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Sessional Kindergarten information relating to 2010/2011 |
The Victorian State Government provides funding for all Victorian children to access kindergarten in the year before they start school. Kindergarten programs are offered as sessional and extended hours (long day care) programs. Please read the pdf attachment at the bottom of this page for information for families using both our long day care and sessional kindergarten services.
Play-Based Curriculum
The 3 and 4 year old kindergarten programs both use a play-based curriculum as the focus for their program. The children are actively learning as they play and explore experiences that have been carefully planned after observation of all the children’s strengths needs and interests.
Many parents who are experiencing the kindergarten program for the first time (and even those who have been through the program before) have questions about the program and the philosophy of play-based learning. To many people it may look like the children are "just playing". What many people do not know about is the learning that is going on through the play. Every experience that is set up in the room is carefully planned from observations of the children's strengths, needs and interests. The experiences are set up in a way that encourages exploration of literacy, numeracy and science concepts, amongst many others. The staff's interactions with the children at the experiences also encourage exploration of a variety of literacy, numeracy and science concepts.
Some powerful research has recently come out of the USA, where there is a push to bring the play-based curriculum back into kindergarten (equivalent to our Prep). The research undertaken by Edward Miller and Joan Almon is called called “Crisis in Kindergarten: Why Children Need Play In School”. It was found that children who engage in socio-dramatic play have greater language skills, social skills, more empathy, more imagination and a greater capacity to know what others mean than non-players. See the summary of this research by clicking on the pdf link at the end of this web page.
To find out more about what the children are learning through the play experiences, click on the pdf link at the end of this web page to view our A4 posters.
Kindergarten Session Times
Session times are allocated each year to best meet the needs of families using the service. Kindergarten sessions operate inline with the Victorian school term dates and do not run on public holidays.
For further information about sessional kindergarten, go to our Frequently Asked Questions section under the About menu at the top of the screen. To go on to our waiting list for sessional kindergarten, please fill out an online application form under the Services/Enrolment menu.
From 2010, 3yo groups will be limited to 15 children and two staff members per session, thereby offering a staff to child ratio of 1:7.5, the lowest in the City of Port Phillip.
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PURPLE YELLOW ORANGE GOLD (Early Learning Group) 2010 FEES
Please refer to attached newsletters (3yo and Gold group) and Q&A sheet in pdf format for detailed information regarding the 3 year old kindergarten program for 2010 as well as our sessional kindergarten FAQ sheet. |
4 Year Old Groups
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The 4 year old timetable for 2010 In 2010 we are able to offer a wide range of sessions (including aftercare). Below is the timetable for 2010 showing sessions, days and times. There is room for 30 children in the popular RED group plus another 15 children can also participate in the long day plus half day as well as aftercare by selecting the GREEN group. This Green group is best suited to working families who would like to participate in the sessional kindergarten program but need the benefits of aftercare. We are also able to accommodate the families that specifically would like the three shorter days for their children (BLUE group). Blue and Green groups will be taught in an open room for the sessions that they are together so that they have the benefit of both a small and larger group environment. RED BLUE GREEN 2010 FEES Please refer to attached newsletter and Q&A sheet in pdf format for detailed information regarding the 4 year old kindergarten program for 2010 as well as our sessional kindergarten FAQ sheet. |
2011 TIMETABLE
In 2011, 3yo groups will be limited to 15 children and two staff members per session, thereby offering a staff to child ratio of 1:7.5, the lowest in the City of Port Phillip.
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YELLOW
ORANGE PURPLE GOLD (Early Learning Group) 2011 FEES
Please refer to attached newsletters (3yo and Gold group) and Q&A sheet in pdf format for detailed information regarding the 3 year old kindergarten program for 2011 as well as our sessional kindergarten FAQ sheet. |
4 Year Old Groups
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The 4 year old timetable for 2011 In 2011 we are able to offer a wide range of sessions (including aftercare). Below is the timetable for 2011 showing sessions, days and times. There is room for 30 children in the popular RED group plus another 15 children can also participate in the long day plus half day as well as aftercare by selecting the GREEN group. This Green group is best suited to working families who would like to participate in the sessional kindergarten program but need the benefits of aftercare. We are also able to accommodate the families that specifically would like the three shorter days for their children (BLUE group).We are also offering an extra group of 15 children in the SILVER group so 2011 will have a total of 75 places for 4yo kindergarten. RED BLUE GREEN SILVER 2011 FEES Please refer to attached newsletter and Q&A sheet in pdf format for detailed information regarding the 4 year old kindergarten program for 2011 as well as our sessional kindergarten FAQ sheet. |