Our Early Learning Centre’s Philosophy
What We Believe
Children
•We welcome all children and families, and actively work on creating and maintaining a culturally safe and inclusive environment where everyone feels connected to the centre.
• We value each child equally and believe each child is unique with individual needs, interests and strengths.
• We believe in protecting the rights of children and advocating for them.
• We place a strong emphasis on emotional, social and physical wellbeing and understand that each child requires a safe, healthy, nurturing, and supportive environment. Through safe and nurturing relationships, children develop confidence and feel respected and valued. They become increasingly able to recognise and respect the feelings of others and to interact positively with others.
• We believe it is essential to enhance each child’s feelings of self-worth, to promote confidence and beliefs in one’s own abilities.
• Each child requires a nutritional, well-balanced diet. Meals provided give adequate nutrition and consider the child’s home and cultural background. Mealtimes are a fundamental part of the child’s learning experiences.
Program/Practice
• We believe children are successful, competent and capable learners who are active participants in their own learning. Educators strive to provide all children with equitable and participatory environments and experiences to promote their learning, development and wellbeing.
• We believe children have the right to be heard, to make choices and have input into the direction of their own learning.
• We recognise and value play as an essential part of the learning process. Play provides opportunities for children to learn as they discover, explore, create, improvise and imagine.
• Educators are intentional in all aspects of the curriculum and act deliberately, thoughtfully, and purposefully to support children’s learning through play.
• Children’s interests form a basis for learning. They learn when they are able to share and follow the interests, strengths and passions they hold within and outside the centre.
• Educators use the five components of the Early Years Learning Framework planning cycle to inform their thinking about children’s experiences and improvement of practice to develop and implement a curriculum that is inclusive of all children.
• Educators use strategies such as scaffolding, modelling, demonstrating, inquiring, questioning, explaining and engaging in shared decision making, discussions and problem solving.
• Educators provide vibrant, organised, welcoming, homelike, flexible, sustainable and natural indoor and outdoor spaces that are responsive to the children’s interests, ideas and abilities.
• We recognise that learning occurs in social contexts and that relationships, interactions, conversations and shared thinking are vitally important for learning. • We recognise that we all contribute to the wellbeing of the environments we live in, and we want the children to join us as we continue to explore our awareness of the natural world and their understanding of environmental, social and economic sustainability.
• The children will have opportunities to safely explore their world using digital technologies and to develop confidence in using digital technologies and media.
Community & Family Philosophy
We acknowledge and value our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and that of the wider community. We thank and acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Wadi Wadi people of the Dharawal Nation for sharing their land, waters and sky with us.
We believe that families are children’s first and most influential educators. It is important to have empathy and be responsive to family needs and provide support when required.
We believe in honouring the diversity of culture, values and beliefs in other people. This is reflected in our environments as we create awareness and integrate these into our everyday learning.
We believe that parent involvement in decision making about the centre, policy development and programming, along with family participation, is an important part of collaboration.
We believe in building a strong relationship with our local community and we understand that we are a central link to information and support services within the wider community.
We view children as valued members of the community. We highlight the worth of building a community that enables children to develop a readiness for the transition to school.
Staff
•We believe in employing staff who are committed to working in the best interests of the children and families.
• We aim to create and establish a strong culture of critical reflection where educators as well as children are all involved in an ongoing cycle of review.
• We believe in collaborative leadership and teamwork, which is built on professional and respectful conversations about practice. Educators are encouraged to seek out opportunities to strengthen their professional knowledge and skills as well as share ideas, strengths, learning and views to improve practice and contribute to each other’s professional learning and growth.
• Educators are culturally responsive and respect multiple cultural ways of knowing, doing and being and celebrate the benefits of diversity.
• We aim to provide a positive, healthy work environment and culture where all members of the learning community feel supported and have the opportunity to flourish.
