PR E PA R ATORY S C HO OL
Little
Explorers
2018 was an exciting year for Guildford
Grammar School, as we welcomed our
first group of three-year-old children
who joined us in our Little Explorers
Program.
Our Little Explorers program continues
to evolve as we strive to support the
development of each child’s ‘tool box’ of
essential skills required to be confident,
capable and happy learners.
Our program aims to build student wellbeing
and the ability to observe, question and
express thoughts and feelings in a play based
setting. Important learning outcomes include
developing self-regulation strategies to
manage emotions and behaviour; developing
program for 3-year olds
a sense of self, developing resilience and a
positive self-image and social skills when
interacting, forming and maintaining
friendships. construction, engagement with the natural
environment in the form of nature walks
and opportunities to spend time in our Early
Childhood mud kitchen.
We achieve these outcomes by delivering
engaging, rich, nurturing and challenging
experiences and creating stimulating and
beautiful environments for the children to
explore. The daily learning experiences
include following familiar routines, listening
to and following instructions, building
expressive and receptive language skills
through discussions, observations, stories,
song and movement. Little Explorers share their space and
resources with our Early Learning Centre,
resulting in a harmonious and collaborative
community of engaged learners. The children
explore and navigate their learning together
in a stimulating and challenging environment
while being gently challenged to develop an
understanding of the world around them.
There are ongoing opportunities that
encourage sensory exploration, design and Shannon Smith
Program Coordinator
Learning to
I look forward to 2019 and developing the
Little Explorers program in every way.
Swim@GGS
The Learn to Swim programs at Guildford
Grammar School are experiencing
substantial growth, with the introduction of
three new programs by our new Aquatics
Co-ordinator, Mr Andras Jo-Kovacs.
The Term 4 Learn to Swim program
kicked off in October, with the first of the
programs for children over 4 launched to
the school and wider community through
a new website and visual identity. This
program was held over 8 weeks and
covered stages 1-6.
The Vacation Learn to Swim program
commenced in early December and was also
aimed at children over 4 years old, covering
levels 1-6. This program was delivered in
our newly renovated Preparatory School
heated pool over a period of four weeks
during the school holidays.
The Infant Learn to Swim program was held
in January 2019 and catered for children in
two separate age groups; 6-18 months and
18 months to 3 years old. Also delivered
in our newly renovated Preparatory School
pool, this program was delivered in small
groups on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays
from 9.30am-11.30am.
For further information on the Learn to
Swim program, please visit our website at:
www.ggs.wa.edu.au/learn2swim.
You can learn more about Mr Jo-Kovacs on
Page 8.
37