Turner Street Kindergarten

Turner Street Kindergarten has been part of our community for over 50 years!  We are a community based sessional kindergarten that runs both 3 and 4yo kindergarten programs and we are managed by Merri-bek Early Years Management.  We provide the local community with a high quality early childhood educational program for children aged three to five years and offers children outstanding facilities, including a wonderful play area with sandpit and stage area for imaginative play. Children who attend  are engaged in a play-based curriculum based upon children’s emergent interests. Both indoor and outdoor activities and experiences are carefully planned to enable each child to progress in their next step in learning.  We are situated near the corner of Turner Street and O’Hea’ Road in Pascoe Vale South. At Turner Street kindergarten our children engage in indoor and outdoor play experiences. The indoor area provides a variety of learning areas for the children to work independently or in groups, create and build, investigate, engage in imaginative play, use a range of materials, learn through play and enjoy the wide range of learning opportunities offered.  The experiences are intended to develop the children’s independence and problem solving skills. The children are, at times, free to choose where they play, and are encouraged to participate in all activities. At times they will be asked to work closely with staff in focused small group activities. Our outdoor area provides an abundance of shade and different play and activity areas which includes a range of climbing structures, a cubby house, and a sand play area. Each year we develop an edible garden area where the children have opportunities to engage in activities with staff. The children have the opportunity to plant, water, and care for and pick plants. 

Philosophy

Educators at Turner Street Kindergarten endeavour to build a foundation for children’s learning. We believe early childhood is a critical time in which the experiences children encounter greatly influence their future lives and learning. Our teaching philosophy is based on the Victorian Early Years Framework and reflects the National Early Years Framework – Belonging, Being, Becoming. Our programs support children to develop skills to have a strong sense of identity, be connected with, and contribute to their world, have a strong sense of wellbeing, be confident and involved learners and be effective communicators. We provide a positive, safe, stimulating, and challenging learning environment where children feel a sense of trust and are happy – a place where children feel a sense of belonging. We believe children are unique individuals who have differing personalities, temperaments, learning styles and interests, and therefore learn at different rates in different ways and at different times. We listen to children. This is a place where children’s voices are heard and responded to in a positive manner. We value the importance of positive relationships and work to develop respectful, trusting and close relationships with children and families.  We recognise that families are the child’s first educators, and that they learn best when educators and families work in partnership with each other, to support children to reach their full potential. We strive to provide an environment where children and families from all cultural backgrounds feel welcomed and accepted. We make use of our communities’ resources and incorporate the child’s community into the program.  We believe children learn best through meaningful play to; be curious, discover, explore, question, experiment, problem solve and imagine. Our play-based, child centered programs are inclusive of all children’s capabilities, needs and interests, and reflect the holistic development of each child. We support children to develop physically, cognitively, socially, emotionally, linguistically, and aesthetically. We value environmental sustainability and believe it is important to engage children in sustainable practices and a respect for our environment. As educators we believe that we are continually learning alongside families and children.  Reflecting on our practices and principles enhances our professional development.

Parent Involvement

Turner Street Kindergarten has a Parent Group where parents are encouraged to be involved in fundraising activities for the service and work with MEYM to develop a plan to allocate and expend funds. Your participation helps to share the workload among our kindergarten community and your children just love to see you involved. If you are interested please contact the Service Coordinator to discuss your ideas. Incursions/Excursions – The four-year-old educators plan for incursions, excursions and special interest activities where it is felt that they are beneficial to the learning program. The daily program is planned around these events and provides children with the opportunities to engage in learning experiences around various topics. The incursions and excursions are planned for on a yearly basis and may change from year to year. They are based on the current children’s interests and abilities. Some incursions we have had in previous years include; Chick Hatching Incursion, Road Safety Incursion, The Great Recycling Adventure, Coburg Library for Children’s Book Week, Butterfly Life Cycle Incursion, Dinosaur Bones- Melbourne Museum, Dental visit, Circus spot workshops, Mini Beasts incursion, Wild Action Show, Responsible Pet Ownership, Thingle Toodle, Water Safety presentation, Story Telling, Weekly ‘Sports for Kids’ program, Bunnings warehouse planting incursion and a Pottery incursion. Some of the Excursions include; Essendon Traffic school, Bundoora Children’s Farm, and Merri Creek bush kinder. No child is taken outside of the Kindergarten without parental authorisation. Parents are requested to promptly complete a separate authorisation form for each excursion. For the 3-year-old group, special activities are planned for and based around kindergarten and family activities, as well as one incursion a year. Each year the incursion is chosen by the 3-year-old educators, giving consideration to the interests of the individual children and group as a whole. Some of the incursions in recent years have included Australian Animals Bush Babies, an Australian Animals puppet show, chick hatching and African Drumming.

Sustainability

Turner Street Kindergarten promotes respect for and an appreciation of the natural environment. Children will forage for snails, worms and make compost. The produce and herbs from our garden provide lots of impetus for learning, sharing and joyful experiences such as cooking and tasting. Children, educators and families engage in sustainable practices during the operation of the service. All our food scraps are given to our hungry healthy worms.

Our staff

We have a team of committed, experienced and kind staff who always put the needs of the children first. The aim of our staff is to maximise the benefit of the kindergarten experience for each child by creating a relationship based on trust and respect. Each group has a minimum of two teaching staff –  a qualified teacher with a teaching degree specialising in early childhood and a co- educator with a diploma or certificate in children’s services. Our highly experienced staff recognise stages of child development and create and facilitate a learning environment that is responsive to the children’s interests, learning and needs. If you are interested in viewing Turner Street Kindergarten please complete our Book-a-Tour to book your place for a scheduled tour. Note that Turner Street will be relocating to Pascoe Vale Neighbourhood House for a brief period due to renovations from Term 3 2023, therefore tours will not be available during term 3.

Please click to view our timetable and Q&A’s

Turner Street Appointment

Request an appointment for Turner Street

Your name
Name of child
Child's date of birth
Preferred Date for Tour
Preferred Time for Tour
:
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.