For over 67 years, Civic Kindergarten has been offering quality sessional education programs.  We greatly value our longstanding involvement in the community and strongly advocate that it takes a “village to raise a child”. We are located within the Middle Park Community Centre that shares premises with the Maternal and Child Health Service, Middle Park Library and a Toy Library.   The building and grounds are owned and maintained by the City of Port Phillip.

The Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework guides our educational program. Specifically, the outcomes we strive everyday on delivering are:

Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of IDENTITY

Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world – COMMUNITY

Outcome 3: Children have a strong sense of WELL BEING

Outcome 4: Children are confident and INVOLVED LEARNERS

Outcome 5: Children are effective COMMUNICATORS

Civic Kindergarten is very proud to advise that we have been rated as “Exceeding” in the National Quality Standards:

Quality Area 1: Educational program and practice

Quality Area 2: Children’s health and safety

Quality Area 3: Physical environment

Quality Area 4: Staffing arrangements

Quality Area 5: Relationships with children

Quality Area 6:  Collaborative partnerships with families and communities

Quality Area 7: Governance and leadership

Our curriculum is guided by the Victorian Early Years Learning and Developmental Framework. The program is planned by Educators in response to their knowledge and understanding of early childhood development and their observations of the children’s interests, skills levels and individual development journey.

We enjoy hearing about your child’s emerging interests, experiences and relationships and view collaboration with parents as being critical to providing a meaningful and relevant program at kindergarten.  Children are planned for on an individual basis as well as part of the whole group with input from all educators at weekly meetings.

There are a number of core experiences provided for children to enjoy and learn from in our high-quality preschool program, such as block building, drawing, pairing, sensory play, collage and 3D construction, water play, sand and mud play, puzzles, design and colour (light table), numeracy, literacy, music and movement, singing and rhyme, ball skills, climbing and balancing.

The children’s garden area is as important as the indoor playroom and the spaces are flexible and often changing to accommodate the children’s interests and needs. The program encompasses both indoor and outdoor areas and children are encouraged to explore widely.

Incursions are planned for both groups throughout the year and the 4yo group also enjoy an excursion out of the kindergarten during 3rd or 4th term which links to and enriches children’s current interests.

Photos and interpretive comments will be used to document the learning taking place in the program via Storypark. Children’s ideas and dialogue are recorded to demonstrate their grasp of conceptual thinking.

4 year old Program Times.

15 hours of education per week are offered in the 4-year-old program.  We look forward to seeing this group every;

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 8.45 to 2pm.

Doors open at 8.45 with educator supervision and the program commences at 9am sharp.

3 year old Program Times.

8 hours of education per week are offered in the 3-year-old program.  We look forward to seeing this group every;

Wednesday and Friday from 8.45 to 1pm.

Doors open at 8.45 with educator supervision and the program commences at 9am sharp.

Civic Kindergarten cap their enrolments to 22 children in the 4 year old program and 20 children in the 3 year old program.

Ensuring your child feels safe and secure is our top priority.  Starting at a new preschool can be full of emotions for both families and children.  This may be the first experience your child will have away from you for any length of time and possibly their first experience of sharing the attention of an adult with many other children at the same time.

Building strong relationships with you, your child and your family is very important to us and makes a real difference to the early learning outcomes for your child. We especially like to know as much as we can about your child’s interests, likes, dislikes and any special needs they may have. This will become integral as our team incorporates your child’s interests into our educational programs.

It is important to remember that each child will adjust differently according to temperament, past experiences separating from you, social predisposition and whether or not he/she is able to communicate with others.

The first few weeks especially will be very tiring and keeping a strict meal, bath, early bed routine will impact positively on the way your child manages this new experience.  Young children need 11-12 hours of sleep and a balance of active play and rest so as not to become over tired and over-stimulated.