Williams House Kindergarten
When was the last time you were in a Kindergarten? Were you a child or a parent? What can you remember about Kindergarten? Is it the tiny child - sized furniture, ‘milk and fruit time’, painting at easels or digging in the sandpit?
If you were to walk into Williams House Kindergarten at Junior School today, you would discover that many of these traditional aspects of Kindergarten have remained intact. However, as the knowledge of how children learn continues to develop, there are newer elements that are becoming important in the way we plan and implement effective programmes at our Centre.
Our aim is to listen to what children are saying, notice how they play with each other, watch how they interact with the carefully presented environment, look for ways to extend what children initiate and encourage caring and sharing that is a vital part of Christian College learning. We are then able to plan programmes that are meaningful and relevant to the children’s stage of development as they prepare for more formal studies at Junior School.
Importance is also placed on providing a thoughtful and aesthetically pleasing environment for children within which to play and work.
A special aspect of the pre-school curriculum is our access to specialist subjects from Junior School. We are in a unique position whereby we have Music and Physical Education lessons with specialist staff, as well as the use of the Junior School Library. Because of this, the children who move on to Christian College from Williams House are at an immediate advantage of being very familiar with the school environment, the staff who teach there and the Christian ethos that flows through all campuses.
In 2006 we expanded our pre-school places by establishing an extra group of children. This has increased our places to 90 children across 4 groups. In addition there are 90 positions at ‘pre-kinder’ [previously known as 3 year old] level. All these groups fill quickly. We advise families considering enrolment to contact Williams House as early as possible.
Williams House has a fine history within Christian College, and it is exciting to be part of a centre that has so much potential to leave ‘marks’ that are reflective of joy, self worth and hope in the lives of the children we serve.
Mrs Bernadette Johnson
Co-ordinator, Williams House
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