By Jed Lanyon
Marysville Preschool held a special excursion on Friday 13 September when they visited Badger Creek Preschool for the day.
The aim behind joining the classes was to help expose the children and their parents to new people and families in the area.
Badger Creek Preschool teacher Heather Jenkins said, “Part of the early years framework is for children to gain a sense of belonging to communities and groups and both school’s thought this would be it a great experience for all the children.”
The kindergarten held an interactive theatre show and then paired a Marysville child with a Badger Creek child to give them a tour of the kindergarten.
“They have a very small base, so they don’t have a lot of exposure to other children,” Ms Jenkins said.
“But it’s also a chance for my children to meet and engage with other families.”
Ms Jenkins said it was also a great opportunity to ease the nerves of one Badger Creek child, who will be moving to the Marysville kindergarten soon.
“It’ll be a good little transition for him,” she said.
“It’s good for them to be exposed to children who they’re not familiar with but having been in a similar learning environment.”
But Ms Jenkins said it was also a valuable experience for the kindergarten staff.
“It’s also good for us to bounce off each other and share ideas about what they do at their kindergarten and the things that they participate in.”
Ms Jenkins said the idea for the excursion came about through her relationship with one of the Marysville teachers.
But she said that Badger Creek Pre School would love to get involved with other kindergartens in the community as well as visiting nursing homes.
“The real focus is community. We want to give a bit more to the community.”
