Kindergarten Program

 Our Curriculum

We provide a wonderful and enriching learning program that nurtures children’s innate curiosity and extends their thinking and understanding. Our program offers many possibilities for each child to play, explore, question, create, and discover. The learning program is child-centered and reflects the children’s emerging interests, ideas, and questions. We afford a high priority towards involving children in decisions that affect them and we are committed to supporting children’s sense of self-worth by valuing their opinions, ideas, and current understanding of their world. Our learning program extends and supports children to develop their own knowledge and understanding of their world. We nurture each child’s innate creativity by providing a wide variety of materials to explore, encouraging diverse thinking and ideas.

We support children to develop a strong sense of belonging and connection within our Castlemaine community by establishing links with local people and services. Many wonderful incursions and excursions are planned throughout the year that provides valuable learning experiences such as; yoga and dance; environmental experts; visiting the botanical garden and Hub sustainable garden; nature walks and visits local services including the library, post office, art gallery and sites of historical significance.

Parents are valued and welcomed participants in our learning program. We consider parents our partners in their child’s learning and development. Together, children, families, and educators form our community and work together to provide the best possible learning opportunities for all children.

Our curriculum is informed by both National and State Government Curriculum Frameworks.

• The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF): Belonging, Being, and Becoming – Birth to 5 Years (2009).

• The Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF) – Birth to Eight Years (2009).

Both the EYLF and the VEYLDF provide a guide for teachers in their work with young children. The aim is for all young Australians to become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens (Belonging, Being and Becoming, 2009).

Bush Kinder 

We are excited to announce the days that Bush Kinder will operate in 2020.

Based on the current days of attendance of the funded kindergarten children i.e. the children not accessing a kinder program elsewhere, the Bush Kinder schedule will be as follows.

Term 2

Wednesdays only

Term 3

Mondays and Thursdays

Term 4

Fridays only

If you are going to be absent on one of these excursion days or running late, please let us know on 5472 3665 / 5470 6284 or text 0472 698 513

Please feel free to pop in and meet with the staff in the Kinder room at any time.  We will be happy to talk with you, discuss the program, and answer any questions.