Kindergarten

Home to the youngest members of Prince of Peace Lutheran College, our Kindergarten provides a safe and nurturing environment for your child’s first steps into education.

Our Early Childhood Years educators strongly emphasise social and emotional learning, as children embrace learning and interacting with others in a play-based environment. Early literacy and numeracy learning experiences are combined with story-telling, music, art, design and movement to form the integral components of each program, nurturing new thoughts and deeper understanding.

Our skilled educators implement a skills-based, early literacy preparation program – PreLit. PreLit is designed to complement the play-based learning environment, teaching pre-literacy skills and concepts in a fun and engaging way. PreLit forms part of the high-quality daily program for all children and integrates seamlessly into our Preparatory literacy learning – InitaLit.

Sending our kids to Prince of Peace was the best parenting and family decision we have ever and will ever make. — Mrs M

Service Philosophy

We acknowledge the Turrbal and Yuggera people, the traditional custodians of the land on which our Kindergarten stands. We pay our respects to the Elders past, present and emerging, for they hold the memories, the traditions, the culture and hopes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the nation (Korff, 2023). With the belief of God as the creator and our land’s cultural history we have an opportunity to participate in the reconciliation process.

Our service is a safe place for children to learn and grow. We strongly believe that children learn best through play as it provokes ways in which young children gain essential knowledge and skills (UNICEF, 2018). We believe that positive relationships with children are achieved through understanding and respecting each individual child – who they are, their cultural background, their spiritual beliefs and ensuring they feel valued. Children need to have agency and input on decisions that involve them and the world they live in. The knowledge children bring to our learning setting is welcomed and respected. The Early Childhood Code of Ethics and United Rights of a Child underpins our professional practices.

Our natural environment allows us to embed environmental awareness and sustainable practices that offer children opportunities to engage in open ended play experiences. We feel it is imperative that children learn about caring for the world in which they live in with the goal to preserve it for future generations. We believe our environment and curriculum fosters children’s independence and allows them the freedom to engage in new challenges which promotes physical, social and emotional well-being.

Our meaningful educational programs are guided by the Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines which aligns with the Early Years Learning Framework. Our engaging child-centred curriculum supports children to learn within their zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978). Our commitment to professional development, ongoing reflective practices and engagement in program trials provides us with knowledge to enhance our curriculum. We believe all children are unique, capable, and competent learners. We allow children to contribute to the construction of their own learning because we want children to be motivated lifelong learners.

We value collaborative partnerships between our service, families, and the wider community (school, church, and local businesses) as we believe open communication and strong connections are fundamental for supporting children’s development and transition to school. We foster an inclusive approach to learning by identifying children’s strengths, building our knowledge to include all children, and adapting our approach to meet the child’s needs within a group setting.

As a Lutheran service we are guided by the ten values of Lutheran Education Australia which are: love, justice, compassion, forgiveness, service, humility, courage, hope, quality, and appreciation. We embed these values in everyday practices and teach the children about Jesus Christ.

Staffing

Emma Mothersole – Service Leader (23 years industry experience)Julieen Hicks – Registered Early Childhood Teacher (13 years industry experience)Emer Dowling – Lead Educator and Educational Leader (15 years industry experience)Becky Lee – Lead Educator (20 years industry experience)Nicholas Harvie – Educator (6 years industry experience)Casual Staff – Winnie Dang and Jessica Carroll

Facilities

The Kindergarten has a bright and spacious classroom equipped with an interactive white board, access to a laptop computer and IPads along with a variety of age-appropriate resources and craft supplies. The classroom opens out on to a large, covered veranda area, which overlooks the Prep facility. In addition to toilet and kitchen facilities, the Kindergarten has a superb, shady outdoor play space with climbing frame, large sandpit and natural bush areas.

Enrolments

Enrolment at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Kindergarten is separate from enrolment at the College. To enrol, please phone the Kindergarten on 0407 737 388 or complete the Kindergarten Application Form.

If you are wishing to enrol into the Kindergarten as well as Prep, you must apply for both at the same time. This will ensure that your name is registered with the Kindergarten and the College simultaneously. Entry into the Kindergarten does not guarantee a place for your child in Prep.

For information on how to enrol for Prep please click here or phone the College Marketing and Enrolments Manager, Donna Cook on 07 3872 5710.