Director's Report

Hi Livingston Families,

I hope you are well and looking forward to the arrival of Spring.

We often get asked at kinder when will be working on school readiness activities with the children.  School readiness however, is not a separate part of the program. Kindergarten (and life!) can  prepare children for school by promoting all areas of their growth and development. A kindergarten program that closely observes and responds to children’s needs, development stages and interests provides opportunities for encouraging the skills and attributes needed for starting school.

The environment we set up, the experiences we plan for, the interactions we have with the children,  that they have with each other, the experiences they have outside of kinder all promote and provide opportunities for the children to enhance their skills in all areas of their development and therefore support children’s school readiness.

We focus on assisting children to become confident learners rather then on developing specific literacy and numeracy skills. Using the children’s current skills and interests as the basis for promoting their development will prepare children better than requiring them to complete structured academic tasks.

Skills we take into consideration in our decisions , plans and goals for individual children and the group as a whole include the children’s ability to:

• positively approach other children and make friends;
• participate in play;
• express emotions and deal with conflict appropriately;
• show interest in others and form friendships;
• express their needs and wants appropriately;
• separate from parents or primary carers;
• take turns in games and activities;
• share toys and equipment;
• follow some directions and understand some rules;
• participate in groups; and cope with transitions between routines and experiences.
• show natural curiosity and interest in learning new things;
• have confidence in learning; and be interested in solving problems.
• use language to ask questions and communicate their thoughts and ideas
• Listening to others
• enjoy books and being read to.
• cope with a small amount of supervision in a variety of situations;
• toilet and dress themselves independently;
• unpack their lunch box and use a drink bottle; and cope with a structured environment.

• manage and use pencils, crayons, textas and scissors; and balance, run, jump, and use equipment such as balls and climbing apparatus.

   

As we approach the end of the year and children heading to school in 2026 begin their school  transitions, it is good to be mindful of the new experiences/expectations children will encounter as they begin school, particularly those that require children independence

Some simple things to encourage and support your child’s independence can include –

• packing their own bag in the morning for kinder,
•  carrying their own kinder bag and putting it into their locker,
• taking off/putting on their sweater/jacket,
• independence in self care-going to the toilet,
• pushing up their sleeves to wash hands, putting on/off their shoes
• managing or opening their lunch box, including what to eat when. Sometimes a lunch box
• with sections is good as lots of little containers can be overwhelming and often easily lost,
• which is frustrating and costly!

For many children these are things they are already doing, and that we have been encouraging them to continue do at kinder.

Independence contributes to the development of self-esteem, identity and wellbeing. Doingsomething for yourself produces a powerful sense of achievement and success. Whenchildren have opportunities to make choices, to attempt tasks for themselves, and to takeon increasing responsibilities, their sense of themselves as competent members of societygrows. NQS PLP e-Newsletter No.64 2013

On another note a big thank you to Orlagh (Ellies mum in Boronia) for another successful grant  application. This time for embedding Aboriginal perspectives sessions with the children.

See you all in Term 4