St Mark's is a community based, not-for-profit pre-school. The pre-school commenced operation on 19th May, 1970 and was officially opened by the Mayor of Kogarah on 29th June, 1970.  

We take enormous pride in our excellent reputation within the community and work at all times to provide an environment that is warm and welcoming.

We look forward to welcoming your family and hope we can assist you and your child on their lifelong journey of learning. 
Please feel free to contact us to arrange a tour of our lovely preschool and meet our educators. You are welcome to visit on Thursdays at 9:30am, or for alternative times, please contact us. 

St Mark’s Pre-school is an incorporated body managed by a committee comprised of members nominated by St Mark’s Anglican Church and parent representatives. The day to day running of the pre-school is coordinated by the director who is the nominated supervisor and reports directly to the management committee.

As an incorporated body, when your child commences at the pre-school you become a member and as a member, pay a $1.00 joining fee and an annual subscription fee of $2.00.

We are licenced for 26 children per day.

The children attend on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (usually children in the year before formal schooling) or Thursday and Friday (children aged 3-4 years)

Our operating hours are:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 9:00am-3:00pm
Thursday, Friday 8:00am-3:30pm

The pre-school operates to New South Wales public school terms and is closed during school holidays and public holidays.

Each group has 26 children and 4 staff educators.  Our educators are experienced and qualified, consisting of 1 X Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood), 1 X Diploma of Teaching (Early Childhood), 1 X Diploma in Children’s Services, 2 X Certificate III in Children’s Services. Our administration assistant works on Monday and Friday mornings. The pre-school is cleaned each day by our cleaner.

The current fees are:

$34 per day for children turning 4 on or before 31st July 2018
$51 for children aged 3 years

We offer a reduced fee for families who hold a current Low Income Health Care Card

Upon acceptance of a position at our pre-school you are required to pay a bond equal to two weeks fees. This amount will be used to pay the last two weeks fees that your child attends the pre-school. 

In order to effectively manage the pre-school budget we request that fees are paid in advance, either fortnightly or by the term.  Fees paid by the term are due by Week 4 of the term. A ‘Fees Schedule’ is given to each family at the beginning of every term stating the amounts due, and suggested dates fees are to be paid.  

In addition to the daily fee, families are also required to pay (per year):

•    Portfolio Book fee of $25.00 (per child)
•    $1.00 joining fee (membership)
•    annual subscription fee of $2.00 (membership)

Fees are not payable for school or public holidays but must be paid if your child is absent during the term due to sickness or family holidays etc.

Our Vision

Our vision is to provide a quality pre-school program that is welcoming and inclusive to all, guided by a Christian ethos. To enjoy an excellent reputation in the local community, in partnership with St Mark’s Anglican Church.

Mission

We aim to provide a holistic program that allows children to explore, learn and develop to their full potential. We are committed to creating a warm, friendly Pre-school where children, staff and families are healthy and happy. We aim to work with families to develop respectful partnerships that reflect the diverse nature of the community.

Philosophy 

St Mark’s Pre-school Kindergarten acknowledges the Early Years Learning Framework as the philosophical foundation for all early childhood services. As a framework adopted by the service, we recognise the underlying fundamental concepts of Belonging, Becoming and Being, as well as the principles and practices outlined in the framework. Whilst the framework provides a structure around which we build the curriculum, we acknowledge the following statements as our underlying beliefs in relation to children, staff and families, under the direction of the management committee. We aim to use the philosophy and framework in a reflective manner to ensure that our practice matches our beliefs. 

Children

We recognise the crucial importance of a child’s early years and acknowledge the significant role that early childhood education plays in the development of a child’s life. We believe that in order to grow and develop, children need experiences that are respectful of their individual backgrounds and interests, whilst acknowledging their individual rates of growth and development. 

We want to ensure that the children feel happy, safe, secure and comfortable in the Pre-school environment and aim to promote a sense of belonging through the development of respectful relationships where all children are treated equally, holistically and with dignity. 

Children should be given the right to express their ideas and feelings and to have these acknowledged by staff whilst learning to be considerate and respectful of others. We feel that children need consistent environments and expectations to enhance their feeling of belonging.

We acknowledge the benefit of children’s sustained participation in play based activities that allow the children the opportunity to engage, experiment and learn. 

Each child has the potential to bring something unique and special to the world. We help children to develop their whole potential by believing in them as curious, capable and imaginative individuals.

We acknowledge that children will be leaving the Pre-school to move to a school setting and aim to support the children in transition through the development of age appropriate pre-reading, pre-maths and pre-writing skills based on our knowledge of child development and research based early childhood principles.

Families

We acknowledge that the family is the most enduring and central force in a child’s life and do not take lightly the honour that families bestow on us with when they entrust St Mark’s Pre-school with the early care and education of their child. We respect each family for its individual, unique qualities and actively encourage and appreciate family input and feedback on all aspects of the program, polices and decision making. Families are encouraged to share their culture, language and home experiences with the Pre-school.

Families are entitled to feel a sense of belonging and we believe this can be promoted with the development of trusting and respectful relationships through open and honest communication. We recognise the pressures of family life, we accept and respect that each family has a different capacity for involvement in the centre. We seek to provide families with a variety of ways in which they can become involved and have input into the program with an emphasis on partnerships with families and the greater community. 

Staff

We believe that in order to provide good quality experiences for children that staff need to and are entitled to feel comfortable, safe and secure in their work environment. Through the development of trusting and respectful relationships, staff will develop an enhanced feeling of belonging. 

We acknowledge that staff bring to the service a variety of cultural backgrounds, experiences and skills, both professional and personal.  We value and promote a team approach where staff communicate with each other to work in a cooperative and cohesive manner. 

Staff are responsible for working in a professional manner and contribute toward policies, procedures, the philosophy and program of the centre. Staff are entitled to have access to and are encouraged to engage in professional development and training where they are given the opportunity to reinforce existing knowledge, gain new knowledge and to learn new skills. 

We believe that through continuous reflection and evaluation, we can foster an environment of continuous improvement that avoids stagnation and supports the centre to remain up to date with current practice and always moving in a forward direction.

Community

We aim to contribute to the community by providing an environment, rich in diversity of culture, abilities and experiences that reflects the local community environment. We encourage the relationship that the Pre-school has with St Mark’s Church, and believe these ties are foundational to the community.

Food

We encourage healthy eating habits so request that you provide fruit or vegetables for your child’s morning tea, and a healthy lunch.
Your child will also need a water bottle and will have access to this bottle throughout the day. The educators are happy to refill the bottle with water if your child finishes it during the day.

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE NUT FREE CENTRE.

WE HAVE CHILDREN WITH SEVERE ALLERGIES ENROLLED AT THE CENTRE AND WE NEED TO KEEP THEM SAFE. PLEASE DO NOT SEND ANY FOODS CONTAINING NUTS OR TRACES OF NUTS TO PRE-SCHOOL.

Hat
A broad brimmed, or legionnaire style hat is preferred.

Play clothes & Spare clothes
Please dress your child in clothes suitable for play. They will also require at least two changes of clothing in their bag each day in case of toileting accidents or waterplay.

The daily routine outlined below lists the daily activities of the children.  The educators may change the time or order of activities to suit the group of children that they are teaching. For example the length of group time and /or rest time may vary according to the ages or stages of the children enrolled in each group of children.

9:00-10:15    Outdoor play (Summer)       Indoor Play (Winter)   
10:15-10:30    Pack  away    
10:30-10:50    Morning Tea    
10:50-11:10    Story/Language Group Time    
11:10-12:30    Indoor Play (Summer)       Outdoor Play (Winter)    
12:30-12:40     Pack away    
12:40-1:00    Music/Movement    
1:00-1:30     Toilet and Lunch    
1:30-2:15    Rest    
2:15-2:45    Quiet Activities    
2:45-3:00    Circle Games/Story    

PROGRAM
We encourage your interest and welcome your ideas into our program.

The pre-school uses a range of play activities and inviting learning environments to implement a program that uses children’s strengths, skills and knowledge to enhance their physical, social, personal, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Educators observe children as they interact and engage with each other and the environment and adopt a range of strategies to assess and reflect on children’s learning. They then draw on these reflections as the basis for future planning. Activities that support children in their transition to school and facilitate school readiness including pre-writing, pre-reading and pre-math’s activities are incorporated into the program.

A record of the program implemented at St Mark’s is located next to the sign on sheets. This contains information about the planned daily activities that occur at the pre-school and a weekly record of some of the learning that has occurred, including photos of the children engaged in these learning experiences. Also included in the program book is a space for parents to comment. We encourage you to read the diary and comment on your child’s experiences. The information that your child relates to you about their experiences helps us in our planning and understanding of your child.

Each child will have a portfolio book that contains individual observations, samples of their work and developmental information. The educators add to this regularly throughout the year. At the end of the year, each family will receive their child’s portfolio book to take home and keep as a record of their learning journey at St Mark’s Pre-school. The portfolios can be accessed at any time by asking an educator.

Parent/teacher interviews are conducted half way through the year, however, families can request an interview at any time.

We welcome parent involvement at the pre-school. Please let us know if you would like to share something with the children such as reading a story, cooking or craft. During the year we hold numerous parent functions which parents and family members will be invited to. We welcome your participation and attendance.