It’s important to love learning from an early age.
And Lauriston Girls’ School Kindergarten programs do just that by creating a safe space where children feel loved, respected and valued.
Offering both a three- and four-year-old program, Lauriston prides itself on providing the foundation for children to love learning.
“We want children to love to come to our programs, love to learn and to be curious,” said Director of Kindergarten, Fiona Ireland .
“We have a really strong literacy and numeracy program which is centred around play.”
The three-year-old program offers children their first insight and step into schooling and focuses on routines and making them comfortable in that setting. It’s very different to childcare, because it allows them to become more independent.
But what sets Lauriston apart from other schools is that their four-year-old program includes four hours of free, uninterrupted play in the great outdoors.
A partnership with Stonnington City Council, the children go out into nature every Friday to climb trees, do bush art, find bugs and build teepees with items they find throughout Melbourne’s parklands.
“They just love running down the hill and rolling around in the leaves,” Ms Ireland said.
“It’s really great to see them inventing their own toys and being busy with their own imagination.”
Some children collaborated to build their own human nest after finding a bird’s nest – proving that uninterrupted play encourages creativity and imagination.
With so much talk about screen time and family commitments making it difficult to find time to take the kids outdoors, Lauriston’s Kindergarten program is essential to buck the trend.
