Welcome to Carmel Pre-primary - we look forward to seeing you soon.

A visit to the Carmel Pre-primary classrooms reveals that they are very active places; full of engaged learners who are responding to a carefully planned combination of play-based learning and explicit instruction. Every minute of each day is accounted for, with a focus on rich experiences that develop children’s skills and knowledge. Our small class sizes allow for an enhanced sense of belonging and a warm, nurturing environment in which the voice of the child is respected and valued. Our educators aim to give the children agency and shape the learning experiences not only around the required outcomes relevant to the curriculum, but also taking into account interests and developmental needs of the children.

While all areas of curriculum are covered in Pre-primary, the focus over the course of the year is three-fold: literacy, numeracy and social skills. Focusing on these critical areas allows our Pre-primary students to build the best foundation for future learning success. In 2020 the ‘’ program was introduced into the Pre-primary curriculum. This program explicitly teaches the phonetic code and introduces the students to reading and spelling in a developmentally appropriate manner.

The classroom experience in Carmel Pre-primary is inspired by best-practice pedagogy and the result is children who thrive. At Carmel, the learning environment is the ‘third teacher’, no matter whether children are engaged in activities inside or outside of the classroom, their surroundings will influence the learning that occurs. We are fortunate to have a special outdoor learning space that has been well-designed and facilitates the development of gross motor skills, imaginative play and effective communication. We acknowledge the importance of children engaging daily in nature and make it a priority.

Over the course of the week, our Pre-primary students will be engaged in all aspects of the curriculum with purposeful play-based activities set up to investigate problems and find solutions. Generally, lessons integrate learning, rather than teaching in subject based blocks. Our Pre-primary teachers utilise explicit teaching and reflection time to consolidate student learning and assess where each and every child is on their developmental continuum. Tasks are designed to meet the current needs of all students and move them forward at an appropriate pace. ÌýAlongside the regular curriculum, there is a range of specialist subjects our students engage with, including music, sport, library, yoga, extension Jewish Studies. To assist in future transition, Pre-primary students get to know the Year 1 teachers when they take them for their weekly visits to the library.

Pre-primary is the first year of compulsory schooling in Western Australia and you couldn’t hope for a better start to your child’s learning journey than Carmel. While many of our Pre-primary students have come through from Carmel Kindy, we have a number of students who join Carmel from Pre-primary as new students and all in the class are welcomed and oriented appropriately.

We welcome visitors to the School for tours and to view the facilities by appointment. If you would like more information about our Pre-primary program, or any aspect of the unique Carmel learning environment, please email us at enrolments@carmel.wa.edu.au