At Skye College we support the incredible natural development of your toddler and child and explore the full potential of this important period.
UK Early Years
Montessori-Inspired
Encourage Independence
Welcome, little one
Our preschool accepts babies from 3 months old into our “nest”. When they are ready to transition, at approximately 16 months old, they move to our preschool for children up to the age of six.
In our preschool, we help you lay the vital foundations that will equip your child to thrive.
The ability to build strong relationships and foster deep connections begins in infancy and is by far the most important focus of our nursery and preschool… We nourish these vitally important budding attachments through warm, responsive caretaking. To put it differently… we love our children.
We optimise this period of intense mental and physical development by providing a rich variety of age-appropriate stimulation – always within the context of caring relationships. We foster independence by keeping our Preschool safe and healthy for little explorers.
Built To Thrive
Academic Rigour
Our Preschool follows the Early Years Foundation Phase programme from the UK to align with the Cambridge expectations of our Preparatory School. We make sure to meet the minimum National standards set out by the CAPS curriculum and ISASA, but we always aim to exceed these standards by creating an environment of high expectation and high support – unlocking the incredible potential of each child through our Montessori-inspired programme.
Personalised Learning
Children develop at their own pace. At Skye College our self-paced mastery programme allows your child to slow down and consolidate learning when needed or speed up and accelerate learning to remain optimally engaged. On one hand this supports the development of deep conceptual understanding and true mastery – a good investment, as it prevents learning gaps and ensures a solid foundation for primary school.
Socio-Emotional Learning and Wellness
Children need love as much as they need learning. In fact, our learning is maximised because we prioritise relationships and nurture; because we create time for socio-emotional learning and wellness. We don’t leave the emotional tone of our school to chance.
Good Habits
We support the development of healthy habits from an early age. At this early age, our focus is on learning to enjoy and prepare healthy food; participate in enjoyable exercise activities; master the “grace and courtesies”, or good manners, required in social situations; and developing healthy emotional habits such as self-regulation, assertiveness and empathy.
TEACHERS AND CAREGIVERS THAT LOVE OUR CHILDREN
We maintain a high caregiver to child ratio with a target of 1 teacher for every four babies in our nursery which allows us to be responsive to the needs of our babies and provide lots of individual attention.
In preschool we maintain a target of high teacher-to-child ratio of between 1:6 and 1:10.
Because our teachers have support, they are free to focus on building relationships and nurturing the wellbeing and development of each child.
How We Do Things - The Thriveway
Montessori Inspired Learning
At Skye College we believe in working with the way a child’s brain is naturally wired to learn. Young children cannot yet think abstractly. During their early years, children are concrete learners; they learn by using all their senses; they learn through movement and social interaction.
Our Thrivestars (aka Teachers)
The Thriveway is delivered daily by high-impact staff who never stop learning. We begin with a strong foundation of best practice; exclusively using methods proven by research to have a high impact on learning. Our teachers build on this firm foundation through continuous improvement, achieved through ongoing professional development and regular self-examination of their practice – measured against the uncompromising yardstick of day-to-day student learning success.
A Foundation of Research-Driven Best Practice
At Skye College we use approaches proven to have a immensely high impact on your child’s learning and wellness.
Self-Paced for Optimal Engagement
Children learn best when work is at a “just right” level of difficulty (the sweet spot between boring and frustrating). We therefore create opportunities for self-paced learning in sequential subjects like Math and English.