The Samford Valley Steiner school is pleased to announce that the College of Teachers, the Board and SLT in collaboration with the Early Childhood faculty have decided to offer a new Early Years Program for 4-year olds to be launched in Term 3 2020.

Expanding the reach of our Early Years program to cater for younger age groups is one of the priority goals of our school’s 2020-2022 Improvement Plan. In recognition of the commitment and desire of parents seeking a Steiner education for their younger children, it is with much excitement that we can now extend our multi age early years program to include children turning 4 years old. This new group will have the wonderful name of the “Pippis”.

The Pippi program has been developed to support our community and meet the changing needs of parents who require care for their children from a younger age. The demands of work, the lack of access to extended family or community support and the changing family dynamics all highlight the need for a younger year’s program.

Over the past 18 months, in collaboration with the early childhood staff, SVSS has considered all aspects of staffing, facilities and programme centred around meeting the needs of this newest cohort. We are committed to integrating the Pippis into the existing early childhood program and providing the same high-quality Steiner Early Childhood experience that is currently offered by the school. 

In 2020, the Pippi program will be rolled out in two kindergarten rooms only, the Silky Oak and Water Lily rooms. The teachers in these rooms have a strong understanding of the 3-4-year developmental picture and are experienced Steiner educators able to meet the range of ages.  

In our Kindergarten, we strive to create an atmosphere of loving warmth and guidance that promotes joy, wonder, and reverence to support healthy development. This arrangement also places SVSS in a strong position to: 

• Continue to deliver a rich and engaging, strong play-based program that honours the young child’s need for connectedness to this world.
• Maintain the strong rhythms, routines, age-appropriate quality sensory experience and curriculum across the existing groups.
• Enrich and strengthen the ‘apprenticeship’ style of learning within our mixed-aged group program.
• Retain a seamless transition into the pre-prep program.

Pippis will attend two days per week, either Monday/Tuesday or Thursday/Friday. In 2020, there will be a total of 12 Pippi places available; up to three Pippi children only in each room on any given day.

For more information please contact Samford Valley Steiner School www.samfordsteiner.qld.edu.au