Kindergarten

At St. Paul’s School, it is our conviction that Kindergarten should encourage our children, since the very beginning, to be true protagonists in their lives, so that in the future, they may become active and conscientious citizens, reaching their full potential and acquiring the necessary competencies in order to become independent, compassionate and content members of society.

With this in mind, guidelines concerning the teaching of children advocate the development of formal, artistic and fun activities, simultaneously with interpersonal relationships and meaningful content, guiding the child in the construction of knowledge and personal discovery.

Kindergarten has 6 classrooms with activities, multipurpose spaces, specific rooms for music, a gymnasium, interior and exterior sports fields, computer laboratory, a fully equipped playground and a variety of teaching material, all of which are appropriate for a healthy and overall development of the child.

There are also rooms where treatment / observation / screening are carried out by a team of psychologists whenever the teaching staff or parents consider this necessary.

It is an area dedicated to socialization and a space where the child may learn from other children from different backgrounds and cultures, thus learning to relate to the surrounding world.

In more specific terms, the learning process includes two activities: one is intrinsic to the child who is learning, the knowledge of things; the other is [external?], the practise of dexterity, ability and technique which start the student in the area of learning how to carry out various tasks.

In accordance with the Educational Project, the school encourages an adequate teaching method, which aims to:

• Promote the acquisition of critical thinking and the assimilation of moral, aesthetic, civic and spiritual values, through which the child may build references, rules and limits, rights and duties;
• Encourage education for citizenship;
• Create a learning environment in which the child is valued and heard, contributing to their well being and self-esteem, contributing to an increasing sense of autonomy;
• Encourage independence, advocating freedom of choice, promoting decision making skills, allowing for the use of a wide range of materials, exploring space and time;
• Making the child responsible for their own active participation in the daily tasks;
• Accept and promote an intercultural education, including tolerance for the differences in other cultures and backgrounds;
• Educate about personal and collective hygiene, instilling healthy eating and hygiene habits;
• Allow easy access to technology as a means of communication;
• Raise awareness of physical characteristics in oneself, in others and in their potential;
• Provide exercises that promote global and fine motor skills;
• Encourage symbolic games which involve the body and relating to others;
• Acquire notions of space and time;Develop logical mathematical concepts;
• Stimulate the child’s curiosity and desire to learn;
• Encourage the child to observe, experiment and question.

This criteria has different applications according to the student’s age and preparation: in the first years / levels, observation, exploration and manipulation of concrete objects; later on, investigation, experimentation and interdisciplinary relations; and throughout, individual and group work.

The child’s motor skills evolve and, as such, the child becomes ready to start practicing sport and other forms of physical expression.

From the very beginning, these forms of expression are encouraged, as they are a source of pleasure and personal fulfillment, contributing to the development of their abilities. For this reason, our extracurricular activities include Infant Motor Skills, Musical Expression, Arts and Crafts Ateliers and Computing. Kindergarten values observation and understanding of the surrounding environment as means of raising the child’s awareness in terms of ecology, as well as becoming aware of him or herself, his or her own body and hygiene, and how to defend his or her own health and that of others.

It is in the pursuit of this principal that the school’s Education Project allows for the process of learning linguistic and mathematical codes, by means of the ‘Graphomotricity Project’

Reading, writing and mathematics are part of the child’s everyday life, which gradually gain a structure making it possible to transform these codes into logical and analytical thought processes. The child understands that writing allows for the recollection of what was said and done, with specific rules which he will gradually decipher and apply until dominating the ability to read and write. The child will also acquire the capacity to develop his or her mathematical thinking through various exercises with calculation and logical reasoning. With this project, the child develops hand-eye coordination, the notion of uniformity and confidence in drawing, all of which are essential requirements for the development of their handwriting, a global understanding of numbers and functions, as well as their application in mathematics.

The introduction to computing in the Kindergarten syllabus is more than a tool for the future, it is an object of knowledge. We believe that this skill allows for a different approach to using different strategies and different forms of thinking and learning by child – our students.

Essentially, we aim to encourage a harmonious and complete development of the child in terms of cognition, in addition to the ability to deal with his / her own interior world (emotions), whilst valuing the child’s personal education and moral and intellectual principals.

Evaluation of the Educational Project – as a diagnostic process, this functions as a necessary instrument that allows a constant reflection and evolution of the instruments and strategies implemented, which aim for the increasing quality and excellence of the teaching methods used.

The evaluation of our students is formalised with an official document issued every term and informally whenever the family requests it, in scheduled meetings with any of their child’s teachers.

The evalution of five-year-old students takes place in the third term and is administered by the school’s psychologist. This process evaluates the child’s level of maturity as they progress into Primary School.

Entering the first year of school is full of anxiety and expectations, and often there is a fear of failure on the part of the child and his parents. Newcomers rejoice at the novelty, are disoriented by the changes, and have to learn to deal with different routines.

For the school path to start successfully, it is necessary that the child has developed certain cognitive and psychomotor prerequisites and a solid affective relationship with the school and its peers.

The Psychopedagogical Department is responsible for evaluating the pace and level of maturation of the competencies developed by the children.

To this end, an in-depth assessment of the skills of the children in the Green Dreams and Pink Magic kindergarten classrooms is carried out. This assessment, at the beginning and end of kindergarten, aims to identify the child’s strengths and weaknesses in order to identify possible developmental problems. This is done throughout the 3rd period through:

– Direct observation and interaction with the student in the classroom;
– Collection of anamnesis data, through the completion of a questionnaire applied to parents;
– Application of the Griffiths Mental Development Scale from 2 to 8 years old, individually in an appropriate room, with a calm and positive environment.

The Griffiths Mental Development Scale from 2 to 8 years old is a scale recognized by the International Scientific Commission, widely used as an instrument to evaluate development by different professionals.

It assesses the mental development of children in the first years of life. The concept of mental development refers to the processes and rate of growth and maturation of skills in the child.

Mental development assessment involves a thorough investigation of the child’s skills, including motor, social, and cognitive skills, through direct observation, testing, and caregiver descriptions.

The Griffiths Scale consists of 6 subscales:

Locomotion – assesses global motor skills, including balance, motor coordination, and movement control;
Personal-Social – evaluates the skills at the level of autonomy in daily activities, as well as the level of independence and the ability to interact with peers;
Language – evaluates receptive and expressive language;
Eye-hand coordination – assesses fine motor skills, manual dexterity and visual-motor skills;
Achievement – assesses visuo-spatial skills, including speed of execution and accuracy;
Practical Reasoning – assesses the ability to solve practical problems, order sequences, understanding of basic mathematical concepts, and moral issues.

The items that make up the Griffiths Scale are diversified and are based on the various spontaneous activities of the child, such as talking and playing. They address the different stages of development, and are presented in increasing difficulty.

It should be noted that, at the end of the evaluation, the parents will be informed of the Individual Report during the evaluation meeting and final balance of the school year.