Kindergarten

At Next Steps, we offer 3-year-old and 4-year-old Government Funded Kindergarten programs run by Early Childhood Teachers and qualified educators. Our programs allow families to have greater flexibility and convenience with longer opening hours, five days a week and no breaks during school holidays. Our 3-year-old and 4-year-old programs have been carefully fashioned to prepare your children for school. Our qualified teachers focus on a wide variety of age-appropriate issues, including helping children understand and cope with their big emotions, equipping children with the confidence to initiate and navigate friendships, and nurturing self-confidence and community awareness. We know that social and emotional readiness is vital to a successful and smooth transition into school, as it frees up our children to be effective learners. Literacy and numeracy is introduced naturally through play and everyday experiences, and all activities are thoughtfully designed to be flexible and are focused on the learning experience, rather than the academic outcome. Children’s interests and ideas are also incorporated into our Kinder curriculum, helping create a fun, comfortable and exciting space for your child to learn, grow and develop! Throughout the year our Kinder children will be a part of field trip style excursions and participate in many incursions, aimed at expanding their knowledge in areas they are interested in. Our Kinder children can enjoy their own outdoor yard where they can investigate and explore their environment, taking in climbing, building, creating, digging, riding and balancing. 

 

Best Start, Best Life

Our service is committed to supporting the Victorian Government’s Free Kindergarten Initiative as part of the Best Start, Best Life reform. We aim to identify children that require additional support and seek assistance through a range of initiatives to ensure inclusion of vulnerable children into our programs. Next Steps meets the requirements of the Victorian Government to provide free kindergarten to support children to access a high-quality kindergarten program in the two years before they start school. Free Kinder is for all children. The Free Kinder initiative will offset the out of pocket fees for children attending a kinder program here at Next Steps.