Preschool marks the beginning of your child’s educational journey, when they develop a love for learning. At this early age children are rapidly developing in the physical, social, emotional, intellectual and aesthetic areas. We recognise this is a significant time and that each child is unique, so we respond by ensuring the pace of our programmes suit individual learning needs.
St Mark’s Preschool is a warm and caring environment designed for young children to thrive. Our Preschool offers a unique programme that integrates the New Zealand curriculum – Te Whariki and the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB-PYP).
St Mark’s Preschool offers quality, affordable early childhood education for 2 to 5 year olds, 48 weeks of the year. Our central Wellington location, and convenient opening hours – 8am to 5:30pm each day – make us an ideal choice for everyone. To find out more, contact our Enrolments Officer, Kate O’Brien email enrol@st-marks.school.nz or phone (04) 385-9489.
Preschool Room
The Preschool room offers two and three-year-olds a safe and nurturing learning environment, providing opportunities for meaningful education to occur across different areas of the curriculum. Children are encouraged to develop their independence in an environment where inquiring, thinking, risk-taking, communicating and reflecting are promoted.
A wide range of art activities are offered each day, along with many opportunities for construction, imaginative and family play. Outdoor activities include climbing, balancing, ball skills, water play, carpentry and gardening.
Foundation Room
This room is for children aged from four years of age, and includes our children who have moved through from the Preschool room as well as new children from the wider community.
Here children are encouraged to develop early literacy and numeracy skills. The literacy programme includes phonics, daily writing – with each child signing in and learning to write familiar words – and reading when children are ready. The numeracy programme allows children to explore all mathematical concepts including number recognition, counting, ordering, telling the time, geometric shapes and measurement. The use of traditional and ICT technologies are used during these learning experiences.
Children are encouraged to be self-managing, to develop self-esteem and strong interpersonal skills, to engage in appropriate risk-taking and thinking activities, to enjoy being knowledgeable and to be able to reflect on their learning. Our teachers support your child, encouraging and extending them on their individual learning journey as they transition to primary school.
