If your child is starting school in September you have probably been thinking about and planning this for more than a year.
As we approach the time for our first cohort of pre-school children to leave us I can tell you that we have been planning this for more than two years! That is because before I ever opened the doors of the Prepatoria my aim was to provide educational opportunities for children that enabled them to reach their academic full potential in a unique educational setting and with a different approach. My understanding of the way in which children learn, my understanding of the way in which education is offered to children and my vast experience of day care led me to believe that there was a better way to provide education in the early years. Of course this could all simply have been a ‘pipe dream’ or ‘idealism.’ The proof of the pudding is in the eating, so they say. I would only know if my approach to education would be successful when the first group of children made it successfully through the Prepatoria and out the other side. So what have our children achieved, what are they like?
The majority of the pre-school children have been with us since we opened in Spring of 2014, now as four year old’s they are articulate, confident, well mannered, kind and strong. They are excited to learn, motivated and questioning, they challenge, negotiate and can compromise. In short they are well rounded people, and academically, what have they achieved?
90% of our pre-school group are reading, they are have an excellent phonic tool kit on board, able to identify initial blends and digraphs, they are numerate, able to work on addition, subtraction and number bonds. All children can write their name and many are able to write labels and captions.
I know that when they sit on the carpet in front of their ‘new’ teacher they will feel confident, they will feel able to ask and answer questions, they will understand what is asked of them. More than that our children will rise to the challenges of life, learning and education and for that I am proud, of them, their parents and my team.
