[The video opens with a shot of the exterior entrance of Rosewood Downs Primary School Kindergarten. We see a stairway up to the entrance and a mobility ramp.]
[on-screen text: Why build kinders at schools?]
[Interior of the kindergarten: Jordan Warren speaking to camera.]
[On-screen text: Jordan Warren, Principal, Rosewood Downs Primary School]
Jordan Warren: Having a kinder next to the primary school is a huge advantage for both the kinder and the primary school because it really brings the community together. And the thing that makes a difference in a good school and a great school is the community involvement and how you can get the parents and the families involved in the school. And also benefits for families.
[The camera pans across the school playground, an indoor corridor, 2 children playing at a table and a child playing with toy blocks.]
[Interior of kindergarten: teacher Xiaofang Shang speaks to camera.]
[On-screen text: Xiaofang Shang, Service Leader, Rosewood Downs Primary School Kindergarten]
Xiaofang Shang: It benefits all the children, not only from the primary school, but also from the kindergarten. So, the family in the morning, they can actually take the whole family – the older ones come to drop off the young ones. And then in the afternoon, when they do pick up, they pick up the older ones first and then they take the whole family come here to pick up the younger ones.
[We see a child playing with a bucket and spade in an outdoor area, a child drawing inside, a shot of a play kitchen-dining area and a toy clock.]
[Interior: Sigi Hyett speaks to camera.]
[On-screen text: Sigi Hyett, CEO, Northern Schools, Early Years Clusters Inc]
Sigi Hyett: At Northern Schools most of our kindergartens are located on school sites. It's just been amazing for the children. So the children have that seamless transition into school. They really have that sense of belonging to the community, the whole community.
[We see children playing in a sandpit and with a toy washing machine. The camera pans across an indoor play area.]
[The camera switches to Jordan Warren.]
Jordan: I think the biggest benefit really of having the kinder next to the primary school is that transition and helping with that transition.
[We see the kindergarten indoor learning area with tables, followed by an outdoor play space with a shaded picnic area and a mini-trampoline.]
[The camera shows Maria Giordano speaking to the camera inside the kindergarten.]
[On-screen text: Maria Giordano, Principal Merri-bek Primary School]
Maria Giordano: We do a lot of work with the kindergarten. We see ourselves as a K-to-6 school and the benefits are that the children get used to the environment. We do a lot of work where we invite the children throughout the school. They can attend our new library where they come along, meet our librarian with their kinder teacher and read books.
[We see children being read to with a picture book on outdoor decking, a child holding a book and smiling at the camera, a child with playdough, a child walking through the kindergarten, a child on an outdoor balance beam, and art works hanging up by string.]
[The camera returns to Jordan Warren.]
Jordan: You start having parents getting involved in the school from a much earlier age. Three-year-old, four-year-old kinder, and that transition into the school becomes incredible. There's so many different things we can do as a primary school to create that connection and things that we'll be talking about with our transitions as well, in terms of the way that we can get the kinder students into our primary school and having success and feeling what it's like at school.
[We see a child playing on a mini-trampoline outside, children playing in a sandpit, a children’s tea set, children playing with foam and a child colouring in.]
[Jade McCormack is speaking to camera.]
[On-screen text: Jade McCormack, Parent]
Jade McCormack: They went on an excursion last week to actually see the school. They did a tour, so they went in, they saw the playground, they played on the playground with the preps, and they did not want to leave. It was fantastic.
[The camera moves from inside the kindergarten into the outdoor decking and play area. We see outdoor play facilities and shade sails.]
[The camera returns to Jordan Warren]
Jordan: So some of the things that we're implementing right now is that our year fours have a buddy at the kinder and so they get together and they get to meet each other the year before they come to the primary school. So what that does is it means that these kinder students, on their very first day of primary, they already have an advocate, they already have a friend. They have someone that they know they can go to who knows the school really well. They'll be able to help them with that transition.
[The camera pans across the inside of the kindergarten and we see a child kneeling on the floor, playing with building blocks. We then see a rockery and the sandpit in the outdoor area.]
[A white background appears with the VSBA and Victoria State Government logos.]
[On-screen text: www.schoolbuildings.vic.gov.au]
[A black background appears and white text appears.]
[On-screen text: Authorised by The Victorian School Building Authority, 33 St Andrews Place, East Melbourne]
[Transcript ends]
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