PLAYSCHOOL

This is a playschool of dreams! Just imagine your child being exposed to all of the early learning best practices, being educated in a safe, nurturing environment, but in the heart of an incredible school with world-class facilities housing children till matric. Our Playschool classes cater for children from 2 – 4 year olds, are housed in the spacious, Pre-Primary building. The classrooms are bright, light and very well equipped with wide verandas and a huge, fenced grassed play area with lots of stimulating outdoor equipment.

At Bridge House Playschool, we aim to provide the best possible building blocks for your child. We strive to create confident, competent individuals who are receptive to the learning environment and thrive with their next steps of the education system. We provide a secure environment so that each child feels cared for, accepted and is able to excel.

The Playschool follows a structured curriculum, which is in accordance with best practices for Early Childhood Development, and emphasis is on learning through play. A holistic, thematic approach to learning is followed with structured activities to promote language and cognitive development, social interaction, sensory stimulation, gross and fine motor skills and creative art, including art, music, dance and fantasy play. With small classes, we are able to have a favourable adult to child ratio with a teacher and assistant per group.

The Pre-Primary day starts at 08h00, and the educational programme ends at 13h00.

ADMISSIONS

Admission to Bridge House is given on the basis of an interview with the Head. The child’s latest school report from his/her previous school together with other relevant documentation is a requirement.

AFTERCARE
We offer aftercare services from Monday – Thursday from 14h00 – 16h00 and until 14h00 on a Friday.

DINING
Lunch is offered daily by Origin Food Services to the Pre-primary classrooms. View the order form, menu and other relevant files below if you would like your child to have a warm lunch.

VIEW MENU

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LEARNING THROUGH PLAY

Learning through play is recognised as one of the best global practices for the early learning space. It is an essential strategy that Bridge House Playschool adopts. It helps the child learn to make sense of the world around them while also:

  • Helping the child to handle new experiences and environments
  • Helping with emotional development
  • Helping grow self confidence
  • Helping with social interaction and skills
  • Helping with sensory management
  • And it helps with cognitive skills
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HOLISTIC AND THEMATIC APPROACH

Holistic development in early learning is appreciative of the connectedness between the mind, body and soul. Thematic approach enables certain themes to be focused on and explored in relation to each other. The benefits include: 

  • Helps children connect with the world around them
  • Helps learn in a way that is child-centric
  • Mutual respect and kindness
  • Democracy
  • Embracing differences: gender, religion, race, culture, socioeconomic background and language
  • Against: racism, gender-based violence, intolerance and disrespect
  • For: transformation, diversity and acceptance
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PROMOTES LANGUAGE

Speech, language and communication are critical areas of development for young children. We focus on certain areas in order for our children to meet the milestones and international benchmarks. These areas include:

  • Phonetics and phonology
  • Semantics
  • Syntax and morphology
  • Pragmatics
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COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

This means the development of a young child’s ability to think and reason. We focus predominately on the sensorimotor phase (object permanence) and the preoperational phase (symbolic thought).

  • Soft skills development
  • Self-discipline and accountability
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SOCIAL INTERACTION

This is an important factor required at an early age in order to help with learning how to speak and communicate effectively.

  • Gain a sense of self
  • Learn to identify as individuals
  • Learn to communicate
  • Learn to speak
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GROSS AND FINE MOTOR SKILLS

Gross motor skills involve movements of larger muscle groups (e.g. arms) while fine motor skills involve movement of smaller muscle groups (e.g. fingers). Both of these are critical for the child to learn to move effectively and become independent. Some gross motor skills we focus on include:

  • Walking
  • Running
  • Jumping
  • Throwing
  • Lifting
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ART & MUSIC

Music and movement activities for early childhood education are important in that it is a creative way to promote learning through play, exploration of different creative outlets and movement development. The benefits include:

  • Promotion of language and
  • Encourage exploration
  • Increased movement and balance abilities
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