School Readiness Program



School Readiness

The Preschool years between three and five years of age are a very exciting time for both young children and their families. We strive to make your child’s time with us both educational and fun. The main things we are working towards in 2012 with the children are independence, self confidence, communication, social awareness and readiness for the important transition to school.

Our room’s philosophy is in line with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) which we use in our daily interactions with the children and in our programming.

There are five Learning Outcomes in the EYLF which form its framework:-

1. Children have a strong sense of identity.

2. Children are connected with and contribute to their world.

3. Children have a strong sense of wellbeing.

4. Children are confident and involved learners.

5. Children are effective communicators.

Our goal is to enrich the children’s learning and their future lives in partnership with you, their family.

One of our main aims is to assist you child to be ready to enter the more structured larger social educational setting of Primary School. This “readiness” is based on their ability to:

• Work independently
• Listen to what others are saying
• Communicate their needs and ideas clearly and confidently with adults and peers
• Participate in structured group situations such as story time, dancing and games
• Learn in a cooperative learning environment from adults and their peers
• Develop an awareness of print, early pre-reading and writing skills
• Learn self help skills so that they are independent at school

Children develop independence by directing their own learning through play and practicing and sharing ideas, resources and space with others. Play is the way that young children learn. We offer many engaging, challenging and developmentally appropriate play experiences each day to help them to gain the required skills.

Drawing/Writing Table

This area provides many opportunities with a variety of materials to develop their pre-writing and reading skills. These include developing cutting skills with scissors, holding a pencil, writing and identifying their names, letter recognition and hand-eye coordination.

Puzzles, Construction, Cognitive Games and Manipulative Equipment

Here children learn many of the concepts needed for later maths learning such as spatial awareness, shape, colour, size and number. They also learn the skills of matching, sorting, visual discrimination, memory, concentration and problem solving.

Sensory Play

Children learn through all of their senses – touch, taste, smell, vision and hearing. Providing children with experiences such as sand, water, clay, play dough and cooking increases their ability to process the world around them. It is also relaxing and emotionally satisfying.

Creative Experiences

Many different media are used to encourage children to use their imagination, problem solving skills, concentration, aesthetic awareness and to develop a feeling of self esteem and self confidence in their own abilities. Some include collage, painting, play dough, dancing, singing, drawing and blocks. With young children, it the doing (the process) that is important not the result (the product).

Role-play and Imaginary Play

This helps children to gain self identity, social skills and to understand how others feel. We provide experiences like dressing up, puppets and cubbies.

Outdoor Experiences

Our outdoor environment is planned to include the areas above and to provide many opportunities for children to engage in more vigorous exercise such as running, kicking and throwing balls, climbing, balancing and digging in a safe and challenging way. 

Self Help Activities

We encourage children throughout the day to be independent in life skills and to be part of helping the group in the Preschool Room. Some of the ways they do this are:-

•          To serve themselves and scrape their own plates at meal times, and to pour their own drinks.
•          To help stack the chairs after meals
•          Remove their own bedding after rest
•          Put on their own shoes and socks
•          Take responsibility for their own belongings
•          Packing away and cleaning up when they have finished at an activity 
•          Feed themselves 
•          Be able to wash their hands and toilet themselves 
•          Simple dressing skills are encouraged