We all want the best for our children and from an early age we look to impart wisdom and skills that will help them be successful and good people in the future.
Proverbs 22 verse 6 teaches us to “train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
At Calvin Christian School, we understand the importance of getting students off to a good start in their learning journey. This involves academic, social, emotional, physical and spiritual growth and development. We have two great Kinder teams along with strong teaching teams from Prep to Year 2. Karalyn Bylsma has been placed in the role of leading and developing the K-2 team within our Primary School. Karalyn has extensive experience working in the early years, developing and refining strong teaching and learning practices that complement and support the practices of those around her, all underpinned by a deep faith in God. These teachers are well assisted by our learning support team who are able to provide early intervention to those with specific learning needs ensuring we have students ready to successfully enter their learning journey in Year 3 and beyond. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention states that early intervention services can change a child’s developmental path and improve outcomes for children, families and communities. Families benefit from early intervention by being able to better meet their children’s needs from an early age and throughout their lives. We believe this helps set students up for life long learning and success in the future.
“... we understand the importance of getting students off to a good start in their learning journey.”
Little Learners at Calvin
We also see the importance of what happens in a student’s learning journey before Kindergarten. Our Little Learners program caters for the period of time from a child’s birth to when they enter the Kinder classroom. Dr Jessica Alvarado, the academic program director in Early Childhood development at the National University of Singapore, states the importance of this time in a child’s life. It is when they first learn how to interact with others, including peers, teachers and parents, and also begin to develop interests and habits that will stay with them for life. Alvarado goes on to remark that it is a time when children learn critical social and emotional skills and a partnership is formed between the child, their parents and the school. When this is done successfully, it lays the groundwork for it to continue throughout a child’s education.
Little Learners is a free play-based early learning program supporting early learning and transition into Kindergarten. It alternates fortnightly between sessions in the classroom and ‘Out and About’ sessions at locations within Kingborough and Hobart. These sessions encourage nature-based play and outdoor exploration. Due to ongoing demand, we have recently added another classroom session to cater for our growing school. These classroom sessions now run fortnightly on Monday and Thursday in our Kinder classrooms. During these sessions we aim to:
Give parents a taste of what our school has to offer while creating connections within the school community.
Encourage parents to be actively involved with a wide range of fun activities that stimulate and promote rich learning.
Ease the transition into Kindergarten and full-time school.
If you have children from 0-4 years of age and would like to be involved in these sessions please visit our website.
At Calvin Christian School, we take pride in offering great opportunities for learning and academic growth, whilst underpinning this with the faith and hope we gain from knowing Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. As is written in 3 John 1:4, “I have no greater joy that to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
Andrew Nash — Deputy Principal, Head of Primary