Do you need to slip, slop, slap today?

Little St Margaret’s is committed to promoting sun protection strategies for children, families, staff, and visitors to minimise the harmful effects of over-exposure to the sun’s UV radiation. Our SunSmart Policy applies whenever the sun’s UV levels reach three or higher. Use this helpful tool from the Cancer Council Victoria’s SunSmart Program to ensure you apply sunscreen to your child before they attend kindergarten on days when sun protection is required. Our educators ensure sunscreen is reapplied throughout the day and that the children experience safe sun exposure in line with our SunSmart Policy.

Big feelings welcome at Little St Margaret’s Kindergarten

August 2022

In term 2, we introduced The Resilience Project across both our three year-old and four year-old programs at Little St Margaret's, with the objective of developing the children's emotional literacy by helping them recognise, label and process their emotions.

Through this program, the children have learned how to identify their own feelings and how their actions affect the way they and others feel around them. They have thrived in opportunities to express themselves and have learnt the importance of self-regulation when feeling different types of emotions.

To help the children communicate their feelings, we introduced an emotional regulation chart where the children were invited to place their photo corresponding to their emotional zone on a daily basis. It has been so rewarding to observe the children express themselves, regulate their bodies, and be empathetic and supportive of their peers.

We look forward to continuing this invaluable work with the children in term 3 and 4, teaching the children a different concept that is linked to the three key principles of: Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness. The research indicates that if you practice these three key principles consistently your mental health improves, you feel happier and you have the ability to cope in challenging situations. A wonderful outcome for our children at Little St Margaret's!

Sparking curiosity through the wonderful world of worms

May 2022

In term 1, our four-year-old program included the Wonderful World of Worms incursion. This engaging experience taught the children about worm farms and the amazing role they play in fertilizing soil.

The incursion delivered many educational outcomes including teaching children about what foods worms like to eat, with the children now separating their food scraps into green and red bowls – green being the food that worms like and red being the food that they don’t like.

Little St Margaret’s will continue the worm farm throughout the year, empowering the children to make a tangible impact by using their food scraps to feed the worms and, in turn, using the ‘worm wee’ to fertilize the kindergarten’s garden.

Regulating big feelings with the help of The Resilience Project

June 2021

Little St Margaret’s introduced The Resilience Project to our curriculum in term 2, supporting our commitment to help children recognise and manage their emotions – an important life skill that contributes to happier and healthier lives.

The Resilience Project is an Australian initiative that delivers evidence-based programs to build resilience, with its Early Years program centred on the three pillars of gratitude, empathy and mindfulness. The research indicates that if you practise these three key principles consistently your mental health improves, you feel happier and you are able to cope in challenging situations.

Our educators have thoroughly enjoyed incorporating The Resilience Project into the daily activities of both our three and four-year-old programs. Through a range of age-appropriate techniques, such as colour charts and calming techniques, the children are learning how to identify and regulate their feelings, as well as better understand how their actions affect others around them.

This learning among our children has been wonderful to see, with the research showing that the more aware children are socially and emotionally, the more they can effectively navigate relationships, calm themselves down and problem solve when challenges arise.

We look forward to continuing to implement The Resilience Project to enhance the children’s emotional and social development throughout the year.

Little minds light up for the Lunar New Year

April 2021

Little St Margaret’s celebrated the Lunar New Year as a highlight of the term one curriculum for both our three-year-old and four-year-old programs this year. The children delighted in learning about this significant cultural event, participating in various experiences and craft activities inspired by the Lunar New Year.

Children in our four-year-old program had the opportunity to make red lanterns and learn about the Lunar calendar, as well as the 12 zodiac animals, culminating in a hands-on activity using Chinese character playdough mats with gold coins and red and gold collage materials. The children’s artworks were put on proud display in our four-year-old rooms, creating a festive atmosphere and a visual celebration of the children’s learning.

Our three-year-olds also embraced the opportunity to learn about the Lunar New Year, with a particular highlight being an incursion with Sindy Mu from the MuLan Fan Centre. Sindy provided a truly enriching cultural experience for the children, teaching them about Chinese culture and heritage through interactive activities such as a dragon parade, fan dancing and dress-ups.

We look forward to celebrating many more cultural events with the children throughout the rest of the year.

Looking for a local kindergarten?

March 2021

Little St Margaret’s is holding its Open Day on Saturday 24 April 2021 between 2.00 pm and 4.00 pm.

Tucked away in a quiet neighbourhood street at 29 Mayfield Avenue Malvern, Little St Margaret’s is a hidden gem providing best practice education and care as one of Victoria’s only independent, non-denominational not-for-profit kindergartens.

Come along to our Open Day to find out more about Little St Margaret’s, including our uniquely small class sizes to cater to your child’s individual needs and our extended care program to suit busy families.

Our Bush Tucker Garden

October 2019

The children have been involved in establishing a bush tucker garden at Little St. Margaret’s. This has included the preparation of the garden, assisting with planting and watering. We have planted River mint, Chocolate Lily, Native Elderberry and Katwork Pigface. This project has helped children learn about native plants and the traditional use of these plants.

We were fortunate to receive a grant from Woolworth’s Junior Landcare in 2019 to complete this project.