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Begin the adventure with us today!

Every day is an opportunity for discovery and growth at Mernda Villages Kindergarten

Mernda Villages Kindergarten is located on Mernda Village Drive, we are located right next to the Mernda Primary School and we have St. Josephs Primary School is just up the road. We have a great relationship with both of these school which helps our children transition between kindergarten to primary school.

Mernda Villages Kindergarten value and embrace the differences between each child. We ensure that our play and interest based program caters for each child’s differences. We value all families’ culture and encourage families to share this within our program.

At Mernda Villages Kindergarten we are committed to providing a welcoming, positive and inclusive environment for all children and families. We value each child as individual and support them to feel safe and secure with a strong sense of belonging. We understand the vital contribution of play to early childhood development and the importance of interest-based learning.

Children’s interests and strengths are recognised and their thinking extended through our play based ‘hands on’ learning program, where educators teach intentionally to develop children’s skills, understandings and positive dispositions for learning. We respect the uniqueness of our families, acknowledge them as their child’s first teacher and foster supportive, collaborative relationships. We strive for positive learning outcomes for all children and promote a sense of connection to the Kinder and community.

Mernda Villages Kindergarten team is strong in mind and in spirit. The team have a close relationship and support each other both professionally and personally. Our Early Childhood Teaching team have an incredible 120 years of teaching years between them. Plus our amazing educators which is in excess of 150 years of experience.

The team bring a uniqueness to the centre, our differing interests and abilities ensure that the children are learning about many different things, including gardening, sustainability, cooking, numeracy, science, literacy and IT.

Begin the Adventure at Mernda Villages Kindergarten

  • We provide an environment that is fun, engaging, interesting and challenging
  • We offer a play-based curriculum that reflects the children’s interests, strengths, needs and understandings
  • We view children as capable and competent active participants in their own learning; therefore being responsive to children’s ideas and co-constructing knowledge, providing children with choices, input into decisions, time and strategies
  • We respect and acknowledge the Wurundjeri Clan as the traditional custodians of the land where the kindergarten is located
  • We learn about Aboriginal Cultures and share these with children and families
  • We ensure that our practices are supported by the Early Childhood Australia Code of Ethics
  • We acknowledge parents/guardians as the child’s first teacher
  • We recognise and respect individual parenting styles

Joey Group
• Monday, Wednesday & Friday: 9.15am - 2.15pm

Koala Group
• Tuesday & Thursday: 8.30am - 4.00pm

Wallaby Group
• Monday & Wednesday: 8.30am - 4.00pm

Bilby Group
• Monday & Wednesday: 8.30am - 4pm

Echidna Group
• Tuesday, Thursday & Friday: 9am -2pm

Rosella Group
• Monday, Wednesday & Friday: 9am -2pm

Wombat Group
• Tuesday & Thursday: 8.30am - 4pm

Emu Group
• Tuesday, Thursday & Friday: 9.15am - 2.15pm

The Victorian Government provides funding to support children to access a high quality kindergarten program in the two years before they start school. This helps to ensure all Victorian children get the best start in life.

From 2023, the Victorian Government is making kindergarten programs free for three and four-year-old children – saving you and your family up to $2,500 per year for their program. Free Kinder is a critical component of the Victorian Government’s Best Start, Best Life reform

Educators at Mernda Villages Kindergarten work closely with families regarding children’s skills and readiness for transition to school. Each family is provided with a Transition Statement during Term 4, which is an overview of your child’s development, interests, strengths and suggestions to help with transition. A copy of this is forwarded to your child’s school, with your permission.

We have strong connections with local schools and work to ensure a smooth transition for each of the children in our care. When possible we visit Mernda Primary School and St. Josephs Primary School to begin the connection with older students.

We provide a play-based curriculum, all our activities are based on the interest and the development of the children. We believe that children will learn through play.

An example of this is when children are playing in our home corner they are learning about true life experiences, they are beginning to understand and learning about sharing toys and equipment, they are extending their play skills and they will move from solitary play to onlooker play to parallel and associative play, then to co-operative play. They begin to develop body awareness and self-help skills i.e. with dress-ups.

As a sun-safe organisation we provide child-friendly sunscreen, however if your child has sensitive skin please feel free to provide your preferred brand.

Begin the Adventure at Mernda Villages Kindergarten

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