Kindergarten at The Hive Early Learning Centres
At The Hive ELC we are committed to providing the highest quality care & learning for all children and families in our community. We work hard to create an environment, where the minute you step inside one of our Hive centres, you and your child will feel a sense of belonging and feel a part of a welcoming community. Our Kindergarten program is evidence based and provides a structured and stimulating learning environment. The program focuses on play-based learning that develops children’s social and emotional wellbeing and prepares them for a smooth transition to school.
Our mission is to ensure our children will:
- feel a sense of belonging
- receive the best possible care
- learn and grow in a safe, fun and loving environment
- learn to respect diversity and interact with children from other cultures and backgrounds
- learn to build social connections
- have a fundamental understanding of the world around him/her
- feel comfortable in the transition between early years care and primary school.
The Hive ELC offers both long day care and sessional kindergarten options for children to support their participation in our Kindergarten Program. Children can attend more than one Kindergarten Program however, only one Kindergarten can claim ‘Kindergarten Funding’ on behalf of your child. Written acceptance to claim funding on behalf of your child is required by the Kindergarten prior to commencing enrolment into our Kindergarten program. Children who select another service for Kindergarten funding will still be eligible to attend our Kindergarten Program as a non-funded child.
Our Kindergarten Program is integrated into the long day-care program and delivered by a fully qualified kindergarten teacher supporting children’s learning throughout the day. Kindergarten Programs are integrated with our long day care to assist families who are unable to attend a sessional kindergarten program. Our integrated Kindergarten Program provides families with greater flexibility and convenience of drop off and pick up times. Children are able to participate in the set kindergarten routines and experience for the full day, assisting in better preparing children for the longer days when they start school. The Kindergarten Program runs all year, except over the Christmas and New Year period.
Kindergarten Funding
Four-Year-Old Kindergarten
Our Kindergarten program is government funded and guided by the National Quality Frameworks. Our Program is delivered by a registered Early Childhood Teacher and qualified assistants. In Victoria, preschool or kindergarten is the year before school entry according to the eligibility guidelines set out by the Department of Education and Training (DET). Children are eligible to attend kindergarten if they turn four years of age on or before 30 April in the year of attendance. If your child’s birthday falls before 30 April in the calendar year, you may request to hold your child’s Kindergarten start date until the following year.
Eligible children are entitled to 15 hours of funded kindergarten per week in the year before they attend school. Our Kindergarten Program allows flexibility for children to attend up to 5 days per week. To be eligible as a funded Kindergarten child a minimum of 2 days (600 hours during the year) of attendance during the times our qualified early childhood teacher (ECT) is in attendance is required.
Three-Year-Old Kindergarten
Our three-year Kindergarten Program helps children to have stronger foundation which greatly benefit in school years and beyond. We believe that participating in our quality Kindergarten Program at an earlier age leads to positive effects on child development.
Our School Readiness Program
Typically school readiness programs have focused on a child’s academic abilities but as early childhood professionals we understand that social, emotional and physical aspects of the child must be nurtured in order for the intellectual or academic areas to grow. This is the major focus in our mission and daily operations.
Our Kindergarten curriculum is designed to promote children's learning and school readiness. Our qualified Kindergarten teacher delivers a high-quality Kindergarten Program underpinned by the National Quality Framework, The Early Years Learning Framework and The Victorian Early Years Learning Framework.
Our Kindergarten curriculum is a play-based program that strongly values the importance of child led play. Our inquiry-based learning guides children to investigate, think critically, make plans, and follow through on their ideas. This helps children to not only learn academic content, but importantly, they begin to better understand themselves and the world around them as confident learners.
The curriculum holistic approach follows the children’s emerging interests, spontaneous intentional teaching, and scaffolding to help build the child’s knowledge by providing a wide range of real-world experiences that set them up for lifelong learning. Our curriculum promotes literacy, numeracy, science, music, art, sensory play, throughout the Kindergarten Program. Our approach encompasses a wide range of teaching goals and disposition of learning for children that helps them to have a smooth and positive transition to school.
We believe a natural outdoor environment provides children with strong connections to nature. Our thoughtfully culturally diverse environment promotes choices, independence, inquiry, self-esteem, communication, and peer interaction in a nurturing and supportive manner. The materials and resources found in our rooms are derived from the natural world and the environment is looked upon as the third teacher.
Excursions and incursions are part of the Kindergarten curriculum. Children become involved learners and gain knowledge of the broader community around them and how it functions.
We encourage environmental awareness through sustainable practices within the centre and throughout the development and implementation of the program. Our curriculum promotes sustainable practices and make children think like a responsible citizen. Educators and children critically reflect on their sustainable thinking, their ways of being, and their ways of acting to protect the environment around them
The Hive Early Learning Centre acknowledges the traditional custodians of all lands across Australia. We recognise and celebrate the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians, including their role in the education and care of children.