Butterflies, Bumblebees, Bluebells and Buttercups, our Grade 00 and 000 classes are situated in the beautiful heritage house called Mornington, at the heart of Kingsmead. This home from home setting provides a warm and secure environment in which to learn.

Our Pre-School offers a creative and stimulating learning environment which encourages development of the individual child. We aim to equip each child with the cognitive, physical, emotional, and social skills necessary for a happy and confident start to their school careers, trusting that they may become accomplished, successful, lifelong learners. The children encounter the world with awe and anticipation and a sense of reverence for knowledge.

Research has shown that much of what you need to succeed in life is established before your turn eight. During that time, the human brain undergoes rapid development; it’s a period when a child builds cognitive skills — the foundation for reading, math, science, and academics — as well as character skills, social-emotional growth, gross-motor skills, and executive functioning, which includes everything from impulse control to problem solving.

Why Choose Mornington Pre-School?


“Of all the things that I hear most often said about Kingsmead - is that it is such a happy place. There is a spirit of comradeship among staff and girls, which impresses itself upon people as soon as they come here. That is a priceless treasure, and it does not come, nor does it stay, without effort - that effort to give and take, that effort to see that newcomers are welcomed and made to feel at home, that realisation that everyone of us is in the same boat and that everyone of us, from the highest to the lowest is responsible for keeping the ship sailing smoothly and strongly.”

DV Thompson, 1944

Our highly educated, enthusiastic and dedicated teaching team focus on the emotional, social, physical, and cognitive development of each individual child. We embrace diversity and inclusion and assist children to reach their personal potential in a loving, caring and respectful way.

Our Philosophy


  • Our experienced and qualified teachers have designed a stimulating programme which revolves around a bi-weekly theme.

  • Our early learning curriculum is systematic and geared to holistic development for the child to reach her potential and for the preparation of skills that will be necessary for life. Our method of teaching encourages active inquiry and involvement in the learning process. Children are encouraged to question, wonder, experiment, experience and solve problems.

  • Our programme has been derived from a multifaceted educational approach based on aspects of Reggio Emilia, the Curiosity Approach and Fairy Dust Teaching.

  • As an internationally accredited Advanced Thinking School, we are committed to developing strategies that encourage a wide range of skills to promote high order thinking. This includes the preschool children who are taught to use The Habits of Mind in problem solving and David Hyerle’s Thinking Maps to order their thoughts. These tools are presented in a concrete way making them accessible to young children. They continually amaze us with their insight, understanding and growth in thinking laterally.

  • We follow the ISASA curriculum for Early Childhood Development. The ISASA curriculum guidelines have been drawn up using extensive research into best practice both locally and internationally. The core developmental areas are viewed as critical and the building blocks for all future learning. These include social and emotional development, cognitive and perceptual development, and physical development. The auxiliary learning areas include content that has been the centre of traditional curricula, including language and literacy, numeracy, knowledge and skills, as well as the creative arts.

  • As well as building the foundation skills necessary for reading, writing and mathematics, the girls are further enriched by Music, Physical Education, Dance, Library and Digital Literacy.

Empowering Education Through Play

Ultimately, parents want to ensure that their children have a happy, healthy educational experience. And while test scores and an ambition curriculum are often the focus of searches when looking at schools, the importance of play-based preschool programs cannot be underestimated.

Students who begin their education in an environment of playful learning and discovery emerge as more confident, imaginative, socially aware individuals. These children continue to approach their learning with the critical thinking and communication skills that make them curious, well-rounded, and successful members of their communities.


Social and Emotional Development

Unsurprisingly, play-based learning also plays an important role in the development of healthy social and emotional habits in children. When children play with other children, they learn to cooperate, communicate and engage with their peers in a way that ensures they feel part of their young community. These interactions give them the ability to develop relationships and nurtures their sense of emotional and social intelligence.

Educators that facilitate this type of play-based learning, can encourage children to work through common emotions and scenarios - both positive and negative—which in turn strengthens the way they are able to interact and cope with the world around them.

Playing also serves a purpose we too often overlook - stress relief. Play acts as a form of therapy, and participating in calm, facilitated play allows them to work through their stressors in a healthy, productive way.


Kingsmead the importance of play
Motor Skills

Active play also quickly works to develop strong motor skills in children:

  • Activities like running, jumping, and throwing help children develop strong gross motor skills.
  • Participating in sports, climbing, and skipping require core strength, hand-eye coordination, and encourages a strong sense of balance,
  • Colouring, drawing, and crafting encourages and develops fine motor skills.

Kingsmead girl
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
As children interact with the world around them, especially in ways that inspire their creativity and critical thinking skills, they learn to become effective problem solvers. They see connections between themselves and their surroundings, and the lives of those around them. They begin to predict outcomes and start to consider a variety of choices and actions.

social and emotional development
Communication Skills

Play helps children develop key language and communication skills. When playing with other children and adults, children learn to both communicate effectively, and listen intently. Even participating in individual play, where the child is guiding their own narrative, encourages communication growth.


Kingsmead communication skills
Creativity and Imagination

Creativity and imagination may seem like hallmarks of childhood, but they are important skills that are learned—not inherited. Play and playful learning, foster this sense of creativity, and allow children to navigate so many scenarios in their lives—both real and imagined.

Whether they are pretending to be a doctor, acting like the mother to their teddy bear “babies”, or flying a cardboard box airplane, children are acting as creative problem-solvers, and demonstrating the skills that come naturally to them. Likewise, they develop the ability to see potential in the world around them. This imaginative play quickly forms the foundation of a healthy childhood, and sets them up to become creative, curious adults who can adapt to the world around them.


Image
social and emotional development
Social and Emotional Development

Unsurprisingly, play-based learning also plays an important role in the development of healthy social and emotional habits in children. When children play with other children, they learn to cooperate, communicate and engage with their peers in a way that ensures they feel part of their young community. These interactions give them the ability to develop relationships and nurtures their sense of emotional and social intelligence.

Educators that facilitate this type of play-based learning, can encourage children to work through common emotions and scenarios - both positive and negative—which in turn strengthens the way they are able to interact and cope with the world around them.

Playing also serves a purpose we too often overlook - stress relief. Play acts as a form of therapy, and participating in calm, facilitated play allows them to work through their stressors in a healthy, productive way.


Kingsmead communication skills
Communication Skills

Play helps children develop key language and communication skills. When playing with other children and adults, children learn to both communicate effectively, and listen intently. Even participating in individual play, where the child is guiding their own narrative, encourages communication growth.


Kingsmead the importance of play
Motor Skills

Active play also quickly works to develop strong motor skills in children:

  • Activities like running, jumping, and throwing help children develop strong gross motor skills.
  • Participating in sports, climbing, and skipping require core strength, hand-eye coordination, and encourages a strong sense of balance,
  • Colouring, drawing, and crafting encourages and develops fine motor skills.

Image
Creativity and Imagination

Creativity and imagination may seem like hallmarks of childhood, but they are important skills that are learned—not inherited. Play and playful learning, foster this sense of creativity, and allow children to navigate so many scenarios in their lives—both real and imagined.

Whether they are pretending to be a doctor, acting like the mother to their teddy bear “babies”, or flying a cardboard box airplane, children are acting as creative problem-solvers, and demonstrating the skills that come naturally to them. Likewise, they develop the ability to see potential in the world around them. This imaginative play quickly forms the foundation of a healthy childhood, and sets them up to become creative, curious adults who can adapt to the world around them.


Kingsmead girl
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
As children interact with the world around them, especially in ways that inspire their creativity and critical thinking skills, they learn to become effective problem solvers. They see connections between themselves and their surroundings, and the lives of those around them. They begin to predict outcomes and start to consider a variety of choices and actions.
Specialist teachers in dance, physical education, music, and digital literacy provide their expertise and further stimulates, stretches and expands young minds.
  • Physical Education

    The children can further develop their gross motor skills with our specialist teachers from the Sports department. Fun activities are designed to promote age-appropriate gross motor development. The children hop, jump, run, climb, balance, throw, catch, do wheelbarrow walks, and engage in myriad of other exercises.

  • Music

    The children have two Music lessons during the week. During Music, children learn basic musical theory through movement and experience. They have fun singing, playing Orff instruments, and using their bodies to accompany music.

  • Extension

    Library - the children are exposed to the rich world of literacy as they enjoy the wide range of books on offer. Baking - in the pre-school spending time in the kitchen and baking using recipes helps children develop Math concepts like counting, measurement, and fractions which naturally unfold when navigating a recipe with kids.

  • Daily Art Activity

    We value process art, open-ended activities designed to celebrate the process of creating something and not the final product itself. This is an essential part of fostering a child's creativity, while developing their fine motor skills and executive functioning. The children are given time to explore and interact with a variety of materials and media, using all their senses.

  • We enrich learning by having in-house shows and demonstrations; for example, the farmyard, incubating chicken eggs, reptile show, shows such as Wiggle and Woggle, from Hooked on Books and the Shadow theatre.

  • We have a Support team of in-house Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists and an Educational Psychologist. The team including teachers and parents work together to address any challenges your child may face.

  • We also provide age-appropriate extra-murals such as Playball, Tumbling Tigerz, Dance, Buzz, and Yoga.

  • Kingsmead offers a well-supervised aftercare run by Club Engage.