I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to have a day visiting the preschools in our area
(seven of them in total) on Monday (14th March).
It was a great opportunity to begin some networking with these centers and a chance to see what they do for their "transition to school" programme, explore their learning spaces, talk with other professionals and of course have the opportunity to meet some of the wee ones who will be starting at our school in the next few weeks or months.
Here are a few of my thoughts and observations from my time in these centers.
Forfar Street Preschool- this is a centre I have driven past a million times and I have heard so much about it so it was good to finally be popping in. The preschool is located in an old villa with big spaces and a fantastic outdoor space for the children to play. There is a very professional feel here and there appears to be a lot of staff. I was fortunate enough to be able to observe a part of their mat time. This consists of about a session lasting 30 or so minutes. I observed them sitting in a circle and doing a type of newsboard I guess. I watched then cross off the date on the calendar. They shared news and sang happy birthday to a child who is leaving the center to go to school. One of the things that struck me the most about this session was the behaviour of the children. They sat so quietly and listened intently.
I had the opportunity to look at the information available to parents about schools in the area and I will get them some information for them about us.
Mairehau Kidsfirst Kindegarten- Again, another center I have heard a lot about and this is probably one of the main feeders to our school in the area.
This center is very relaxed and doesn't appear to have nearly as many children as Forfar Street does.
These guys also have a wonderful outdoor space which they utilize so well. The thing that impressed me so much here was the work they have done with their garden, They have a teepee that in summer is completely covered with sweet peas. The photos were amazing and it is clear how proud of this they are.
St Albans Playcentre- This is a great facility which is tucked away and you wouldn't know it was there really, This place was a buzz of activity and there were a lot of adults involved with the children's play as this is a parent run facility. These children are fortunate to have a great (quite big) space both inside and out. There appears to be very little (if any) "structured" transition to school programme. Many of their children leave before they turn 4 and head to kindy.
It looked to be a really fun place to be and the children were fully involved and engaged in their learning through play.
Dudley Street Preschool. Here is another preschool I have heard lots about as I know the owner. This preschool had a very homely feel to it. It has a roll of about 25 apparently. The inside and outside space was quite small in comparison to the other centers I have visited but it was very calm and had a really lovely feel. One of the things that was very evident was their commitment to Te Reo. It was evident everywhere in the center. We were able to see a little bit of mat time where the children came together before lunch and had songs and stories. An interesting fact to note is that a preschool teacher attends the second school visit with te children and do a sort of handover. I thought that was a lovely touch,
St Albans Community Preschool. This was like coming home for me. My children used to attend this preschool and I was on the Board for a couple of years so I feel like I know it well. It is still a very tired building a small outdoor space but on the whole it has a lovely happy feel to it. it is play based learning and their mat times are short and sweet. This center use rolling kai for the children where they self manage their own eating for the day ( meaning they can eat when they like). The children have several rich learning experiences through play here.
Mairehau First Learners. This is a preschool I have driven passed a lot too and often wondered what it would be like inside, The building is quite tired looking in places but the spaces are big and the outdoor space is too. It has three different rooms according to age ie nursery, preschool and prep school. They put the children into groups to focus on specific learning outcomes and when a child turns 4 and a half, they begin to learn the alphabet etc so their getting ready for school programme is more structured than some of the others I visited. We are one of the two main schools they feed to.
Barnardoes I didn't even know that this preschool existed. It is easy to go to the wrong building initially as it is attached to a community hub. This preschool is decile 1 and they offer 30 free hours to try and capture the children that otherwise would not get to experience any early childhood education. They work the philosophy of living off the land so the children grow fruit and vegetables and together with the teachers, they bake their own morning and afternoon tea with the produce they have grown. The learning space is unique in the fact that they have a great big deck that is covered in when it is raining or cold.
This exercise of visiting the preschools was very valuable to me in the fact that I am also looking to move preschools for our youngest so I was looking at it through parents eyes also.
A couple of things for me to ponder were
Having a play based discovery first thing on a Monday morning to ease children back into the week ahead. I will visit Mairehau Primary to see what they do with a similar idea.
I will also get a social story out to the preschools I visited so children in the centers can read about what our school is all about. I will also finish drafting up a pamphlet to put for parent information about our new school.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed visiting the preschools and think if nothing else it was a successful networking exercise. To that end, I think I will try and initiate a gathering of the preschool teachers in the area to meet and see if we can get a termly meeting underway with purposeful sharing and social networking session. I will attempt to get this underway next term.
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