Our Philosophy
Our philosophy hinges on the belief that children are powerful, capable, and unique individuals, who, when provided with respectful and caring relationships, gradually expand on their knowledge and understanding of the world and become active participants and decision makers. We believe when early childhood educators establish respectful and caring relationships with children, families, and the community, they can work together to construct curriculum and learning experiences relevant to children in their local context and children thrive and become successful learners.
Educators promote children’s learning by planning and implementing a program that provides opportunities for children to learn through play, intentional teaching and spontaneous learning experiences. Our play-based approach to learning builds on children’s natural motivation to play. In this context children can explore, experiment, discover and solve problems in imaginative and playful ways. Involving both child-initiated and teacher-supported learning, children are encouraged and supported in working towards Early Years Learning Framework learning outcomes as they foster new learning experiences. This play-based approach teaches children relevant skills whilst having fun and developing a love of learning.
Our service is committed to the Child Safe Standards which accentuates our zero tolerance for child abuse and raising awareness about the importance of child safety in our service and communities. We are dedicated to protecting children and promoting child-safe environment, maintaining children’s wellbeing. We adhere to our comprehensive Child Protection Policy, standing by our mandatory reporting responsibilities to protect children from physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse and neglect. We are dedicated to promoting cultural safety for children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds. We value diversity and do not tolerate discriminatory practices. We work in collaboration with the UN Convention on the Rights of Children and have confidence in educating children about their right to be safe. We believe in teaching children what to do if they feel unsafe and encouraging them to express their views and thoughts on matters that directly affect them. We always act to empower children.
Our experienced educators provide an environment that is secure and predictable where children can explore and investigate. Our environment acts as the third teacher, providing a balance of stimulating and quiet experiences that reflect children’s interests, strengths and needs in both the indoor and outdoor environment. Learning areas foster the safety, health and wellbeing of each child. Children are empowered to make choices and take ownership of their learning environment. Educators and children work together to learn about and promote the sustainable use of resources and develop practices that become embedded in our daily routine. The environment supports individuals and families to develop their well-being and self-confidence.
Our team of educators are committed to providing the highest quality care and education and are consistently working towards continuous improvement in all areas of early education and management. Educators build professional skills and knowledge around curriculum, pedagogy and assessment to continuously enhance their practice and improve children’s learning. We are continually reflecting on our policies, procedures and practices against the National Quality Standards, ensuring our Quality Improvement Plan is a living document within our service.
Educators build warm, positive, caring and responsive relationships with children allowing them to feel a sense of security, well-being and belonging. Educators take an active role in nurturing and supporting children’s social competence providing children with the foundation that allows them to understand and self-regulate their emotions and negotiate their interactions with others.
We believe that building genuine relationships and partnerships with families and the wider community supports children in achieving their goals and learning outcomes. We strive for a sense of belonging for all families through a systematic and intentional approach to building and maintaining partnerships with families. We endeavour to understand and support families background, values, culture and life experiences, providing consistency and continuity without our learning environment. We acknowledge the original custodians of this land, the D’harawal people and their language and all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the community. We role model positive interactions at all times continuously working towards developing and maintaining respectful and ethical relationships with team members, children, families and the wider community.
We believe effective leadership and governance of the service contributes to quality environments for children’s learning and development. Our management and leadership team ensures strong management and administration systems as this is the foundation to the delivery of a quality service for children and families.