Our Program
Our philosophy
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We value children as active and capable individuals, who should be involved in decision making about their learning. We believe that children learn best when they feel safe, secure and supported, and therefore trusting relationships with educators are at the heart of our preschool. We acknowledge and respect each child as a unique individual who is supported and challenged to develop and learn at their own pace.
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We recognise that children learn best through play and that play encourages children to acquire new skills, knowledge and understandings through active engagement. We know a balance of planned and spontaneous experiences with time to investigate and explore is essential to a child's learning. We foster a social environment for children to collaborate and play together, as well as develop effective ways of communicating and cooperating with others.
We understand the importance of creating a learning environment that is rich with open-ended materials from both natural and man-made resources. We value outdoor all weather play as it is a vital component to a child's overall learning and development. We acknowledge that a learning environment should encourage children to be independent, to take risks, to make their own choices and extend their own interests and learning.
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We are committed to providing a warm, caring and welcoming environment that embraces and supports the diversity of all families at our preschool. We recognise and respect the Bunurong People of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we live, learn and play. We value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders knowledge and culture, which is reflected in our daily practices.
We acknowledge families as children’s first and most influential teachers and work to develop respectful and reciprocal partnerships to support and nurture each child’s learning and development. We encourage families to actively observe and participate in the preschool program and value their contributions.
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We value a collaborative teaching approach in which our educators work in partnership to support each other to provide a high quality learning program for our children and families. We draw on various child development theories and research to create child-centred learning programs that reflect the needs and expectations of the society, culture and community in which our children live.
As a collaborative teaching team, we share a passion for inspiring young minds through our dedication to excellence in teaching. We are committed to ongoing critical reflection, evaluation, self review and professional development to further enhance our teaching.
“We have loved our son’s time at 4yo kinder. The teachers are all so kind, patient and knowledgeable. The incursions have been amazing, in particular the bee keeper’s visit!”
— Louise (parent)
Our curriculum
Our program is guided by the national Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF) that address all areas of children's development including physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and language development. (Approved learning frameworks | ACECQA),
The framework’s five learning outcomes are:
Children have a strong sense of identity.
Children are connected with and contribute to their world
Children have a strong sense of wellbeing
Children are confident and involved learners
Children are effective communicators
Embedding of the EYLF within our program enables our educators to build upon the individual strengths, experiences, interests, and developmental level of each child attending our kindergarten.
“The teachers at Parkdale Preschool have created a beautiful sense of community and a warm, friendly environment for the kids to play and grow in. We love seeing our daughter build her confidence and proudly share all the great things she does at preschool with her friends.”
— Bianca (parent)
Our educational program
A play-based learning approach
At Parkdale Preschool, our program is centred around a child-initiated play approach. Play is very important for children’s learning and development. Through play, children explore and learn to understand the world around them as they communicate, discover, imagine, create and problem solve.
Our program is formulated through observing the children, assessing their needs and interests and then carefully designing learning activities and stimulating learning environments to guide their play. We build on the individual strengths, experiences, interests and developmental level of each child and make the most of spontaneous learning opportunities that emerge from children’s ideas. We have a range of experiences for the children each session, including periods of self-directed free play in a prepared environment, small and whole group activities, meal times and other routines.
Incursions
We regularly host incursions, in which experts in areas such as science, drama, music or arts, visit the preschool to inspire imagination and further the children’s learning. Incursions may focus on topics such as sustainability, dinosaurs, road safety, healthy eating, wildlife and animals, STEM and culture.
“Both our daughters have loved attending Parkdale Preschool and exploring the many activities with their friends. We’ve particularly been impressed by the inclusiveness and support shown to our second daughter who is deaf and has cochlear implants. The educators have adopted Auslan and helped her achieve skills such as packing up and taking turns; allowing her to make big progress in her learning and development.”
— Jess (parent)
Specialist programs
Our Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program
The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program is integrated into our three-year-old and four-year-old program to encourage learning about growth and gardening seasons, sustainability practices and nutrition, in order to promote positive food habits for life.
The children are involved in:
Planting and caring for fruit and vegetables in our organic kitchen garden
Harvesting and washing fresh fruit and vegetables to eat or use in cooking activities
Cutting and cooking fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs in our purposely designed educational kitchen to create delicious, seasonal dishes to share
“The kinder teachers always show great kindness and respect towards my daughter and support her to manage difficult emotions. She tells me that when she’s upset they take her outside to look at the flowers, talk to her and help her feel better.”
— Grace (parent)
Neighbourhood Explorers
Our Community Neighbourhood Explorers session will encourage children to broaden their understanding of the world in which they live. Through visiting local beaches, parks, shops and services, children will gain an important insight into the understanding of the diversity of local culture. They will explore connections, similarities and differences between people and notice and respond to these differences in a positive and meaningful way.
We regularly invite visitors from the wider community into the preschool for the children in all groups to capture children’s interest and imagination such as drama, music, dance or topics such as responsible pet ownership, healthy eating puppet show, Melbourne Museum’s dinosaur fossils or Wild Action’s Australian animals.
Excursions
At various times we may offer additional excursions in our four-year-old program, for example, to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne. We may ask families to contribute to the cost (charter bus hire and entrance/program fees) of providing excursions that are additional to our normal program.
“Parkdale Preschool sets the standard for what an inclusive preschool should look like. My oldest daughter is neurodivergent and her sister is neurotypical. Both of my daughters attended at the same time and their individual needs were supported equally with kindness and compassion. We are forever grateful to the wonderful educators for empowering our little ones.”
— Dayana (parent)
