ACG Penguins School ELS

TO TEACHING & LEARNING


Preschool Programme

Our preschool programme offers the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum Te Whāriki. The four guiding principles of the programme are woven neatly together between five stages and Te Whāriki provides a strong basis for holistic teaching in all areas of the syllabus.

The Te Whāriki curriculum is informed by current research and child development theory to create an emergent programme that is play-based and adapted to children’s learning dispositions. We are committed to continued review and research into current theories and philosophies to make sure we offer the most effective and rigorous education to our young learners.

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Our teachers each have guardianship of a small group of children and responsibility for documentation of their learning. Our teachers will observe and notice things about your child’s play, behaviour, interactions, language, and special interests. From this they will begin to develop an individualised learning plan which we call our “ACG Penguins Individual Learning Plan”.

This will involve talking with you and finding out if you are noticing similar exploration at home and what perhaps might be influencing your child. For example, a child who becomes quite obviously focused on building and construction, may have started seeing this every day on their way to ACG Penguins, or perhaps their home has undergone renovations. Your child will make sense of the world around them by “acting” out what they observe. This is the way they derive meaning, understand and process what they see. We also seek to include your aspirations for your child and the ways in which you would like to see us supporting their learning.

Our teachers will also look to notice, recognise and support your child’s learning dispositions. You can think of these as characteristics you would like us to support your children to grow that will enable them to be successful lifelong learners. For example, attributes like persisting with difficulty, being resilient, being a leader, and being curious. Your child’s teacher will see these learning dispositions emerging in all areas of your child’s play, and they will plan to support and strengthen these.


Your Child’s Learning Journey

Children’s learning will be displayed throughout the room in the wall displays and write ups will explain in more depth what the learning was in this experience and how this extends their learning.

Planning for individual children enables us to identify the best approach for your child and to use strategies they are more inclined to respond to given their age, stage and level of understanding.

At the conclusion of your child’s learning plan, we welcome your feedback moving forward to the next journey, and we invite you to talk with us about your child’s learning at any time.