About The Kindergarten
Carrots & Peas
Welcome to Carrots and Peas, a unique, homely, international, vegetarian kindergarten!
We cultivate an English-speaking environment with a native English speaker, a healthy meat free menu that is prepared on site, daily, and two international groups that promote international-mindedness. Carrots and Peas will give your child an exceptional start to their future and education. We take a maximum of twenty children, divided in two groups. Peapods is for our younger children from two years of age and Carrots and Peas is for our older children who can stay here up until they start school. Various teaching methods are implemented as we believe that this enhances the learning style of each individual child. Independence, freedom in learning, experimenting through controlled practice and free play are all emphasised at Carrots and Peas in order to support the child’s natural, physical and social development. The education programme from the Polish Ministry of Education is implemented as a teaching guide, however, all teaching is conducted English. In addition to this, English is the language of everyday communication. Children are introduced to the language through daily routines: circle time, singing and dancing, project activities and playtime. With children who arrive without any English, we focus on simple phrases to facilitate communication and to make them to feel more comfortable. We liaise with the parents in order to introduce English instructions alongside translation in their own language. Children start understanding these simple commands amazingly quickly and they soon start copying the sounds of English in order to make themselves understood. At the end of the day, children and teachers alike are able to say something in all our different languages. We celebrate both Polish and international festivals and holidays throughout the year so that we learn about our different cultures. These are a lot of fun, and simultaneously these celebrations boost international-mindedness throughout our kindergarten. Whether you are a Polish or an international family living in Poznan, Carrots and Peas will give your child the best start to an education in English. This is something they can continue to use in Poland or anywhere around the world, be it a public school or private international school.
About The Director
Jo Stephenson
Hello, I am Jo Stephenson from Newcastle upon Tyne in north-east England and the director of Carrots and Peas. I have lived in Poznan since 2010 and I enjoy my Polish lifestyle.
Polish cuisine is very tasty, especially the soups, salads and sausages! That’s right, I am not vegetarian (see our ‘About the Kitchen’ page) and I am accustomed to the cold winters and hot summers here. I started my career in childcare training to be a nursery-school nurse at Newcastle College and later attained my CELTA qualification which gave me the opportunity to teach English as a foreign language. I have worked as a teacher and a group leader at an international summer school in the UK since 2006 and this continues to be a highlight for me each year. In Poznan, I worked at a private English-speaking school for five years before opening Carrots and Peas, which has taken me back to my days in childcare. My mum worked as a nursery-school nurse for many years so I am happy to be following in her footsteps. I am lucky enough to have travelled a little and have experienced some very different and interesting cultures, which I find helpful when working in an international environment. I love seeing children at any age develop their language skills, and at Carrots and Peas, I am always amazed by how quickly these young kindergarteners start communicating with me and each other in English.
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