Nature kindergarten spots filled quickly

Parents camped out to get children in Greater Victoria outdoor program

Spaces in the second year of a nature kindergarten that launched last fall filled quickly Monday at South Park Family School, with the first 16 spots going to people who camped outside the school for up to three nights.

Their tents, which dotted the grounds at the Douglas Street school on the weekend, demonstrated ongoing enthusiasm for the course and its emphasis on outdoor activity, said Greater Victo- ria school district superintendent Sherri Bell. Parents also camped out last year to get a space in the program, which began last September

Two other spots were quickly snapped up and the final two were taken well before the end of the day.

At nearby James Bay Community School, just one overnight camper appeared on the weekend to secure a spot in the district’s other nature kindergarten.

Bell said the James Bay school is slightly different because it sets aside 10 spaces for children in the school catchment area. Just a few spots remained Monday.

South Park is an alternative school serving the entire district, so it does not have an official catchment.

Nature kindergarten is officially called “coastal kindergarten” in the Greater Victoria district because of the host schools’ proximity to the ocean. Both schools have 20 spots, with two reserved for aboriginal students.

The same first-come, first-served system was in place for several years for French-immersion kindergarten, but changed this year, when a lottery system was established for affected schools, Bell said.

The lottery kicks in only if the number of students seeking a spot exceeds the number of spaces.

The lottery involves a random draw based on such factors as first placing incatchment siblings, then other in-catchment students.

Schools began registering students Monday and continue through Friday.

Bell said simply having a nature-kindergarten program has had spinoff benefits for other kindergarten students.

“I think since we’ve started talking about coastal kindergartens, we have found that more teachers are just taking their stu- dents out[side], saying ‘We don’t need to be called a nature kindergarten or a coastal kindergarten, [but] we’re going to be taking our kids out on a regular basis.’

“That was the whole purpose, to get people to really think about physical activity and having students explore, through play, in nature.”

The district has a workshop series for teachers interested in outdoor education.

The capital region’s other nature-kindergarten class is at Sangster Elementary in the Sooke school district, where a first-come, firstserved online registration program is planned this year, said Sooke district superintendent Jim Cambridge. Registration starts at 8 a.m. on Jan. 26 at registration.sd62.bc.ca.

The second of two parent-information sessions on the district’s nature kindergarten is set for Sangster (3325 Metchosin Rd.) at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Parents must have attended at least one of the two sessions in order to register their children in nature kindergarten.

The program’s 22 spaces will include 11 girls and 11 boys.

Registration for regular English kindergarten in the Sooke and Greater Victoria school districts begins Jan. 26 at schools.