Make the transition from preschool to kindergarten seamless and stress-free for you and your little one.
It’s been a busy, few years for The King’s School, Tudor House. Big, positive changes have built on the history of this school in Moss Vale and helped to create a diverse and happy school community. In 2017, the school welcomed girls for the first time which has been a big success.
The school also introduced a Pre-Kindergarten Program to assist in making the transition from preschool to kindergarten seamless and stress-free for little ones (and their parents!).
For the first time in 2021, the Pre-Kindergarten Program will run for five days giving 4 year olds the opportunity to make the most of the 169 acres of learning spaces and facilities, engage in a play-based learning approach and become super-familiar with their ‘big school’ before they officially start kindergarten. Great idea, right?
We spoke to Head of School, Anni Sandwell, to find out more about this program and how it can help little Highlanders!
1 // Tell us about the five-day Pre-Kindergarten Program at The King’s School,Tudor House.
For the first time in 2021, we will be offering the Pre-Kindergarten Program for five days. The Pre-Kindergarten Program is like a bridge to starting school and preparing children for that big step.
The program is available to children who have had their fourth birthday by 30 April of their entry year. It runs from 8:30am – 3:30pm Monday through to Friday. There are 20 places available for 2021.
The program is run by two full time teachers – a teacher and a teacher’s assistant, with support from specialist teachers. The children get to experience many of the subjects we have on offer at Tudor House, so will be taught music by the music teacher or do woodwork with our woodworking teacher, for example.
2 // How do the little ones benefit from the Pre-Kindergarten Program?
It puts them on the front foot for starting school because they become so familiar with the facilities, the classrooms, the run of the day, the environment, the teachers and more. They start as pre-schoolers but by Term 4, they have integrated with the rest of the school and become an important part of the school community.
The transition is seamless for them because they know the teachers, they know where all the classrooms are – in fact, the Pre-Kindergarten classroom is right next door to the kindergarten classroom!
We never lose sight of the fact the children are still 4 years old and they’re the little people in our school, so pastoral care and providing support and guidance for them is an important part of the program too.
3 // Let’s talk about the opportunities to learn that exist in the program.
There is lots of play in Pre-Kindergarten, as there should be! Children learn best through play and belonging. It helps them learn how to communicate and become independent. Language development and understanding what respectful and expressive language is, and when it should be used, is a strong focus.
As is skills learning. There are lots of early Stage 1 outcomes we combine with real life experiences for the children. We’ll take the children for a walk and count trees or look for shapes, they’re taught how to sort and classify things they find on the walk – that’s a play-based maths lesson that is fun and gets them outside.
And of course, the children have the opportunity to get involved in specialist lessons in Music, French, Art, Woodwork and more. They also take part in our Paddock To Plate program where they help plant and grow their food, and learn about animals.
They also have access to all our facilities including the tennis courts and the swimming pool, and they can go exploring and get involved in our Kahiba Outdoor Education Program. There is no shortage of learning space at Tudor House!
4 // Is five days too much for a 4-year-old?
Not with the way we’ve structured the five days. The first part of the week is more focused on enquiry-based learning where brains are activated, with most of Thursday and Friday spent on outdoor activities or engaging and fun activities like having their lunch by a campfire, pulling on the gumboots and heading down to the dam (supervised, of course!), learning how to tie knots, or burning off some energy with some fun games on our playing fields.
The program also runs for 8 hours a day. Many of our parents are working from home at the moment, so being able to focus on their work for 8 hours a day 5 days a week helps them concentrate on being the best possible parent they can be before and after the school day.
5 // What makes The King’s School, Tudor House educational experience so unique?
We are a small school in the Southern Highlands with a massive playground – over 169 acres of playground! – that gives our students and teachers so many different opportunities to teach and learn. We have many families who have moved from the city visit us, and not only can they not believe the space we have, but that we use it to help all the students flourish.
One parent from Sydney mentioned their children’s school in the inner city not only didn’t have the space to run around and play, but they weren’t actually allowed to run or play with a ball –there were stringent rules around the activities they could engage in during breaks in the playground. At Tudor House, we say to the students – how fast can you run? Where would you like to run? Go for it!
And in exciting news, The King’s School, Tudor House has just been announced as an authorised International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme school. We had been a candidate school for some years and have gone through a rigorous process to become a world school.
We’re preparing children in the Southern Highlands to be global, internationally minded citizens. The King’s School, Tudor House is a little stage tucked away in the country, getting children ready for the world stage, and that’s a wonderful thing.
6 // How can parents find out more about the Pre-Kindergarten Program?
You can book a Virtual Tour via our website. You can also watch the Tudor House Pre-Kindergarten Webinar we’ve created – register to watch it here. Or book a private tour by emailing our Enrolments Office enrol_tudor@kings.edu.au. You can also call us on 02 4868 0000 with any questions at all.
We’d love to show you around and chat about the unique, educational experience The King’s School, Tudor House can offer young Highlanders.
Tudor House, the Southern Highlands campus of The King’s School offers boys and girls, from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 6, an education with a difference. Tudor House prepares children for lifelong learning and global citizenship through superbly-resources indoor and outdoor learning space, a dedicated and committed teaching staff, and rich learning experiences including their renowned Outdoor Education adventure-based learning programme, Kahiba. Find out more here.
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