At Carterton Preschool we have a transition to school process that starts from when the child enrolls. From the very first day tamariki arrive at Preschool, we support them with small steps to education and social success. With a strong focus on dispositions, we provide experiences and learning that grow; resilience, confidence, curiosity, courage, playfulness, perseverance, communication and respect for self and others. Children’s independence grows as they are encouraged to look after their own belongings, become familiar with using a lunchbox, and toilet and dress themselves. Each child has their own named glass, tote tray and bag tag to help with name recognition and they are embraced by a literacy rich environment. They begin to strengthen their social skills as we support them to take part in small and large group activities. At 4 years the tamariki become involved in our Jolly phonics and numeracy programme which is further enhanced at 4years and 8months with a one on one phonics extension programme.

We thoughtfully provide an engaging environment, follow children’s interests, actively listen to the child, give them time and space to allow children access to authentic and real experiences. By doing this we are showing that we value them and the flow-on effect is that they feel empowered and encouraged to give things a go. This is important because having a positive attitude towards trying things out will be of great value in the classroom and throughout a child’s life. We create an environment that promotes risk-taking, and encourages children to assess risk and work out what is appropriate. Having a positive attitude towards risk-taking things that make you feel a little worried creates many empowering learning experiences. We gently assist children through these experiences, small steps to large leaps.