Children will develop phonological awareness by identifying and manipulating individual sounds in words. We focus on word, syllables, onset and rhyme awareness, and basic phonemes and complex phonemic awareness. These 5 combined are key foundational concepts and are supported by extensive research and findings adopted by the new NSW Curriculum.

Children will have the opportunity for emergent reading skills, such as identifying high frequency words, recognising familiar words in environmental print, and using picture clues to predict and comprehend simple texts. With our evidence-based programs children grasp the reading concept and develop confidence in reading age appropriate text.

In every session children will engage in emergent writing, using correct NSW foundation formation letters and inventive spelling to convey their ideas and experiences. They will experiment with writing their names and simple words relevant to their abilities. We assist children with their pencil grip and encourage practice, practice, practice!

Story time is an adored session by the children. This allows children to engage in listening and together answer questions related to the story content. Children adopt comprehension skills by retelling stories and making connections to their own experiences. Our programs guide children to a deeper understanding of how to comprehend text as they listen or read.

In our numeracy program we also use a multisensory approach in order for deep understanding to occur. We teach numeracy explicitly in a systematic, evidence supported manner.  Using a variety of resources, games, hands-on materials and activities, the lessons provide students with engagement and deep understanding of the foundation skills to numeracy. 

Our program is heavily based on enhancing students’ number sense (understanding deeply that numbers can be represented in different ways) as this is one of the most important developments in the early years for the acquisition of numeracy skills. It is seen as one of the biggest predictors of mathematical proficiency in primary school.  We also use Number Talks in order for students to further learn about number sense and think with flexibility about numbers and widen their understanding that there is more than one way of gaining an answer.
Number talks are very valuable in enhancing students’ mathematical thinking.

Here are the six areas we explicitly focus on:

• Number Sense: This is a key concept in our program. Children will encounter building deep number sense that is the most important skill for the understanding of numeracy skills.
• Effective Counting: Children will develop counting skills, counting forwards and backwards up to 20 and understanding one-to-one correspondence.
• Calculation: Children will grasp procedural knowledge with direct instruction for calculation techniques.
• Number Facts: Children will experience an understanding of simple facts with the inclusion of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, which allows children to recall number facts without workings, because it becomes a known fact!
• Maths Vocabulary: Every numeracy session incorporates invaluable knowledge incorporating mathematical terminology. Children will be familiar with the vocabulary when they hear the concepts in their primary school years.
• Measurement, Data Collection, Patterning and Sorting: Children will explore measurement concepts, such as length, weight, and capacity, through hands-on activities. Collecting and representing data, creating patterns and sorting attributes of known objects are incorporated into the program.

Our faith in Christ is the underlying keystone in everything we achieve in our community. We deliver a Catholic Religion program for young children to develop a strong understanding of The Church’s teaching. The power in the Word of God, transforms lives and empowers us to understand our beauty in the Eyes of God. Within our religion program, we aim to bind the children into understanding how their body reveals God. We aim to achieve this through teaching the living traditions of the Catholic Church and providing a foundation to the principals of the importance of their own bodies. In connection with this, our religion program incorporates learning about healthy nutrition and how their bodies are meant to be nurtured as we all stand as a blessing to the world around us. We will explore the core truths of the Theology of the Body which will be taught in a way that engages physical exercise, challenges the important skills of strength, balance and cardiovascular health into empowering young children to be a witness to the beauty of the living Catholic Faith. We invite your children to join us in the journey with Christ.

If you would like for your child to be given an alternate literacy or numeracy program during our religion lesson times, please advise our friendly team of your wishes and this will be respectfully provided.

We strongly believe that the significance of your involvement in a child’s learning journey has everlasting influences. We actively encourage and invite parents/guardians to actively engage in their child’s learning journey. Our program facilitators will provide regular updates on your child’s progress and we will share ideas for learning experiences at home. Home-work will be optional fun activities as a reflection of what children are learning in their tuition/ group program sessions.

As children approach the age of 5 years and prepare for primary education, our program is aimed to ensure a smooth and positive shift between our classroom and Kindergarten.

The learning outcomes at SKYLAS Academic Programs and Tuition are aligned with the NSW Education Syllabus. Our dedicated facilitators and the engaging learning environment we provide allow us to nurture the academic potential of each child’s abilities and we lay the groundwork for a lifelong love of learning.