Long Day Care Preschool Programs Help Your Child Get School-Ready

February 8, 2019
Children's Services, Tips & Advice, What's new
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Children First’s two long day care centres at Blacktown Road and Plumpton offer extended hours of care for children aged 6 weeks to 5 years, catering our educational programs to each age group.

We offer dedicated preschool programs for children aged 4 to 5 years which are based in our long day care environment, helping children get school-ready. This means families can take advantage of long day care hours knowing that their child will get the benefits of a preschool educational program without the need to change to a dedicated preschool in the years before they head off to school.

If your child starts long day care before the age of 4, it also means that your child can progress from the younger programs to the preschool environment in surroundings that are familiar to them, making a smooth transition.

Children First follows the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) which is the Australian government’s national framework for early childhood education services. The EYLF defines the principles, practices and outcomes essential to every early learning program and is designed to ensure all children, from birth to five years of age, receive high quality learning experiences.

The Framework has a strong emphasis on play-based learning and aims to achieve five overall Learning Outcomes:

Children have a strong sense of identity
Children are connected with and contribute to their world
Children have a strong sense of wellbeing
Children are confident and involved learners
Children are effective communicators

Research shows that play-based learning enhances children’s academic and developmental learning outcomes. It also helps set your child up for success by teaching them relevant skills for the world we live in today.

Children learn so much through play, it sets important foundations for developing numeracy, literacy and social skills as they solve problems, take risks, explore, discover, negotiate and create meaning in their world. Play-based learning is a complex form of natural enquiry that requires an experienced educator who knows each child’s emerging strengths and interests and overall development.

The enquiry-based nature of play is supported through the social interactions of educators and children. Our educators take an active role in guiding children’s interactions in the play. Children are supported in developing social skills such as cooperation, sharing and responding to ideas, negotiating, and resolving conflicts.

Our educators use children’s own motivation and interests to explore concepts and ideas. In this way, children acquire and practice important academic skills and learning in a playful context.

We build and maintain strong working relationships with our local schools to help make your child’s transition from preschool to primary school positive and smooth.

In the last term of the year, we offer visits to a local school, allowing children participate in activities in the kindergarten setting. Teachers from the school will give them a tour so they become aware of the school environment and practices; they’ll visit a classroom, the library and computer rooms, buy from the canteen and sit, watch and even perform in the school assembly, giving them the confidence to take the next step in their lives.

In the final weeks of the term we start ‘lunch box weeks’ where children can learn to become independent with making their own lunch as well as opening lunchboxes and food packages.

At the end of the preschool year, you’ll receive a formal School Transitional Statement which you can provide to your child’s school.

One of our favourite events is our graduation ceremony, where we celebrate our preschoolers’ achievements in front of their peers, family and friends. Their proud educators award them with a graduation certificate and gifts, confident that they’re ready for an exciting year ahead at primary school.