Fun, laughter, learning and friends

A warm welcome to Nursery, the youngest members of SSIS

The Nursery team realise that your child’s first year at school is a very important milestone. We are here to provide your child and you with support and guidance in a caring and safe learning environment. We will endeavour to make this experience a positive start to your child’s education, as we know a great start in Education paves the way for many enjoyable years of learning. With this in mind the Nursery classroom is run with one English speaking foreign teacher, a Chinese teacher, and a full time class assistant.

Welcome to the Nursery 2011/2012 academic school year. Our experienced team comes from New Zealand, the Philippines and China. The Nursery team has over 35 years of early childhood education experience between them, with over 17 of those years at SSIS.

The Nursery curriculum is planned through a play based philosophy that integrates both life skills and academic knowledge. We provide and plan for the individual child and their needs. We explore, inquire, learn, grow and have fun using different learning styles, media and activities.

The Primary Years Programme (PYP) helps to make connections with the world around us that are meaningful and have purpose for a young child. Our Units of Inquiry are:

	Me, Me, Me – This unit allows the opportunity for children to explore their new surroundings and to get to know more about themselves their family and country while making friends in a safe and fun environment.
	Culture – This unit offers children meaningful experiences of the culture and traditions of our host country, China.
	Transport – This unit explores different types of transport, where children are able to use their imagination. How does a space explorer get into space?  They also share their real life experiences.
	Space – This unit offers children the opportunity to learn about Earth and our solar system.Become knowledgeable about the planets and use their imagination to wonder through space.

But wait! There is so much more for the Nursery child to experience. Each Nursery child has the opportunity to take part in specialist classes: Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Perceptual Motor Programme (PMP) and Library. These classes are taken outside of your child’s classroom environment.

Throughout the year the Nursery children are involved in Elementary-wide activities like; Dance Assembly, Sports Day, Book Week, Art Week, Christmas and Chinese New Year Concert, Portfolio Sharing, Cross Curricular Activities (CCA) and many other fun filled activities.

The children also have many opportunities to work together and learn alongside their peers in Nursery with events and activities like Baking, International Sharing Day, Trik-a-thon and excursions that take us out of the school grounds, exploring the community and furthering our learning with meaningful experiences.

 

The Nursery team’s doors are always open to existing parents of SSIS as well as those looking for that special educational environment for their child’s first school experience in Suzhou. We look forward to meeting you and your child. Come join the fun. All you need to bring is a SMILE!

 

A Day in Nursery

8:00 - 8:30am	Children arrive at school, complete theirmorning routines and settle in for the day
8:30 - 9:10am	English instruction that encompasses all curriculum areas through play-based learning
9:10 - 9:50am	A combination of curriculum activities eg. English instruction, Performing Arts (PA), Visual Arts (VA), Perceptual Motor Programme (PMP)
9:50 - 10:25am	Morning snack and indoor/outdoor play (depending on the weather)
10:25 - 11:05am	Chinese instruction through play based learning
11:05 - 12:25pm	Units of Inquiry - real life experiences that support the children's learning of the world around them
12:25 - 1:25pm	Lunch Time / Outdoor Play (depending on the weather)
1:25 - 2:25pm	Nap Time
2:25 - 3:10pm	Afternoon Tea / Outdoor Play (depending on the weather)
3:10 - 3:30pm	Preparation for home time
3:30 - 3:40pm	Children escorted to buses or pick up room for parents

Home time!