More CET schools to offer Five Day Kinder program   

By Damita Whiteley

An ideal blend of community, creativity and curiosity in learning is on offer to our littlest students as part of Catholic Education Tasmania’s Five Day Kinder program.    

In 2025 CET will have ten schools offering up to five days of Kindergarten, allowing for greater flexibility and learning opportunities.        

Central to the balanced and engaging Kindergarten curriculum is the encouragement of exploration and discovery, providing opportunities for self-expression in art, music and play, fostering the building of friendships and learning to work together.

Five Day Kinder provides a seamless transition from the early learning years to the formal schooling years, and also allows working families the option of having their child educated for up to five days a week.  

“Families are able to decide if their child will attend three, four or five days of Kinder – and on the weekdays of their choosing – with the idea being that they will progress to the full five days by the end of the year,” Cameron Brown, Deputy Executive Director of System Resources at Catholic Education Tasmania said. 

The Five Day Kinder program is aligned with CET’s intention of supporting the vital early years of education – harnessing those crucial first days, weeks and months.

The extra schooling days allows for more informal and structured-learning opportunities, such as the development of pre-literacy, numeracy and oral language skills, as well as introducing them to the typical five-day school routine.

“We are committed to providing an outstanding destination for educating the region’s children over the coming generations,” Mr Brown said. 

Intentional play is another central component of the program, where activities are thoughtfully designed to enhance learning outcomes while fostering creativity, problem-solving and social skill development.

There are four key benefits of intentional play: cognitive development, such as memory, reasoning and language; social development such as sharing, negotiating and cooperating with peers; emotional growth, through self-expression and learning to manage emotions; and physical development, through movement and exploration.

Five Day Kinder schools in the state’s North include St Anthony’s Catholic College in Riverside, and Star of the Sea Catholic College in George Town. Schools from the North-West include St Patrick’s Catholic School in Latrobe, Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School in Deloraine, and St Joseph’s Catholic Schools in Rosebery and in Queenstown. Schools from the state’s South include St James Catholic College in Cygnet, Sacred Heart Catholic School in Geeveston, St Mary’s College in Hobart and Mount Carmel College in Sandy Bay.