Kindy

Welcome to Rivergums Primary School kindergarten.

The kindergarten program aims to:

• Provide children with the opportunity to enjoy a safe and stimulating learning environment
• Encourage individuality, independence and the development of social, emotional, creative, intellectual and physical skills
• Promote the opportunity for open communication between parents and staff by encouraging parental interest and participation in the program
• Provide for and integrate students with special needs and those from different cultural backgrounds

What to wear

The children need to wear school uniform as per the school Dress Code Policy.

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For safety reasons, children will keep their shoes on while at school, however, there are some activities where the teacher may require their shoes to be removed.

Please ensure your child has shoes with non-slip soles.

All children must wear a hat every day for outdoor play and we encourage you to put sunscreen on children before coming to Kindergarten.

Please label all items of clothing with your child’s name.

What to bring

Everyday lunch a LARGE school bag (large enough for children to independently access their hats, lunchboxes, shoes and spare clothes) a plastic bottle of water (no juice or cordial please) with name clearly marked a piece of fruit or raw vegetable for crunch and sip to each session a spare change of clothes to remain in your child’s bag in case of accidents.

Please keep current with season changes. If it is your child’s birthday, you are most welcome to send patty cakes for the group to share as part of your child’s celebration. Please see page 9 regarding food allergies.

Personal Requirements List

Please send all your child’s personal requirement items to Kindy in the first week of school.

Delivery and Collection of Children Children must not be left unaccompanied prior to session times. Come into the Centre with your child.

Children should place fruit and drink bottles inside and you can settle your child into an activity such as a puzzle or book.

Before leaving, make sure you say goodbye and reassure your child that you will be returning.

Please do not be concerned about tears as this usually lasts only a few minutes. Please be assured, we would contact you should your child continue to be distressed.

As teachers will have to set up outdoor equipment to enrich our learning program it would be appreciated if parents could discourage children from playing with or moving the outdoor equipment before school starts.

When collecting children, please wait outside the class door and the teacher will send the children to you when they have seen you.

This way we can maintain supervision of the children.

Please be patient during the first few weeks as the teachers get to know you, and the children learn the routine.

If you have anything to discuss with the teacher, you are welcome to wait until all the children are dismissed.

Please note, Kindy staff attend meetings every Wednesday after school and will not be available for appointments at this time. If you would like to discuss any major issues, you are most welcome to make an appointment with the class teacher during non-contact time on Wednesday, the “Duties Other Than Teaching “ time (D.O.T.T).

If you are unavoidably late to pick up your child, please phone us on 95237500 to let us know.

Great care has to be taken by the teacher in handing Kindergarten and pre-primary students over to the care of a student, relative or sibling under the age of 18 years, even if the parent or guardian of the kindergarten or pre-primary student has given instructions to this effect.

The Duty of Care owed by a teacher to a kindergarten student necessitates the teacher being satisfied that no foreseeable harm will come to the student when discharging him/her at the end of the school day.

Factors to be taken into consideration are:the age and ability of the person collecting the student; the route to be taken home (e.g. does the student have to cross busy roads, walk past lakes, through bush land); and the parent/guardian’s instructions and the bases upon which these instructions were given. Instructions as to the discharge of a kindergarten student should be in writing.

Where, after taking into account factors such as those above, the Principal still has doubts about the judgement of the parents, the Principal may wish to speak with the parents and express his/her concerns for the safety of the student.

Attendance

While there is no legal requirement for children of pre-compulsory age to be enrolled in kindergarten, once enrolled, those students must attend as required by Section 23 of the School Education Act 1999.

At Rivergums Primary Independent Public School, parents are requested to advise their class teacher in “WRITING” of the reason for their child’s absence on the child’s return to school or within three days of the child’s first day of absence to meet with the requirements of Section 25 of the School Education Act 1999.