Pre-School

In the Pre-School we enjoy celebrating the children’s learning in a variety of ways.

Our inquiry topics change each term depending on tamariki interests, parent and whānau aspirations and teacher observations.

Through a child’s natural curiosity a love of learning develops. The Pre-School programme promotes tamariki to ask questions, explore and to challenge themselves.

Te Whāriki, the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum, acknowledges the holistic way children learn and develop and so we plan for the physical, cognitive, spiritual, social and emotional characteristics of each child. The preschool environment is set up to support these learning outcomes.

The highlights in our celebrations this year have been our ‘Messy Play’ morning. The teachers set the scene for a morning of tactile exploration tamariki came prepared to enjoy the outdoor transformation. Water, bubbles, mud and a giant unicorn made it a fabulous event. show telling a story of Matariki. For some of our tamariki being on a bus was just as exciting as the show and for some it was their first ever bus ride.

The teachers also notice when tamariki have been developing new learning dispositions such as persisting with a difficult task or showing kindness to a friend and Maggie Bear are another way that the children’s achievements are celebrated.

More traditional ways we celebrate at the Pre-School are birthdays, reaching new milestones, whole school events such as Book Week dress up day and transitioning to school.

The tamariki look forward to their celebration of learning during their time at our St Margaret’s College Pre-School. The tamariki wear the korowai cloak and with their key teacher look back through their portfolios and share favourite learning moments.