified Early Childhood Educators.
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The Wombat and Kookaburra programs are informed by the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework, as well as other early childhood theories of learning and development such as Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences theory, Bronfenbrenner and the Reggio Emilia approach. These influences create a holistic program that gives every child a chance to learn, be successful and achieve their fullest potential during the Kindergarten year.
Experiences and Activities
Experiences and activities offered are set up to be engaging and challenging, facilitating the development of confident and capable learners. An indoor/outdoor program is run throughout the day for children to enjoy a range of experiences that cater to their needs and interests.
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Group times for the children include stories, songs, music, literacy and numeracy experiences and group games.
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Children will be offered a range of inquiry-based learning, pre-literacy experiences, numeracy, STEAM (Science, Technology & Engineering, Art and Mathematics., music and movement. Nature explorers program – we plan to explore our community surroundings and learn about what is around us.
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Our specialist programs include: Music and Drama, Auslan, and Active Antics, which is a PMP (Perceptual Motor Program) based program. These programs alternate on a four weekly basis to ensure all children have the opportunity to participate.
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Cooking program - our Kinder has a wonderful Kitchen and dinning area where the children can cook meals and eat together.
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The three-year-old program has a minimum of one incursion per term, these may include: visits from Australian/ocean animals, science experiences and African drumming.
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We have a grandparents program, called the ‘Intergenerational Program’ which runs each term where we invite grandparents to come and visit our program for an hour, and spend time with our children.
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Centre events such as such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day afternoon tea, Holi Festival, Cultural Diversity Week and Chinese New Year
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Puppet program – A variety of puppets are used in the classroom to support literacy and language, social and emotional skills amongst the group
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The Wombat and Kookaburra rooms will participate in community walks in the local area and have picnics and special events out and about in preparation for the excursions in four-year-old Kinder.
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We have a range of ICT resources to use in the Kindergarten Program including Surface Pro devices, an interactive whiteboard and a screen projector in the training room for presentations.
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There will be a minimum of two parent meeting throughout the year, where you can discuss your child’s progress with the kindergarten teacher.
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Each child has a portfolio that has observations, photographs, artwork and special memories that is added to over the year. This portfolio is given to each family at the end of the year.
Kinder Routine
Time
Activity
7.30am - 9.00am
Centre opens and children arrive for the day, put their bags and drink bottles away.
Children may family group in another Kinder Room during this time.
9.15am - 9.45am
Morning Group Time, may include morning greeting, time / weather board, information for the day
Children are encouraged to arrive in time to be part of the morning Group Time
9.45am - 10.00am
Morning Tea. Children to self-serve and have a choice of milk / water to drink
10.15am - 11.30am
Morning indoor / outdoor Kindergarten Program begins (run dependent on children’s needs / weather)
Specialist Programs (times may vary – Active Antics, Auslan, Music and Drama, Nature Walks)
11.30am - 12.30pm
Group time and lunch. Children are encouraged to self-serve and use bottles to drink.
12.30pm - 2.30pm
Relaxation and Quiet Time. For some children in three-year-old Kinder this may also include a rest / sleep after lunch. Children engage in quiet relaxing activities such as storytelling, literacy or numeracy games or passive group games. Children are encouraged to make their own choices in regards to whether they want to be indoors or outdoors.
2.30pm
Afternoon Tea, this may also include a group time story or another activity before eating.
3.00pm - 5.00pm
Indoor / outdoor program runs, depending on weather.
5.00pm - 6.00pm
Late snack provided during this time.
6.00pm
Centre closes
The routine may change due to special events, weather and the needs of the children on the day. We will endeavour to keep a flexible and adaptable routine to optimise all learning needs and cater to the requirements of the day.
