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Education
We at Hilton Pre-Primary offer the National curriculum which is implemented as CAPS. We embrace learning through play as a fundamental icon of our teaching approach. Albert Einstein said ‘Play is the highest form of research’
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We pride ourselves with providing the equipment and facilitating the opportunity to make each child’s day innovative and exciting, filled with lots of laughter and fun. Lucia Capocchione says ‘Play keeps us vital and alive. It gives an enthusiasm for life that is irreplaceable. Without it life just doesn’t taste good.’
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We believe in learning ourselves and hard work. As a community of teachers we are committed to keeping ourselves abreast of the latest teaching practices including Reggio Amelio and training by the Mind Moves Institute run by Dr. Melodie de Jager. At our school we work as a team and always brainstorm ideas on how to help a child or to make sure that our school is offering everything it possibly can.
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We offer structured, teacher directed and free choice play periods to promote language development, concept formation, pre-reading, writing and maths skills, problem solving, social skills, confidence and a host of other life skills. All lessons are age appropriate and consist of the following areas
Music
We at Hilton Pre-Primary follow a music programme written by Sue Nicholls, Patricia Scott and Sally Hickman, called Music Express. They believe that a significant window of opportunity for learning through music presents itself during the early years and it has been their ambition to harness the educational possibilities of this age. We have enjoyed their music programme and you can google them for more information.
Developmental play
We do lessons to promote muscular control and tone and co-ordination while building up concepts like body image, eye-hand co-ordination, eye-foot co-ordination, balance, large muscle development, fine muscle control and climbing skills. We focus on proprioception and vestibular development which is so important in the pre-schooler's developmental process.
Expressive movement & dance
Children learn how their body moves in relation to other individuals and groups and express themselves rhythmically through different techniques and using different formats.
Drama
“When children pretend, they’re using their imaginations to move beyond the bounds of reality. A stick can be a magic wand. A sock can be a puppet. A small child can be a "superhero” - Fred Rogers.
Drama gives children the opportunity to explore and the freedom to imagine. Through drama, children express themselves using different facial expressions, voices and tones, and body language. Drama empowers children to communicate confidently and it is also an effective way of learning languages.
Object studies
Developing children’s ability to analyse whilst examining familiar objects. Developing an intrinsic understanding of language used in different concepts while extending their ability to express themselves is an important life skill learned at this level
Stories & puppet shows & Teacher plays
Teachers enjoy this part of the day the most when they can let their inner child loose and create stories with books, charts, flannel boards and also puppets. This is a further opportunity to develop and nurture a love of literature and an opportunity to extend language skills in an enjoyable experience.