Our program

Becoming confident and involved learners

Our kindergarten adopts a holistic perspective of learning and teaching – one that promotes social, emotional, physical and cognitive well being through inclusive, integrated and interconnected learning.

We believe that children are active learners who make sense of their world and themselves when they have opportunities to investigate and explore materials and ideas through play and interactions with people.

Children learn best when they take an active role in constructing their knowledge and are empowered to express ideas and make choices about their learning.

Teachers play a vital role in supporting learning through positive social interactions, responsive teaching practices and actively engaging with the child and family throughout the teaching and learning journey.

Literacy development

At Springwood Kindergarten, the development of children’s emerging literacy understandings is embedded within all aspects of the program.

Children are supported through interactions, activities and play to explore literacy concepts in personally meaningful ways and engage positively with a variety of print and multimedia texts and the arts.

They are encouraged to:

• Explore symbols and patterns in language (eg. noticing signs in the environment)
• Engage with a variety of texts for different purposes (eg. reading books about plant growth when planting flowers and vegetables in the Kindy veggie patch)
• Build confidence and interest in exploring reading and writing behaviours (eg. taking ownership of their work by writing their name on drawings/paintings)

Outdoor play

At Springwood Kindergarten, we believe that outdoor play is vital to children’s holistic development and provides key learning opportunities in a range of natural contexts.

Playing outside gives children the chance to explore the natural environment and have adventures. They can play favourite games, test physical limits, express themselves and build self-confidence.

Outdoor play can also mean more mess – and more mess often means more fun especially in areas at Kindy such as digging patch, sandpit and the water trough!

When children are outside, they have more space and freedom for big movements, like running, jumping, kicking and throwing. Physical activities like these are good for health, fitness and physical development.

Outdoor play also incorporates opportunities for “risky play” experiences that help children understand personal limits, think independently, cope with challenges and gain self-confidence.

Outdoor play is a central part of our program and children are encouraged to engage with the natural outdoor environment each day they attend.

Technology

Technology is a central feature of the modern world children are growing up in. They are inundated with various machines and devices that serve a range of different purposes.

However, for children at Springwood Kindergarten, engaging with technology is more than simply playing games on devices. It involves using tools and technologies to support play, for enjoyment, to create, find out, communicate, share ideas and learning, inquire, investigate and solve problems.

Some examples include opportunities to use iPads to research their interests and questions and/or to take photos, create digital books and animations using drawings/paintings/photographs, code simple robots to move around spaces and investigate physics using simple machines with moving parts to name a few.

As children engage in activities such as these, they are developing skills and confidence to use a wide variety of tools, technologies and ICTs for a range of purposes.