St ives Preschool - Handprints.nsw.edu.au

Posted on 23 October, 2022 by Micheal Alexander

Handprints St Ives was the first Handprints centre and opened in November 2014. It opened after many months of searching for the perfect property. It is a purpose built centre close to the local school and opposite the local sports field. Handprints St Ives was the long-awaited dream of our Managing Director Julia and where the philosophy and vision of our company began. St ives Preschool

Handprints St Ives has since been operating at a high standard and the children, families and educators are very much at home. In June of 2015, Handprints St Ives received the highest rating by the Department of Education of Exceeding the National Quality Framework. This was a wonderful achievement and a testament to the hard work and dedication of the Handprints educators. More recently, in January 2020, St Ives once again received the highest rating of Exceeding in all seven quality standards! An outstanding achievement.

Handprints St Ives is a thirty-place centre with low numbers across each of the three classrooms and a focus on caring for every individual child. It is a beautiful place for children to begin their learning journey. The centre places a strong value on excursion and community connections. Children of all ages go on excursions and our Preschool room engage in bush school once per week, whereby they spend the whole day down at Cowan Creek reserve. The centre has a strong philosophy based around being one with nature and believe that children learn values of respect, patience and interconnectedness through their time spent exploring the natural landscapes of the local area.

Handprints Childcare Centre Junior Preschool Program

Our Junior Preschool spaces have a focus on children developing very individual dispositions for learning and finding an excitement for learning all things new. Educators in this age group are committed to equity and believe in all children’s ability to experiment, problem solve and use critical thinking to succeed, regardless of their diverse abilities. It is within this space that children learn patience, acceptance, inclusion and participation for all. This is achieved by educators promoting equitable and effective ways for children to achieve learning outcomes, proving that even though we learn differently, we can all achieve greatness in the end.  St ives Childcare

The learning in the Junior Preschool spaces is created through educator’s responsiveness to children. Educators work with families to collaboratively value and build on children’s strengths, skills and knowledge to ensure the children are motivated and engaged in the program. This also includes educators responding to children’s ideas in play, noting their evolving interests and extending on their learning through open ended questions to challenge their thinking. The children then engage in sustained shared conversations as they learn through play. Learning through play is so important in the Junior Preschool space, as our aim is for children to occupy a love for learning, develop the confidence to test out ideas, challenge each other’s thinking and build new understandings, as they consider how to be, and which method of learning works best for them.