Ready, in the way that matters
Ask most schools what “school ready” means and they will tell you about letters and numbers. We care about those, and Headway children have them. But the readiness that lasts is quieter: the child who can settle to a task, ask for help, solve a playground disagreement without an adult, and believe that school is a place that belongs to them.
Over this year, reading moves from sounds to early sentences, writing from letters to a child’s own name and news, and number from counting to simple adding. It is purposeful and it is unhurried — the Pearson Early Years framework, carried through to its natural finish.
By June, our UKG children are not waiting to be taught. They are asking to be.
An Upper Kindergarten day
- 8.00 — Arrival, a morning job, and quiet reading.
- 8.30 — Circle, news, and shared reading of a story.
- 9.00 — Literacy and number, in small groups by readiness.
- 10.15 — Snack, then the garden.
- 11.00 — Project work: science, the world, making and building.
- 12.30 — Home, or on to Day Care for the afternoon.
Reading, writing, and quiet confidence.
The academic ground for Grade 1, and — just as important — the child who is glad to be at school and sure of their place in it.
Reading & writing
Early sentences read with meaning, and a child who can write their name, a label and a line of their own news.
Number sense
Counting well past ten, simple adding and taking away, and a real feel for quantity, pattern and shape.
Independence
Managing their own things, listening in a group, finishing a task, and settling their own small disputes.
Upper Kindergarten, honestly.
Yes — that is the whole purpose of the year. Our UKG leavers go on to national and international primary schools across Colombo and Gampaha, and they arrive reading, writing and, above all, settled. We prepare records and references, and we are happy to speak to the school you are applying to.
We will also tell you honestly if we think a child would gain from a little more time before Grade 1. That conversation is always about the child, never about the calendar.
We do. We know the local schools well, we write the references, and we prepare children calmly for any interview or assessment a primary school runs — without turning the last happy year of pre-school into a cramming exercise.
Come and talk to us early in the year and we will map out the options with you.
Yes. Our Day Care runs from the end of the morning through to the evening, so UKG children of working families can stay for lunch, a rest and a supervised, unhurried afternoon of play in the same familiar rooms.
See the Day Care page for hours and details.
Day Care
A warm, supervised home from home for working families — meals, rest and play, before school in the morning and long after the last bell.
