Woodville Day Nursery and Kindergarten

PHILOSOPHY OF THE CENTRE

Practices drawn from Reggio Emilia, Maria Montessori and Rudolf Steiner.
Educational excellence is our motto.

We believe that childcare is an extension of the family unit. Each family is important and we aim to support parents in the care and upbringing of their children in a nurturing, educational and diverse atmosphere.

We aim to explore and in engage in our community and provide children with the knowledge and skills to become confident in their surroundings and challenges that may arise.

Our Centre reflects the wide diverse cultures that reside in our community. We aim to foster, educate, support and assist each individual child and their families to feel secure in their environment.

We believe children feel responsible and rewarded when given opportunities of leadership, freedom of speech, respect to their views and ideas and involving their inputs and directions in our curriculum which is based on the child’s daily emerging topics.

Our staff strives to become enthusiastic pedagogical teachers with their belief in Being, Becoming and Belonging being their foundation.

We believe it is essential for each child to learn the importance of their culture, environment, family background, diverse lifestyles of families in their social communities and respect through nurturing plants and animals.
We believe our natural environment should be respected, learnt about and explored through teaching the importance of its sacredness and including this in our curriculum.

Our centre ensures sustainable practices are embedded in our everyday routines.

Children learn through play experiences they are “Rehearsing Life”. Our curriculum is responsive to each child’s needs and level of development. These reflect the principles and practices of the National Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF)

Our centre seeks community involvement and believes it enhances our relationship with the wider community by including and representing services and people that are important to us.

We believe each child has his own potential, strengths, self-esteem and limitations which enables them to solve their own problems, come up with solutions, understand themselves and learn to cope with joy, grief, fear, failure, loss and different emotions dealing in social environments.

We believe Holistic learning is based on child development and early Years pedagogy. In providing holistic learning educators recognise that children are learning from conception and develop in their own time and at their own pace.
We recognise the connectedness of mind, body and spirit. We pay attention to children’s physical, personal, social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing as well as cognitive aspects of learning.
We believe Literacy and Numeracy are embedded in meaningful learning provided through play-based experiences, investigations, inquiries and experiments. This does not preclude intentional teaching

Goals to support our Philosophy

• Thrive to make sure each and every child’s interest, curiosity, and learning is respected and provided with opportunities to discover, experiment and learn with fun.
• Seek opportunities for family and community involvement, which enables us to have co-operative, meaningful, friendly and a homelike environment in our centre.
• By providing a non-sexist and non-stereo type environment free from prejudice and bias influences.
• Provide a physically and psychologically safe environment.
• Provide a stimulating environment that is based upon success, self-concept and self-esteem.
• Respect, accept and appreciate each child and their families.
• Encourage each child’s independence, autonomy, social interactions and self-discipline.
• Assist diverse families in education, opportunities, and networks and support them in becoming confident and secure within our community.
• Provide support, education, information and outside assistance to families in need. Ensure families are well informed, comfortable and guided through the process.
• Provide regular and updated information to families on a range of topics that are relevant to their child and their family.
• Encourage family’s questions, opinions and involvement in our centre.
• To implement the EYLF curriculum with family, child and educators input.
• To provide a curriculum which enhances each child’s learning and development across 5 learning outcomes.
• By regularly engaging in reflective practices as a team. Documenting our journey, evaluating our practices and making goals for the future.
• To encourage families to share their culture, language and home experiences with the centre.
• By providing meals that are fresh, nutritious and well balanced, including foods, which reflect our extended cultures and families.
• Safe food hygiene and handling practices are observed at all times and embedded in our daily practices.
• To provide a curriculum that is integrated. Focusing on helping children to make meaning across the EYLF principles and practices.
• To not incorporate set, predetermined times for children’s participation in learning experiences.