St Luke's Uniting Kindergarten Highton

At St Luke’s Highton we encourage children to be active and creative during playtime. Our kindergarten features plenty of outdoor and indoor spaces where children can practice activities such as climbing, ball sports, and gardening which improves development including coordination, balance, posture, strength, and endurance. We let children get their hands dirty in the sand pits, gardening beds and worm farms!

Our kindergarten features:

• Planned and intentional indoor spaces
• Large outdoor space
• Sandpit
• Trees and natural shade
• Gardening beds
• Pergola
• Shade sail
• Play area with climbing equipment
• Swings
• Recycling area encouraging sustainability and caring for the environment
• Cubby house
• Gross motor play equipment for activities such as climbing, skipping, throwing and catching
• Worm farm
• Water tanks.

We offer a wide variety of activities for children to learn about the world they live in. Whether we’re teaching children about the importance of sustainable living or introducing them to some reptile friends, we understand the importance of providing stimulating and inspiring activities which encourage personal development.

To teach children about the importance of sustainability:

• We encourage recycling of soft plastics, packaging and water in the garden
• We promote sustainable living and encourage children to develop every day sustainable practises
• We have a worm farm and encourage composting
• We take excursions that encourage children to care for the environment around them.

Children can participate in adventurous excursions such as:

• Local ambulance and firetruck visits
• Local primary and high school visits
• Church activities
• Work with Aboriginal educators
• Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre
• Queenscliff Marine Discovery Centre
• Geelong University Hospital.

We also invite many visitors and guest speakers to come and present to the children, including:

• Reptiles handlers
• Dog carers
• ThingleToodle road safety instructors
• Local emergency service providers
• Bravehearts
• Pancake Day.

We want our students to grow up to be fit, strong and healthy! We go the extra mile to make sure your child is receiving a fresh and nutritional diet using our own homegrown and locally sourced produce. We also work closely with families to guide them in the right direction when it comes to their children’s diets.

Encouraging and learning about health and wellbeing:

• We grow our own produce in our garden such as herbs, vegetables, and fruit
• We practise and emphasise food safety
• We educate children and their families about healthy eating and nutrition.

At St Luke’s Uniting Kindergarten Highton we are one big happy family! We encourage parents to be actively involved with their child’s development through activities such as volunteering and presentations on interesting topics. We believe teaching children the importance of building relationships plays an essential role in developing their feelings of belonging and security in the community.

Parents can participate in kindergarten activities when:

• We celebrate significant cultural festivals and days together
• We invite them to talk to the children about their job, hobbies and other interesting topics
• They volunteer their time to provide support and resources for our programs
• They assist with fundraising
• We have Parent Partnership Group meetings (positions are elected at the annual meeting of our kindergarten parents).

Children regularly engage with various members of the local community, including:

• Local primary schools
• Local emergency service providers and medical professionals
• Indigenous community members and groups
• Animal trainers and handlers
• Local farmers.

We also participate in community programs such as:

• Sun Smart
• Messy Church
• Pancake Day
• Recycling batteries.

English is our primary language for written and spoken communication with parents and families, however, we translate important information for parents and families and display this prominently in our foyer.

We can have all forms of communication translated for families who speak languages other than English including Arabic, Farsi and Mandarin.

Our educators are equipped with the skills to provide safe and nurturing environments to all children and are experienced in working with children who live with a range of physical and intellectual disabilities.

4 year old kindergarten

$427 per term

3 year old kindergarten

$162.00 per term (funded for 5 hrs)