Kindergarten
3-4 year old mixed sessional kindergarten
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St Columba’s Uniting Kindergarten Sale
131 Raymond Street, Sale Victoria
Early Learning Centre
Early learning in Sale.
Our kindergarten is located around the corner from Wellington Shire Council. We have been nurturing local children in Sale since 1970.
Our families and community play an important role in our kindergarten, which has a strong focus on agriculture, caring for the environment and forming local connections and embedding First Nations perspectives.
We encourage children to follow their curiosity, explore and discover the world around them through hands-on, nature-based play activities.
Our educators offer an inclusive environment and can support children who live with physical and intellectual disabilities.
Program hours and fees
Our centre
- Planned indoor spaces
- Modern kitchen
- Renovated bathrooms
- Trees and natural shade
- Fire pit
- Bush tucker, vegetable and herb gardening beds
- Shade sail
- An outdoor eating space.
Our centre
- Planned indoor spaces
- Modern kitchen
- Renovated bathrooms
- Trees and natural shade
- Fire pit
- Bush tucker, vegetable and herb gardening beds
- Shade sail
- An outdoor eating space.
The parents say
“Staff at Uniting are fantastic. They show genuine interest in my child.”
- Early learning parent
Learning experiences
We participate in lots of fun and engaging activities to enhance your child’s learning and social development.
Caring for the environment
We offer activities to help your child develop sustainable living practices and a love of the environment. A big part of our program is our fortnightly Nature Kinder Program where we visit an offsite nature reserve. This will help your child learn about nature and the local flora and fauna. At our kindergarten, we:
- Love gardening
- Use sustainable habits such as recycling and composting
- Value the importance of caring for the environment and learning about First Nations culture
- Limit our footprint by going for walks to the local library, post office, fire station, art gallery, dentist and other sites.
Excursions and incursions
We offer fun and adventurous excursions to help children get to know their local community, including visits to:
- Seaspray Beach - to participate in a water safety program with Surf Life Saving Victoria
- The local hospital to meet some of Sale’s older residents
- Wellington libraries
- Seed garden
- Gippsland Art Gallery.
We also welcome visitors to our kindergarten to talk to the children about interesting topics. These include visits from the local:
- Sustainability Officer
- Bunnings Warehouse Educator
- Gippsland Water Education Officer
- Responsible Pet Program to teach dog safety awareness
- Koori Education Officer
- Koori Education Officer
- Health workers
- Reptile handlers.
Family and community connections
We love it when families get involved in our kindergarten. You can get involved in:
- Celebrating significant cultural festivals and days
- Talking to the children about your job, hobbies or other interesting topics
- Volunteering your time to help with gardening, cooking or on excursions
- Assisting with fundraising
- Visiting our Nature Kinder sessions and other excursions
- Our Parent Partnership Group meeting (positions are elected at the annual meeting of our kindergarten parents)
- Helping us participate in the Healthy Together Achievement Program (a Victorian Government initiative)
- Attending our regular Cuppa and Chats sessions with educators to discuss topics of interest.
Teaching children the importance of building community relationships is vital for their sense of belonging and helps them create social connections. To do this, we connect with:
- All local schools
- First Nations community groups and members
- Gippsland Library and Art Gallery
- Sale Police
Languages
Our kindergarten is part of the Early Language Program and the children learn Auslan (Australian Sign Language). A qualified teacher visits our kinder for three hours a week to work with the children and we have embedded the language throughout our activities.
We can have all forms of communication translated for families who speak languages other than English, including Vietnamese, Arabic, Chinese and Cambodian. We have a small but growing bilingual children’s library with books in Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese and other languages.
Program hours and fees
Key Upcoming Dates
- No upcoming events
Educational Leader
Julie
Hi, I’m Julie and I’m the Educational Leader at St. Columba’s Uniting Kindergarten in Sale. I have been a teacher here for over 12 years. I have a Teaching degree in Early Childhood and have been working as a preschool teacher for over 30 years. The children really keep me grounded and I just love the energy that they create.
Respect for others, the environment and for ourselves is very important to me and it forms a big part of the values that I seek to pass on to children.
St. Columba’s Kinder is a caring environment that has a varied and interesting program and is a place that your child will grow, develop, and reach their full potential. Nature Kinder is a big part of our program and is a great way for children to learn about respecting the environment and working with peers as a team.
The team at St. Columba’s are caring, enthusiastic and will always listen to your child.
Health and wellbeing
Mental health
Our educators are trained in various programs to support the mental health of your child and are skilled in working with children who have experienced challenges and trauma. We also offer mental health support for families if you find yourself in need of assistance. All educators have been trained in Protective Behaviours and we run regular Protective Behaviours teaching sessions. We incorporate programs into our activities that help children understand their feelings and learn to self-regulate their emotions.
Nutrition
We encourage nourishing and nutritious food choices. We run a daily breakfast program to help your child start the day with a full belly.
- Grow our own vegetables and herbs
- Accommodate all dietary requirements
- Emphasise food safety
- Work with families from a range of cultural backgrounds to ensure cultural food meets standard requirements.
Safe environment
As a child safe organisation, our educators undergo regular working with children’s and police checks. We follow the Child Safe Standards and meet all requirements. We’re focussed on delivering learning and development in a safe and supportive environment, so you can trust that your child is in good hands.
Policies and downloads
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