St Aidan's is a Prep to Year 12 Anglican day school for girls, with a
co-educational Kindergarten. Located in Corinda, with a population of
approximately 800 students, reflecting our belief that students experience many
benefits in a smaller school.
Kindergarten
Educators at St Aidan's Anglican Girls' School believe
learning is a lifelong journey and that early childhood is the foundation on
which this exciting and important quest begins. St Aidan's Kindergarten
acknowledges that parents are a child's first and most important teacher and
that collaborative relationships between educators and families are essential
for engaging in active learning. As a learning community, we promote an
education pedagogy that supports children to learn through play and
conversation. We also acknowledge that each young child develops at a different
rate and with a different set of dispositions. As such, young children should
have a learning environment that is responsive to their individual needs. Due to
the fact that children bring with them a pre-existing set of skills, abilities
and knowledge bank, what they can do rather than cannot is the starting point in
their learning. This process of value adding, through the key concepts of play
and conversation, is the fundamental function of Kindergarten at St Aidan's
Anglican Girls' School.
Philosophy
The shared vision of the early childhood educators at St Aidan's is to
provide the highest quality kindergarten program within a safe, secure and
supportive Christian environment. The kindergarten program is based on a pursuit
of excellence in early childhood education. St Aidan's aims to develop
independence, resilience and a sense of self-identity through the carefully
crafted combination of independent play opportunities, teachable moments and
specialist lessons.
St Aidan's has an on-going commitment to uphold the 'rights of the child',
enabling young children to express their views and opinions freely in a
supported environment (UN, 1990) while engaging each young child in meaningful
experiences that promote their desire for learning. The kindergarten program at
St Aidan's acknowledges that young children are confident, involved,
enthusiastic learners who develop a range of skills and processes through a
diverse range of learning environments. The staff strive to develop an
environment of mutual respect between families, children and school where all
learn and grow in an environment of care, empathy and respect. It is the aim of
St Aidan's Kindergarten to provide a setting where families and young children
are capable of contributing to their learning experiences and creating
meaningful relationships.
Quick Facts
Options: Full time and
Part time
Hours: 9.00am -3.30pm with teacher supervision from 8.15am
(Term Time)
Class Size: 22 max (current regulations require a ratio of
1:11 for this age group).
The kindergarten class is under the care and guidance of two adults at all
times.
Ages: Kindergarten programs in
receipt of funds from the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme must ensure
they maximise enrolments of eligible-age children. As St Aidan’s
Kindergarten receives this funding, enrolment priority will be given to
children who turn four by June 30 in the year they attend Kindergarten.
Where vacancies exist, St Aidan’s Kindergarten may offer places to children
who turn three by the start of the school year. The St Aidan’s Kindergarten
program begins to prepare children for their transition to Prep the
following year by supporting all children to further develop their knowledge
and understanding in areas such as social skills, self-care, literacy and
numeracy.
Child Care Benefit: Whilst St
Aidan’s Kindergarten is an approved registered child care and delivers a
government approved kindergarten program, we are not Child Care Benefit (CCB)
approved. To be eligible for CCB approval, the centre that your child is
enrolled in must operate at least 48 weeks per year and be open for at least
40 hours per week. St Aidan’s Kindergarten only operates 38 weeks per year
and 32.5 program hours per week. More information regarding kindergarten
approved programs is available on the Queensland Government website.
Fact sheets relating to approved and registered care are available at www.mychild.gov.au.
From 2 July 2018, Australia will have a New Child Care
Package. Under the new package, the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) will replace
the exisitng Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate. CCS will be the main
way the Government assists families with their child care fees.
Important information about our Service: St
Aidan’s Outside School Hours Care is approved to provide education and care
primarily to children over preschool age. At least 60% of children being
provided education and care at the service must be over preschool age.
This condition above is applied to before school, after school and vacation
care programs. As a result, St Aidan's OSHC is unable to provide before school
care to kindergarten students due to the low number of school aged students
enrolled. A limited number of places for kindergarten students at after school
care and vacation care are available therefore we recommend contacting the OSHC
Coordinator, Palu Ingram, to discuss availability by emailing oshc@staidans.qld.edu.au.
Government Rebates:
St Aidan’s OSHC is an approved CCB (Child Care Benefit) and CCR (Child
Care Rebate) child care/OSHC centre. To be eligible for the CCB or the CCR,
families must register with the Family Assistance Office (FAO) to receive a
parent and child registration number (CRN). These numbers must be supplied to
the Service in order to receive your CCB or CCR. To test your eligibility for
CCB and CCR contact the Family Assistance office on 13 61 50. It is your
responsibility to provide St Aidan's OSHC with the relevant Customer Reference
Numbers (CRNs) for the student attending and the linked parent.
From 2 July 2018, Australia will
have a New Child Care Package. Under the new package, the Child Care Subsidy
(CCS) will replace the exisitng Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate. CCS
will be the main way the Government assists families with their child care
fees.
Set within the grounds of the St Aidan's Junior School, the
Kindergarten is colourful and spacious, with creative design features and
kindergarten-specific facilities, including natural play areas that invite young
children to explore and investigate while providing special spaces for
socialisation. Proximity to the Junior and Senior School facilities facilitates
cross-age interaction and valuable links with siblings.
What is the uniform?
Girls – St Aidan's
brown polo shirt, tartan shorts, kindergarten hat, kindergarten tracksuit,
sandshoes/sandals and small St Aidan's backpack.
Boys – St Aidan's brown polo shirt, navy shorts,
kindergarten hat, kindergarten tracksuit, sandshoes/sandals and backpack of
choice.
What are qualifications of the Kindergarten staff?
Staff in kindergarten are qualified in the early childhood
field. Two highly qualified and dedicated early childhood staff; four-year
qualified early childhood teacher; full-time assistant (minimum qualification –
Certificate III), specialist teachers for Physical Education, Library, Every Day
Music and Every Day Languages.
St Aidan’s was established in 1929 by the Sisters of the Society of the Sacred
Advent – an order of Anglican sisters committed to serving God through nurturing
and serving young women.
On day one, Sister Elisabeth was Sister-in-Charge at St Margaret’s, and Mrs
Christine Hartland was Headmistress at St Aidan’s. They both upheld the view
that education for girls needed to equip them for life. To this day, the
school’s mission remains the same: to encourage confidence and success in
students through pursuit of their academic, sporting, cultural and community
pursuits within a caring environment.
Our Vision
St Aidan's nurtures each student's personal aspirations within a vibrant
learner-centred community.
Our Mission
St Aidan's strives to provide excellence in education, in a caring, friendly
environment, where each individual, nurtured and shaped by the values of the
Christian Faith, has the opportunity to achieve her full potential and to
develop a passion for life and for learning.
Our Values
Our focus is to develop and promote authentic, caring, confident, creative and
connected women who value reason, imagination, truth, compassion and
responsibility.
