Our son started at Scola at the age of two and a half. At his previous preschool, he was a quiet observer who rarely engaged in play with other children and would spend most of his day sitting inside with an educator or watching other children play. Drop offs were becoming increasingly challenging and emotional for all of us. We decided to explore other options and found Scola. The instant we walked in the front door, we were convinced that this was the right place for our child. On his first day, he made a connection with one of the educators within minutes of walking in and was happily engaged.

Since moving to Scola, there’s been no tears at drop offs. He goes to bed excited that tomorrow is a “Scola Day” and asks us if he can go “Ten days a week”. It’s his happy place. We have seen his independence grow tenfold, dressing himself each day and packing his own bag. He is excited to tell us about the interesting topics he is learning at school.

Óran has formally met with us on several occasions to discuss observations on our son’s strengths and needs, which we appreciate is rare for a preschool. During these meetings it is clear that Óran and the educators know our son and take the extra time to see his strengths and work through any challenges that arise. In one of the meetings, we discussed that allowing our son a little more time to focus on developing his confidence and social skills would be beneficial before starting kindy or Pre-primary. 

I am a primary school teacher and know how restricting the mainstream school system can be for young children. Classrooms and curriculums are overcrowded and we are seeing an increasing number of anxious children disliking school from an early age. The options for choice and learning through play is limited, with outdoor play often restricted to two 20 minute sessions per day. Teachers are struggling to find time in the day to connect with children.

Based on this knowledge and the fact that he was so happy, we decided to keep our son at Scola for kindy. We wanted to provide the extra year for him to further develop his social emotional skills and the confidence to build friendships, along with another year to learn through play under the guidance of a cohesive team of loving educators. This year, we have seen him flourish and could not be happier with our decision to stay at Scola for kindy. His confidence has skyrocketed. Our son is happy, engaged, has made strong connections with peers and staff, and participates in all of the activities on offer.

In addition, from a teacher’s perspective, I am confident that our son is being provided with quality education from qualified and experienced educators who are passionate about early childhood teaching. He is being exposed to the literacy and numeracy curriculum in a purposeful and engaging way. We are seeing him transfer his literacy and numeracy skills from Scola to everyday activities at home.

We are so grateful for the opportunity to send our son to Scola for the extra year and will be doing the same for our daughter when the time arises.