The Birches Pre-Primary School

New principal for The Birches Pre-Primary

Bronwen Aiston took over the reigns as principal at the start of 2024, however, her relationship with the school started twenty years ago when the first of her three sons was enrolled as a pupil in the school.

Aiston went on to play an active role in the school as chairperson of the Fundraising Committee and member of the SGB. She also volunteered her time as a teacher’s assistant and then taught a class of her own with a B.Ed. degree freshly under her belt.

Aiston spent nine years away from The Birches teaching Grade R and Grade 1 at St. Benedict School, where she gained much experience in the formal setting of a primary school and building the base required for a child to succeed with the Grade 1 curriculum.

She succeeds Scilla Edmonds who made The Birches Pre-Primary the award-winning eco-school that it is today. Aiston hopes to continue Edmonds’ legacy by ensuring that environmental studies remain entrenched in the curriculum.

“Coding and Robotics was introduced into the children’s morning skills time this year for our Grade R children and has proved to be an extremely popular extra-mural activity for the Grade Rs and younger children alike.”

Aiston further states: “Although I believe that young children need to play with physical items to learn, we cannot deny that technology is a large part of their daily lives. A good balance is required. Our vision for 2025 is to set up technology in all the classrooms so that it can be used as an additional tool in the teaching process.”

The school has been upgrading the original prefab structures since 2006. “This year, the school has renovated the administration building which will now match the fine facility we have beyond the secretary’s and principal’s offices.” Aiston foresees the official opening to be at the end of August.