SPICE-Supported Playgroup Igniting Children's Engagement
St Raphael's School
The Importance of Play
‘Play’ is sometimes contrasted with ‘work’ and characterised as a type of activity which is essentially unimportant, trivial and lacking in any serious purpose. As such, it is seen as something that children do because they are immature, and as something they will grow out of as they become adults. Evidence now confirms this view is mistaken. Play in all its rich variety is one of the highest achievements of the human species, alongside language, culture and technology. Indeed, without play, none of these other achievements would be possible. The value of play is increasingly recognised, by researchers and within the policy arena, for adults as well as children, as the evidence mounts of its relationship with intellectual achievement and emotional well-being.
Halloween Fun at Playgroup
Stages of Play development
Answers to Google Form Questions
Question: There are a few children from my son’s childcare attending St Raphael’s next year. Is it possible to allow my son to be in the same class with his friends?
When children start school at St Raphael's, our aim is for them to be happy and settled. This is one of the reasons why we meet with new parents and children before the new school year starts; so we can find out how we can best support the children. some of the questions asked during the interview relate to friendships and socialisation. We aim to to gather as much useful information as we can during these interviews.
When forming homerooms, we try to ensure each student has a familiar friend. We like to disperse Kindergarten groups to avoid 'clicks' and encourage children to make new friends. During Orientation, we observe who the children play with and how they play, before putting class lists together. We also use other criteria to ensure there is a balance in each homeroom.
As you are aware, at St Raphael's we implement play based learning. Students from both homerooms socialise together and investigate across the entire Foundation space. During formal learning, we teach from point of need, so more than often students are mixed. So as you can see, it should not be an issue if groups of students are not put together.
If you have a question you would like to ask about starting school, we invite you to complete the questionnaire below.