NURSERY
The ‘Nursery’ level of our centre program is for children aged at least three years of age by the 1st of September. Children may attend from three mornings up to five full days per week.

At this level of our centre the feeling of safety and security remain a priority for the child, but once these have been achieved the child is definitely ready for wider exploration of both their physical and their social surroundings. True friendships form and the wonderful opportunities and fun to be found in and amongst peers is of high importance to each child.

Loving care and individual attention is strongly complemented by encouraging children to find positive attention and love within their classmates as well. As with the ‘Young Nursery’ year, it is the classroom environment and the daily routine that play a major role in ensuring that these goals are met for each child. It is through the appealing presentation of age-appropriate play materials and activities that we strive to ensure that each child loves coming to school to discover more of the exciting possibilities that each day can bring to them. Such exciting new discoveries every day is what life as a three year old should be all about!

The weekly schedule at the Nursery level provides as much play time as possible, and contains a familiar structure to each day of the week. This base of security allows the child the confidence to explore the many new things that are contained within the stable routine and structure to their day. Teachers are strong supporters of children’s play and interpersonal interactions, helping the child to discover the way to the all-important social skills that are a key to their feeling of acceptance and belonging within the group.

Puppet shows, stories, songs and rhymes are a strong part of the ‘linguistic’ part of the program, and daily exercises including ‘feet exercises’ and dancing develop the more physical side of the child. Classroom activities begin to include introductions to projects and materials that require the use of the three year old’s fast developing fine-motor abilities, and also allow the child’s creative energies plenty of opportunity to be expressed. In addition to this, extended time in our playground, excursions, and exploratory walks in the neighbourhood are a regular part of the Nursery program.

A greater sense of ‘group’ becomes apparent at the Nursery level: group times begin to be a little longer, to involve more discussion and verbal input from the children, and to generally require all children to join in.

‘Care routines’ such as toileting, dressing, and eating make up a significant part of the day, with a strong influence on improving and encouraging each child’s INDEPENDENCE within these routines. The pride and joy that a three year old feels when they experience independent success in these areas makes it well worth all the patience and time that was needed to get them there!

In addition to this, children at the Young Nursery level are permitted to enroll in the ‘Optional Extras’ classes of ‘Dance’ and ‘Sport & Gym’(additional fees apply for these programs).