Yesterday, I had the joy and nachat (pride) of attending the Senior Kindergarten Family Fun Day.  It was a beautiful opportunity for our students, parents and educators to come together to celebrate the growth and learning that has taken place so far this year.

Watching our students sing, dance, decorate family portraits and observing the warm connections between the families, led me to reflect on how grateful we should be for the exceptional care and nurturing that is provided within our fabulous Early Learning Centre and the unique friendships that are generated in such a community-oriented environment.

The context of this is the stark contrast between what we observe at The King David School and the ever-worsening horror stories we see in the media coverage of the national crisis in childcare. While it is evident that so many childcare settings have been shown to be failing to meet national minimum standards, our Centre has been rated as ‘Exceeding’ by the Department of Education.

I believe that King David families are well aware of the thorough and purposeful approach invested in every aspect of our students’ holistic development by our incredible team of educators and administrators. This is reflected in our policy formation, our educational programming, our professional development, our culture and our ethos. 

This provides for a safe and loving environment where our students can thrive in this vital stage of education. Our educators understand the crucial role that early education plays in establishing the skills and dispositions that will empower our students for future learning.

At our recent professional development conference, our educational team further enhanced their understanding of the SOWATT model that is designed to support our students to develop the crucial executive function skills which unlock their skill and knowledge acquisition. SOWATT stands for Self-regulation, Organisation, Working memory, Attention, Thinking flexibly and Thinking about thinking.

Students in the stage of early education go through an extraordinary process of brain growth and neural expansion. Augmenting this stage with evidence-based practices that enhance access to these foundational skills has been proven to benefit student learning.

Of course, this valuable process is delivered within the framework of a joyous and loving play-based environment. Our students delight in their growing independence and exploration of the world around them. They love learning about the Chagim, our Hebrew lessons and our Bush Kindergarten. A unique advantage of being part of a school-setting is the access to areas such as the library, music room, sports hall and playgrounds as a way of enhancing their learning opportunities.

Some more recent additions to our offerings include the wonderful Storytime with Safta – a monthly Hebrew language education session run on Sundays with our VCE Hebrew teacher, Hani Ron; and Kef Kan – a weekly playgroup for young children aged up to 3 years and their caregivers which are designed to support early development and celebrate Jewish life and culture. 

I am so proud of our ELC and know that the care and thoughtfulness of our leaders, the dedication of our educators, and the trust and engagement of our families provides a nourishing and enriching environment for our students to grow up within.

Shabbat Shalom, 
Marc Light