Full-day kindergarten comes to 101 schools

CYNTHIA REASON

January 12, 2010

The phase-one roll out of the provincial government’s full-day learning program will benefit four- and five-year-olds enrolled at 101 Toronto schools this fall. 

Announced locally Tuesday morning at Mimico’s David Hornell Public School by Minister of Education Kathleen Wynne, the $200-million launch of the program will include 580 schools and nearly 35,000 students province-wide starting in September 2010. 

The program will be phased in over the next few years and expanded in stages (another 15,000 children are expected to be accommodated next year), with a goal of having all Ontario schools offer full-day learning by 2015-16.

Describing full-day learning as “a regular school day program led by a teacher and an early childhood educator working on a new play-based program tailored to help four- and five-year-olds learn and grow,” Wynne said it is imperative to get all children, no matter their background, into the classroom as early as possible.

“What’s significant about this is 95 per cent of our children in Ontario attend publicly-funded schools, so these kids here at David Hornell really are the kids who are going to be the employers and the employees, they’re going to be our teachers and our doctors and our firefighters and our journalists of the future, and so we need to give them the best start possible,” she said. “That’s what this is about.”

The $200 million budget this year includes training for teachers and early childhood educators in the new curriculum, which is expected to start in March and carry into summer instruction, Wynne said.

Etobicoke-Lakeshore MPP and Minister of Children and Youth Services Laurel Broten said the full-day kindergarten program will especially “lift up” those children whose home circumstances limit their exposure to the English language.

“We all know when we reach children early with the right supports, we can change their future,” she said. “A full day of learning means a full day of guidance and instruction from those who know how kids learn best.”

In addition to regular school hours, participating full-day learning schools will also offer extended-day, before- and after-school programs (ie: 7 to 9 a.m. and 3:30 to 6 p.m.) led by early childhood educators. 

“That integrated curriculum is very important to me,” Wynne said. “If we think about what’s going to happen with kids before and after school, we want to make sure that the curriculum and the philosophy is shared across that whole day.”

Fees for the extended day programs will be board-decided, but should run between $15 and $25 a day, Wynne estimated.

Subsidies will be available for some families, based on financial need.

Schools were chosen for the first phase of the full-day learning program based on both available space and community need, Wynne said. 

“We worked with the school boards to find schools with adequate space now, because we didn’t have the time for capital building, and also schools that exhibited need – those with no adequate childcare and a demonstrated socioeconomic need,” she said.

A full list of phase-one full-day learning schools is available online at http://Ontario.ca/EarlyLearning

Premier Dalton McGuinty, meanwhile, was at Victor Lauriston Public School in Chatham-Kent Tuesday to make the announcement.

“Full-day learning for our four- and five-year-old kids will better prepare them for Grade 1. That gives them a better chance for finishing high school, going on to post-secondary education and getting a good job. And that’s in everyone’s interest,” he said in a statement.