Norman Park Community Kindergarten’s Nature Kindergarten Program celebrates the simple joy of being in and exploring nature while supporting children’s learning and development in the areas of the Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines (QKLG).
Norman Park Community Kindergarten are very proud to be an official Nature Play provider. The centre is also a registered Queensland Forest School and Bush Kindergarten Education Provider and is one of only four recognised kindergartens in Queensland under these programs.
The kindy’s annual Open Day will be held on Saturday 22 May 2021, from 9am to 11am. Here, you can visit and explore their extensive ground and find out more about this unique community kindergarten.
Norman Park Community Kindergarten Parent Fact Sheet
Education Type: Kindergarten program during the school term. Kindy Club (before and after care) additional service available.
Days & Hours of Operation: Group 1 (Kookaburras) Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 8:30am to 2:30pm & Group 2 (Lorikeets) Thursday and Friday, 8:00am to 3:30pm.
Ages of Care: 3.5 years (must turn 4 before end of June) to school age (the year prior to starting school in Prep)
Staff Ratio: 25 children to 3 educators (one Early Childhood teacher, plus two assisting educators)
Food Provided: No
Nappies Provided: No
National Quality Standards (NQS) Rating: Exceeding
Size of Centre: 25 children per day (1 kindergarten unit)
Point of difference: Extensive grounds in natural bushland setting with indoor/outdoor program and a maximum of 25 children each day.
The Nature Kindergarten Program
Norman Park Community Kindergarten’s holistic Nature Kindergarten Program occurs both on-site and through off-site excursions into neighbouring park and bushland. This incorporates regular excursions into nature to develop children’s nature-literacy, supporting them to become more confident and empathetic towards the natural world.
Their Nature Kindergarten Program has been created on the principles of Forest School, with teachers and assistant educators all qualified as Level 3 Forest School Leaders.
Active learning environments within the centre promote hands-on learning experiences and allow children to interact with their environment, as well as with their peers and educators.
Throughout the kindy’s holistic program, they support the use of real tools and real-life tasks and facilitate the children’s involvement in assessing risk and safety.
Their nature kindergarten program supports our connection to the land on which we learn and play and to the Jagera people’s past, present and emerging. This connection also extends to the centre’s commitment to sustainable practices and conservation which organically occurs in our day-to-day interaction and with ‘litter-less’ lunchboxes, worm farm and compost bin, Native bees, use of a hand towel for each child, recycled toilet tissue and by reducing, reusing, repurposing and recycling.
The indoor and outdoor environments are accessible to the children at all times. Families are even asked to provide a raincoat for all weather.
Children benefit from predictability in their daily life and routines and schedules are needed to keep things running smoothly. The routines and daily living and learning happen in the same sequence each day, but the amount of time for each routine is based on the children’s rhythms and interests.
Open, uninterrupted time is the foundation for rich childhood experiences and allows the children to enter a state of ‘flow’ in their play. Large amounts of time are dedicated each day for children’s self-initiated play within an environment which is carefully planned and set up, the environment is viewed as the third teacher.
Opportunities exist throughout the day when children are invited to participate in activities initiated and led by a teacher or educator. These activities (stories, music and movement, sharing stories or experiences etc) fully involve the children through use of materials and active engagement with the teacher and each other. This may occur in a large group or in small groups.
The Kindy Club before and after-care program
Norman Park Community Kindergarten offer an additional Kindy Club service for families seeking before and after kindy care. This is provided on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays for the Kookaburra group from 7.30am to the start of the kindy program and from the end of the kindy program to 4.30pm, as well as on Thursdays and Fridays for the Lorikeet group from the end of the kindy program to 5pm.
Norman Park Community Kindergarten is located at 23 Curtis Street in Norman Park.
To find out more, please visit the Norman Park Community Kindergarten website.
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