Malone Kindergarten

EA funded nursery school and Family Wellbeing and SEN Support Services including SEN small group nursery class, individual and small group intervention, psychological assessment and summer programme of support sessions.

Background and Ethos

Malone Kindergarten's ethos is based on the Reggio Emilia Kindergarten style approach to provide the highest quality stimulating experiences to develop the ‘whole child.’

Since 1995, Malone Kindergarten has grown from a Playschool of 10 children to a Specialised Early Years Centre for 100 children age 0-5 years, including EA funded Nursery School and Family Wellbeing and SEN Support Service, allowing hundreds of children in South Belfast and surrounding areas to benefit from early years education provided by highly trained early years specialists in a unique nature environment.

Adopting our own uniquely blended nature curiosity approach, embedded in the influences of Scandinavian Kindergarten education, the Reggio Emilia philosophy and Montessori approaches, children attending Malone are encouraged to develop their own identities with the ethos that each child can become “Simply Me.”

In 2019, the Kindergarten moved to our new permanent forest school site within the newly developed Kings Hall Health and Wellbeing Park. The most recent addition includes our Fika Coffee Pod Parent Hub with planned support events for parents and families.

Family Wellbeing and SEN Support Service

Set up by consultant Educational and Child Psychologist with experience working as an EP in the Education Authority, the service aims to be personalised and bespoke to meet the needs of children and families requiring support for a range of additional needs as well as supporting wellbeing through parenting support, advice and strategies.

We are building a multi-agency team of professionals which currently includes:

• Speech and language therapy professionals

• Psychology assistants – postgraduate trained psychologists

• SEN professionals – postgraduate training in SEN and Inclusion, ASD, and clinical psychology

• Consultant paediatric physiotherapist

• Early years specialist

• SEN early years practitioners

SEN specific small group Nursery School class

We have been operating a small group SEN nursery class since September 2022 alongside the mainstream nursery school classes. This at present is a group of 6-8 children with a ratio of 1:2, supporting statemented children, those in the process of referral and assessment.

Other support services

We currently offer:

- parent consultations including supporting mental health and wellbeing of all families

- individual psychological assessment, ideally to inform further therapeutic intervention and support

- a range of small group supports e.g. language and communication delay (groups for age 2-3, preschool children and school age afterschool supports), early movement for children with ASD, social skills for primary school-aged children, intensive intervention for young children with Downs Syndrome, significant learning difficulties and ASD

Parents or schools can enquire and directly refer for support. An importance is placed on offering a personal approach and building ongoing supportive relationships as parents navigate the often isolating road of raising children with additional needs.