Opening the lid on learning: a Pre-Kindy with a difference
By: Ken Goodlet
Posted 22 May 2008
THE PRE-KINDY AT ST PAUL’S GRAMMAR SCHOOL has now been operating for three months and in its state-of-the-art premises for just on three weeks. What sort of report card does it get from parents?
Mrs Amy Moore, a trained English teacher, appreciates what Pre-K offers her four-year-old child Anna, one of the 42 children who attend:
St Paul’s Pre-K opens the lid on learning for Anna. Children that can be stretched in their learning are being developed by such life-learning activities as collecting tadpoles in the creek and learning experiences associated with that. And the exposure to Chinese culture and language introduces them to a wider world, which is important. Although I have two younger children and am busy, I was not looking for a baby-sitting place for Anna; I wanted her to experience the excitement of learning with someone in the teacher role rather than the mother role. I have been thrilled with the excitement the teachers have about learning. I believe that if learning in these early years is not an exciting experience, it can be hard to turn it around later.
Anna idolises her teachers and we see them as good models for her. While the new building is a bonus, it is the learning experience that is most valuable, a worthwhile experience she was having before moving into the new building. Anna says to me, ‘Why can’t I come every day?’, to which I reply, ‘I’d miss you too much!’
Mrs Kate Baker has a four-year-old son Callum in the Pre-Kindergarten:
I became involved because I already have two older children, Declan (10) and Indiah (7) in St Paul’s Junior School and because Mrs Lisa Bonazza the supervisor is so dedicated. The facilities are amazing, but it is more the quality of the teaching staff and their relationships with the children that are impressive. The children are very fortunate.
Mrs Lisa Bonazza, director of Pre-K, explains her vision for the new project this way:
I decided when I was seven that I wanted to be a teacher because of the good relationships at school with my teachers and my fellow students. I have maintained relationships with my former principal, teachers and eight of my fellow students, and these friendships have remained strong despite the fact that during that time I have taught in five countries. I want children I come in contact with to experience the same relationships.
It only struck me how important relationships were when I went around visiting other pre-schools. Many had great facilities and great staff; but it was the relationships that students had that made the best schools good. In more technical terms, what counts for us is what the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and the Italian Reggio Emilia program have to offer: the social construction of knowledge. So when we were operating in Term 1 this year in demountables, it was a challenge. But the fact that we had to work together as a community of children, parents and staff meant we were alongside each other, building together a learning community. We have plans to widen parental involvement and get parents to cover various portfolios. We hope that in the morning, parents can come and help not only their own, but other children as well.
