St Paul's Anglican Kindergarten, Canterbury

Welcome to St. Paul's Kindergarten

A tour will be held on Monday 9th October 2023 from 10.30am – 11.00am.

St. Paul’s Anglican Kindergarten is is a not for profit organisation nestled in the tree-lined streets of Canterbury. St. Paul’s has been delivering play-based pre-school programs to local children for over 75 years.

The teaching staff are highly qualified Early Childhood Professionals who strive to enrich children’s lives through vibrant and diverse tailored learning programs, which prepare children for life, not just for school.

We are a warm, welcoming and positive environment for your child to learn and grow; a place where learning is fun and enduring friendships are made.

Families who live outside the municipality are welcome to apply for a position for their child.

All our enrolments are are done through the Boroondara Kindergarten Central Enrolments Scheme (BKCES).

We are located at 29 Highfield Road, Canterbury VIC.
Contact our office via phone on (03) 9830 1117.

For all enrolment or program-related queries please contact our Enrolments Officer via email: enrolments@stpaulskinder.org.au

Our Curriculum

Our curriculum is broad, with a distinct focus on creative arts including: yoga, Drama Toolbox, music, Sport4Kids, Bush Kinder and art workshops.

These programs are enjoyed by all of the children. Special visitors and artists-in-residence share their life experiences with the children to enhance their learning. When combined with an exciting schedule of excursions and incursions, the children are given special access to the world around them.

Our indoor and outdoor facilities maximise the use of space to provide a wide variety of age-appropriate experiences that extend and challenge the children.

Our 4-year-old and Pre-prep groups love attending Canterbury Primary School to assist with their transition into school life, as well as participating in Social Skill programs run by a qualified Speech Therapist.

We strictly practice our kinder’s mission, ensuring that all children learn through creative play.

Our Programs

Our programs offer an outstanding learning experience within a stimulating and nurturing environment for all our children.

Three year old kinder

Focusing on emotional development and independence through play.

four year old kinder

Developing social and self-help skills along with foundations for numeracy and literacy.

pre-prep

A school readiness program for the older child who would benefit from another year of kinder or a longer program.

Bush Kinder

Surrounded by an increasingly fast-paced, highly structured and technological world, we recognise the importance of teaching the children to slow down, explore the natural environment, problem solve and take risks within a supported framework.

Bush Kinder offers unplanned, unknown and unpredictable encounters, which lead to significant provocations for learning. (Waters 2012)

Bush Kinder has been extensively researched, particularly overseas, and shows significant benefits to children’s confidence, motivation, resilience and concentration, as well as increased visual, social, physical, imaginative and language skills.

At St. Paul’s we are incredibly fortunate to be able to offer such a rich and diverse opportunity for our children within an inner-city environment.

Specialist Programs

In addition to our regular curriculum, we also offer a wide range of supplemental specialist programs to enrich and positively influence each child’s social, physical, emotional and cognitive development. Sport4Kids, music, Drama Toolbox, yoga & mindfulness classes take place across all programs.

Incursions & Excursions

Our rich and varied incursion and excursion roster is what sets our kinder apart. We offer street and dog safety, first aid, Drama Toolbox, beekeeping, Indigenous cultural experience, native animal and reptile experiences.

We also organise excursions to places of interest such as visiting the local Primary School, the National Art Gallery, Melbourne Museum, Bush Kinder and local shops.

This ensures the children are exposed to a plethora of engaging and educational experiences.

Sustainability

We aim to teach sustainable practices through our curriculum and actions to support children in becoming environmentally responsible throughout their entire life.

Child Safe Organisation

St Paul’s Anglican kindergarten is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people and has zero tolerance for child abuse.

We are committed to providing an environment where children and young people are safe, and feel safe, and their voices are heard about decisions that affect their lives.
We have updated our systems, practices and policies to comply with the most recent Standards (1 January 2023) and embed the eleven Child Safe Standards throughout all of St Paul’s operations.

Parent Involvement

We invite and actively encourage all parents to be a part of our kinder community through multiple avenues.

Social Committee

COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT

STAY AND PLAY

The St. Paul's Teaching Team

We employ high-quality, experienced staff who are passionate about Early Childhood Education. Many of our staff members have been with St Paul’s Kinder for over ten years. Each Staff member brings something brilliant to their program with varying
interests including; special needs children, outdoor education and art.

Our staff provide engaging and enriching programs for all of our kinder groups.

EDUCATIONAL LEADER & Nominated supervisor. early childhood teacher pre-prep

TOULA KLADOUHOS

OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR

LAUREN HURST

EDUCATOR - 3YO RAINBOW GROUP

KATE ELSBURY

EDUCATIONAL LEADER & EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER-PRE-PREP

RITA EARL

EDUCATOR- 4YO RED GROUP

ALISON D'AMICO

EDUCATOR - 3YO RAINBOW GROUP

ROWENA KIELY

EDUCATOR - PRE-PREP

RANIA DRAKOPOULOS

EDUCATOR - 4YO red group

HAZEL LU

LUNCH TIME RELIEF

MEL PRIOR-HOCKING

EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER - 4YO red group

BIANCA SOUTH

ACTIVITY GROUP LEADER-3YO RAINBOW GROUP

NATALIE COULSON

LUNCH TIME RELIEF

CHLOE MCARTHUR

CONTACT

(03) 9830 1117

29 Highfield Road, Canterbury, Victoria 3126

For all general questions, enrolment or program-related queries please contact Lauren Hurst on
Email: office@stpaulskinder.org.au

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land where we work and live, the the Boonwurrung and Woiwurrung (Wurundjeri) peoples of the Kulin Nation, and pay our respects to Elders past and present. We celebrate the stories, culture and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders of all communities who also work and live on this land.