“Each day can be filled with joy and wonder for life, learning and discovery at this important time in their lives.”
Linuwel Pre-school is a children’s service for 3 – 4 year-olds. The learning and socialising environment provides a strong foundation for each child to confidently progress to Kindergarten during their sixth year. While there is a strong link to the Linuwel kindergarten, the skills and behaviours acquired will assist each child in their transition to any school.
The pre-school and kindergarten children enjoy a harmonious and rhythmical environment that conveys constancy and security. This allows the staff to promote healthy and hygienic patterns of eating, playing and resting. They understand the children’s very strong link to their parents, and are conscious of their role and responsibility to provide a comparable level of care. They endeavour to guide the children towards desired activities and behaviours rather than direct them.
The children are primarily developing their physical organs and skills through sensory perception and interaction with their environment, more through ‘doing’ than through thinking and reasoning. Much learning takes place through imitation, and the staff will involve themselves in domestic and artistic activities around the children which will be an example for them through the course of the day. A wide range of activities is available to engage the children, designed to allow the child’s imagination to be active in creative play, for example by using toys or objects whose function or character is not fixed but changes with each new game or situation. The foundations are laid for the development of social skills through games and role play; fine motor skills through craft activities; early learning through drawing (pre-writing & pre-number work); reverence for the world and its creatures through artistic activities, songs and stories. A close connection with the natural world is established through walks, observation and story, and this is complemented as far as possible through the use of natural objects and materials.
Parents are kept up to date with their child’s progress through verbal reports and parent-teacher meetings at regular intervals, and staff are readily available to discuss progress or any issues that may arise along the way.