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Heathdene Preschool
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Heathdene Pre-school.
Heathdene Preschool is located at:-
1181 Old Princes
Highway
ENGADINE NSW 2233
Ph: 9520 5614
Heathdene pre-school will serve the community by providing quality early
childhood education and care for children and their families in a
Christian environment.
The Importance of
Preschool
 The
Power of Play
Special Needs
H
eathedene
E
arly
L
earning
P
rogram
HELP
is a preschool preparation and support class for children with special
learning needs.
There is provision within the program to include children who have
special needs in the area of mild to moderate developmental delays,
disabilities or difficulties. Therapists and experienced staff are
employed to address the needs of these children.
The Starfish Group is a small group operating on Thursday and Friday
alongside the 2 larger groups. It is a pre-school preparation group for
children who require a more specialised program to develop skills
preparing for full integration into the larger pre-school groups. For
more information, please contact the Director.
A parent support group meets once or twice a term on a Friday afternoon.
This group has two main goals, the first is to connect parents with each
other and our staff. The second is to connect parents with community
resource staff such as local therapists, funding bodies, government
departments such as the Department of Education, local independent
schools and Catholic Schools. Whilst all families are encouraged to
attend, families who have children in our Special Needs Group really
enjoy this time together.
If you believe your child may be experiencing a delay in their
development please speak to the Director or class teacher as soon as
possible. If your child is found to have a delay we can refer you to
community or private therapists.
If you child has seen a therapist or paediatrician with regard to their
development please see the Director to ensure we have a full history of
your child.
 Heathdene
staff have an extensive knowledge of support services and local schools
in the St.George and Sutherland Shire. We are happy to spend time with
you and your family discussing your child's needs and options.
Aim
Heathdene aims to support children with additional learning needs and
their families. We provide a high quality preschool program, in which
children are grouped according to their specific learning needs. We
work closely with families to provide a balanced and structured
curriculum for each child based on their emergent development, skills
and interests.
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The Children
We support children with mid to moderate delay, disorder and
disabilities. We have a good understanding of needs of children with
global development delays, autism spectrum disorders, sensory motor
difficulties as well as children with expressive/receptive language
disorders.
Children need high physical support will be referred to an appropriate
service.
The Enrolment Procedure
Please telephone the preschool and make an appointment to see the
Director. We will arrange a visit for you to meet the staff, see the
preschool and the Early Learning Staff
in operation.
You will collect an application form and will be required to provide a
copy of all reports and assessments .
Families wishing to enrol children with additional needs are required to
provide a diagnostic and assessment report (administered in the last 12
months) to the preschool, by August of the year before admission.
Movement Group
Monday's 1.30pm
Terms 2,3 and 4
$10/week for 8 weeks/term
Movement group is a perceptual motor program that provides children with
opportunity to strengthen important foundation body awareness and motor
based skills necessary for ongoing development of good co-ordination and
learning potential in the classroom.
Handwriting Group
Mondays and Wednesday 9.30am
Terms 2, 3 and 4
$10/week for 6 weeks/term
This provides group remediation program provides children with
opportunity to strengthen fine motor skills such as drawing, cutting,
threading and handwriting necessary for successful participation at
school.
Children with additional educational needs often benefit from
participation in both movement and handwriting groups.
Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy
Screening Assessment
Children enrolled in the mainstream classes may be identified by their
class teacher as a child who will require extra support. Our
Occupational Therapist/Speech Pathologist are able to carry out a brief
screening assessment of your child at preschool. This will involve the
Therapist meeting with your child for approximately 40 minutes, a
written report and recommendations as well as a home program and class
program will be forwarded to you. The fee for a screening assessment is
$50.00
On some occasions the Therapists may find that your child is in need of
further diagnosis and assessment, we are able to refer you to a suitable
agency for further investigation if necessary.
Visual Timetables
Many children benefit from the use of visual communication support used
at preschool. Visuals help children understand directions, follow
routines, gain a turn and ask for needs to be met. At Heathdene we use
the Boardmaker program to make our visuals. If you would like to
purchase this program you will find details on the internet or speak to
the Director about purchasing in bulk at a discount price through the
Autism Associaton. We are able to make some visuals for you to use a
home, there is a small charge for ink, laminating and staff time.
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