A-Z International Centre for CHILDREN

A-Z International Centre for Children aims to provide the highest possible quality of English-language care to nursery and pre-school aged children (2-6yrs) in Budapest. Our centre believes that a young child's life should be full of fun, happiness and enjoyable interactions with peers and caring adults. It is our hope and expectation that each child's time with us will prove to be safe, secure, busy, active, rewarding and, most importantly, FUN!

Centre Environment
Our goal is to provide a complete environment of care that meets each child's physical, emotional, and other developmental needs. This means that we invest in ensuring that our building and grounds are SAFE and aesthetically pleasing. We aim to ensure a SECURE environment for all children - both Physically and Emotionally - by employing highly professional staff and maintaining excellent teacher/child ratios (ranging from Young Nursery 1:5 to Kindergarten 1:9 maximum). We believe that all classrooms should be visually appealing and stimulating, and should also provide the children with a sense of ownership and belonging.

Centre Location/Facilities
You can find us at our prime location in the hills of Buda's 12th district, close to Istenhegyi Út and easily accessible by public transport (bus 90 or 90/A). Within our building we have classrooms that are SPACIOUS, APPEALING and filled with NATURAL LIGHT. There is a children's LIBRARY and GYMNASIUM, and we also have a 'Parent's Place' set aside for the adults. Outside of the building we have a large and pleasant garden/playground area, allowing children to really enjoy some extensive outdoor explorations.

Our Staff
We acknowledge that our staff are the most valuable resource of the Centre. Our team is highly experienced with young children, well qualified, and has a high proportion of native-English speakers. We ensure that our staff hold updated FIRST AID qualifications, are fluent in English, and have many opportunities for professional development. You will find our staff to be friendly, trustworthy, and skilled in communicating with you regarding the shared role of caring for your child. PROFESSIONALISM and COMMITMENT to QUALITY CARE are expected from our staff at all times.

Children's Programs
Each class plans its own program and daily routine based upon our Centre Curriculum and Centre Philosophy, which refer strongly to the individual NEEDS, developmental STAGES, and INTERESTS of the children.
ALL rooms offer a wide variety of stimulating play experiences from which to choose. Therefore your child can expect frequent opportunities to draw, paint, read/listen to stories, run, jump, pour, mix, talk, dance, sing, imagine, share, build, make friends, smile, laugh, be listened to…

The daily routine of each class will vary according to the age and needs of the children. Each child's routine will include time to 'SETTLE-IN' to the day, time to EXPLORE the experiences/activities on offer to them, time to REFRESH (eat, drink and rest) and time to be OUTSIDE. Each group's weekly schedule includes several classes where the children have extra opportunities to develop skills in Music, Dance, Stories, Creative Art, Gardening/DIY, Gym/Sport games…

Our program especially aims to increase each child's awareness of natural wonder and the great diversity of culture and language within our centre community. To help achieve this we hold regular celebrations of special events from varied cultures, as well as having many excursions and outings (particularly for the older children).

ACADEMICS: Programs for older children have a higher 'academic' content (e.g. reading/writing skills), aiming to lead the child smoothly into the curricula expectations of the early primary years. This will be applied to each child according to their 'individual readiness', with additional consideration and referral to the particular curriculum expectations of the child's future schooling.

Menu
Our menu focuses on providing a HEALTHY, BALANCED and NUTRITIOUS diet to the children in our care. Seasonally FRESH FRUIT and VEGETABLES are provided and a vegetarian menu is available daily. We eat regularly, offering 'Morning Snack'; 'Fruit Snack'; 'Lunch' and 'Afternoon Snack'.

'Extended Day' options exist in the afternoon - refer to optional extras.
Our Centre Calendar runs from the first week of September to the last week of June, with holidays for Christmas and Easter, and an 'Autumn Break' in October and a 'Ski Break' in February.

Optional Extras
We offer the following 'extras' that your child may be enrolled in as an addition to the basic school program. These will require the payment of an extra fee, and age/size-of-class restrictions may apply:

Bus Service
Our bus service is available for bringing your child to and from the Centre. SAFETY is a priority on the fully serviced bus with a seatbelt for every child.

Parents
Relations with parents are of utmost importance to our centre. We have a Parent Committee, which is there to gather, and act on, ideas that may improve the lives of the children and families in the centre. We place a high priority on communicating regularly with you about the care of your child, and we encourage you to take full advantage of this - our aim is to make parents feel welcome and to know that they can play an active part in the running of our centre. Within the centre we have a 'Parent's Place' which is specifically designed for the parents, providing the opportunity to relax, talk with other parents, or browse through various child-care/schooling and other community information.

More Information
If you would like to know more about A-Z, please do not hesitate to contact us.