Book a tour
Tours run every third Tuesday of the month at 10am and run for approximately 30 minutes. Please note bookings are not required, however they are preferred. We look forward to welcoming you to Sunnyside!
Sunnyside Kindergarten is unique in that a significant footprint of our location is outdoors. This aligns perfectly with our Reggio Emilia inspired approach to learning, providing lots of different environments for children to engage in meaningful experiences.
Particularly unique to Sunnyside, our vast outdoor area means there are countless opportunities for the children to climb trees, build elaborate obstacle courses and safely explore considered risks. It greatly enhances many learning experiences for example children regularly plant, cultivate, cook and then compost various vegetables and herbs from our expansive vegetable garden demonstrating sustainable living. We believe that offering these deeper connections to learning and building the children’s physical capacity in a controlled environment, will help them become strong and rounded members of the community.
Educating children in the 4 year-old groups about the culture, cuisine and language of Japan
Helping children learn about the history and culture of our first nations people.
Educating children on why we must try to “only take from the land what we can give back.”
Unique set-ups for children to learn and interact with both in and outdoors.
Sunnyside has 11 core centres dedicated to inviting learning experiences. A mix of outdoor and indoor, each centre is designed to support children discover and learn in different ways. These core centres evolve and grow throughout the year depending on the interests of the children and programs developed.
CLAY AND PLAY DOUGH
Through fun manipulation of clay and play dough, the children develop hand strength and fine motor skills required for drawing and writing.
ART CENTRES
Here the children enjoy regular exposure and opportunities for experimentation. Children are introduced to artistic skills, techniques and styles as well as imaginative and expressive art.
EASEL
The upright easel works to further develop children’s fine motor skills by enabling them to explore mediums, such as paint, crayons and pastels, both as an individual and also with a friend.
MESSAGE CENTRE
Here children learn more about communication and non-verbal queues and get to express their ideas and feelings through symbols and markings.
LANGUAGE ARTS
At story time, children are encouraged to analyse various aspects of a story, such as the characters and plot. They also have the opportunity to retell stories and create their own. As pre readers the children participate in games and songs that develop their vocabulary, rhyming and alliteration skills.
DRAMATIC PLAY
We use dramatic play to help the children learn more about social and communicative concepts such as etiquette and problem solving. For example, role playing taking orders in a restaurant, looking after a baby or talking on the phone.
CONSTRUCTION
In this space, children experience and explore 3-dimensional thinking and spatial awareness, as well as social interaction skills such as sharing and respecting each other’s personal space. Many science and maths concepts such as stability, measurement, size, scale and proportion are discovered and experimented with here.
READING CENTRE
Sunnyside continually exposes the children to books that are purposefully selected to demonstrate a range of topics, concepts and styles.
LIGHT TABLE
The light table strengthens observation and interpretation skills. Many concepts, especially maths and literacy, can be reinforced here in an exploratory, tactile and visual way. Various opaque, transparent and translucent materials are explored to determine the way in which they relate to light.
OVERHEAD PROJECTOR
Children explore projected images that complement introduced concepts and provoke inquiry.
PUZZLES AND GAMES
At the puzzles and games centre the children practice ordering by size, sequencing, counting and forming strategies to solve problems. There are opportunities to develop number, colour and shape recognition, along with their fine motor, social and emotional skills.
