The Magic of McDougall
A wondrous world awaits
Our history
First opened in 1966, McDougall Park Community Kindergarten (MDK) has welcomed kindy students for more than 50 years. We are proud of our community spirit and enjoy the close relationships we have with people throughout the community.
Our link school is Curtin Primary School and we are part of the Community Kindergarten Association. We are grateful to the City of South Perth for the use of the building and the beautiful gardens that are part of kindy. We follow the Western Australia curriculum as set out by the Department of Education and meet our requirements in fun and free-form ways, based on studies showing that young children need free play to develop essential life and learning skills.
Our philosophy
We encourage and assist children to learn through hands-on, creative, active, self-directed play.
We have an incredible collection of open-ended resources and offer a screen-free environment for most of our program.
We believe in getting messy and in engaging with the outdoors.
We aim to preserve precious childhood years without rushing children into structured learning.
We are a relaxed, friendly and safe place for our children and their families.
Our program
Our kindy program includes a number of special inclusions.
The mystery room changes regularly with new themes — from a mouse’s house and castles fit for kings and queens to Australian animals and a winter wonderland.
We host regular incursions throughout the year, inviting farm animals, the circus and many other fun adventures into kindy.
Daily magic tricks introduce kindy kids to a love of science.
A fairy garden provides an idyllic setting for outdoor, small group activities, while the kindy kids develop green thumbs in our garden.
Our teachers
Janelle Walford
Janelle is a creative and hands-on teacher, who loves all aspects of the learning through play environment at McDougall Park Kindy. She is committed to facilitating child-directed learning, climbing in the treehouse, building cubbies or sailboats.
She believes in having the most fun in the outdoors with our ever expanding veggie garden and getting creative with awesome obstacle courses. Running with requests for dance parties to T-ball tournaments and creating community circles for listening and sharing. These are just some of the experiences that help our kindy kids grow strong and grow together.
Anita Kouwenhoven (Mrs K.)
I have wanted to be an educator since I was at school and have always had a passion for early childhood. I believe children have a natural desire to learn about the world around them and I feel privileged to encourage their curiosity, help them develop and keep their sense of wonder alive.
I began teaching in 2008 and have since had 3 beautiful children of my own. My daughter had an amazing Kindy experience here at MDK and I am very excited to now be a part of this wonderful team and community.
Fang Law
Fang is an enthusiastic and inspiring teacher with a large fan club of children and parents alike. Fang has a passion for science, for preserving the magic of kindy and for providing the kindy kids with opportunities to get messy and get outdoors. She can often be heard saying “no smiling, no fun at this kindy”, much to the delight and giggles of all of the children, who are in on the joke.
Rachel Byrne
Rachel joined McDougall Park Community Kindergarten in 2021 and her compassion as an educator shines. She and the kindy kids have been busy creating the artistic masterpieces that decorate kindy (and our family’s fridges!), reading plenty of books and laughing their way through the many adventures of our community kindy.
Parent Management Committee
The McDougall Park Community Kindergarten Parent Management Committee (PMC) plays a vital role in the operation of Kindy. The strength of the PMC directly contributes to the experience of the students.
The PMC is responsible for the oversight of non-teaching aspects of kindy and makes a significant contribution to the life and magic of kindy. The group is voluntary and being on the PMC is an incredible opportunity to be involved in your child’s first year of education.
You can reach the current PMC by email:
president@mcdougall-kindy.com.au
vice-president@mcdougall-kindy.com.au
treasurer@mcdougall-kindy.com.au
secretary@mcdougall-kindy.com.au