K4 Children Embrace CCAs

Written by Veronica Martin (ECE Coordinator)

YCIS has built a culture of balancing rigorous academic learning with opportunities for all students from ECE to Secondary to participate in extra activities that focus upon development of the whole child. Being given the chance to focus upon other interests in a social group, mixing with other children and teachers and further building their sense of belonging in at YCIS only adds to a child’s ability.

This year has seen the beginning of Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs) in the ECE and over 70 K4 students are participating in this new program. The program is designed to offer a more direct learning platform for the children, to build skills in different areas and create opportunities for the children to discover new areas of enjoyment. Each week the K4 students have been able to participate in all of the exciting activities ranging from the energy of Zumba, to the creative expression of Origami and the logical thinking of chess and checkers games. The ECE CCAs are built on a system that allows every child to experience and develop news skills in many areas as they are exposed to a new activity.

As the children move to Year 1 they will be involved in more directed learning, in the ECE we have a less directed approach, as each child explores the learning in their own way with the direction of the teachers. The CCAs offer a balance between the two learning styles as the children get older and require the more directed approach.

Each Tuesday and Thursday the K4 students come to school with a bounce in their step as they anticipate the exciting day ahead, and then finish with a positive CCA class. As parents collect their child after the CCAs, you can hear many excited conversations going on about the Zumba dance, the food they made, the story they heard or the dance they learnt.