SERVICE PHILOSOPHY

Children - We see children as unique and capable individuals, who come to Time 4 Kindy with their own interests, talents, skills, and ideas.  We as Educators are well trained and passionate.  We value, respect and appreciate this uniqueness.  We feel children have a right to be active participants in their own learning and must be empowered to express their views and ideas. A child’s opinion must be valued for its validity to their perspective and their autonomy and initiative needs to be respected.  We as Educators will protect and cherish the innocence of children and thus provide a safe and secure environment.  As we unpack the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) we will work alongside your child to actively promote children’s learning through worthwhile and challenging experiences and interactions that foster high-level thinking skills.

Family - We acknowledge that family is the most important and influential aspect in the lives of young children and the significance of their relationships cannot be underestimated. We aim to ensure we involve parents and families into all aspects of the programs development and implementation.  We strive to develop positive, mutually respectful relationships with each family member, as we work in partnership to achieve the best possible outcomes for all.  We believe that working in partnerships with families is central to ensuring continuity and progression in a child’s learning, development and future success. 

Program - In Early Childhood Education the curriculum is not the focus, the children are. We feel that a meaningful, integrated, emergent curriculum using EYLF as the Framework is the most beneficial to children’s learning across all developmental domains.  A curriculum in which children are active participants and collaborators allows for a more individualistic and meaningful involvement by the children.  We believe children are unique individuals who develop at their own rate, and thus by providing enriching, meaningful and realistic opportunities children will explore, create, discover, and imagine.  Our programs reflect planned and spontaneous experiences designed to support children’s development in all domains. Through the EYLF, the program will see Educators use intentional teaching, (it’s deliberate, purposeful and thoughtful).  Educators who engage in intentional teaching recognise that learning occurs in social contexts and that interactions and conversations are vitally important for learning.  They actively promote children’s learning through worthwhile and challenging experiences and interactions that foster high-level thinking skills (EYLF).

Educators - For the Educators in any early childhood setting, team work and effective communication are essential requirements for positive outcomes across all aspects of the Services’ functioning, for ‘together everyone achieves more”.  Educators are responsive to all children’s strengths, abilities and interests. We will value and build on children’s strengths, skills and knowledge to ensure their motivation and engagement in learning (EYLF). We aim to create an environment of trust and respect, where we work towards achieving a shared goal.  Ongoing education and training is a critical aspect of staff’s professional development.  It is through accurate evaluation and assessment, which occurs when we critically reflect on our actions, that we are able to identify areas which may be considered a skill and those which may need further development. We recognise Educators/Staff as our Service’s most important resource and aim to provide them with a satisfying and safe working environment. Further we also appreciate the experience and skills of all Educators/Staff.  We appreciate their dedication as an integral element of the success of our Service.

Community - We strive to be seen as a Service of Excellence within our community, a Service which values community involvement in all aspects of our program.  A Service where community resources are utilised effectively, to enhance the growth and development of individual children, families, and Educators/Staff.

Environment - Children inherit a connection to the natural world and, as Educators/Staff, we understand that children often develop their ideas and understandings of the world around them from the information presented to them by the significant adults in their lives. As we are one of these significant adults, we have a responsibility to present a positive approach to the environment. 

We also embrace diversity within Time 4 Kindy and the wider community, so that children view this diversity with a sense of appreciation and wonder rather than misunderstanding and fear. Through respect, acknowledgement, appreciation and acceptance of diversity within our Community, Time 4 Kindy will embrace, celebrate and share traditions and cultures throughout our program. Learning environments are welcoming spaces when they reflect and enrich the lives and identities of children and families participating in the setting and respond to their interests and needs. Time 4 Kindy will cater for different capacities and learning styles and invite children and families to contribute ideas, interests and questions (EYLF).


Source: Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations for the Council of Australian Governments.

Review Date: March 2012
Next Review: March 2013

AIM

The Approved Provider/Nominated Supervisor, Educators  and other Staff of Time 4 Kindy Pre-School & Long Day Care Centre believe that the early years of a child’s life are their most influential.  It is within these years that a child develops the foundation skills and abilities that will carry them through life. Our Educators/Staff feel that by being attuned to children’s thoughts and feelings, this supports the development of a strong sense of wellbeing.  Our aim is to work closely with families to form a partnership, where Educators/Staff can develop learning programs responsive to children’s ideas, interests, strengths and abilities, and recognise that children learn through play. Fundamental to the EYLF is the view that children’s lives and childhood is a time of Belonging, Being and Becoming. 

We aim to:

• Work as partners with parents and families of the children.
• Provide information, contacts and support for the children, parents, and families.
• Provide a high quality care and learning environment.
• Provide a program based on the Early Years Learning Framework where all children experience learning that is engaging and builds success for life.
• Provide a safe, secure, happy and loving home like environment where children have a sense of belonging.
• Provide a place where childhood is a time to be, to seek and make meaning of the world.
• Provide an environment that has vibrant and flexible spaces that are responsive to interests and abilities of each child.
• Provide an environment rich in resources to stimulate learning and development.
• Provide Educators/Staff that are experienced in nurturing, caring and valuing children.
• Recognise, respond, to all children’s strengths, abilities and interests.  We value and build upon children’s strengths, skills and knowledge to ensure their motivation and engagement in learning.
• Respond to children’s expertise, cultural traditions and ways of knowing, the multiple languages spoken by some children, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and strategies used by children with additional needs to negotiate their everyday lives.
  

Source: Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations for the Council of Australian Governments.

MISSION STATEMENT

At Time 4 Kindy Pre-School & Long Day Care Centre we acknowledge the importance of play in early childhood development.  Play is very important ,the most effective tool,  and is central to a child’s learning and development.  Play is non threatening, spontaneous, and meaningful.  Through play babies and young children explore and learn to understand the world around them as they come to communicate, discover, imagine and create.  When children play they are showing what they have learned and what they are trying to understand. When children play with other children they create social group, test out ideas, challenge each other’s thinking and build new understandings. 

This is why play is one of the foundations of the Early Years Learning Framework.  By using this Framework Educators/Staff will guide children’s play by carefully designing learning activities and stimulating Indoor and Outdoor learning environments. We also acknowledge that each child is unique and therefore will progress at their own pace. The EYLF is a key component of the National Quality Framework which has been developed by Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to assist Educators to provide young children throughout Australia in their early years, opportunities to maximise their potential and develop a foundation for success in the future.

The Framework’s vision is for all children to experience play-based learning that is engaging and builds success for life.  

• Belonging is the basis for living a fulfilling life.  Where children feel they belong, because of the relationships they have with their family, community, culture and place.
• Being is about living here and now. Childhood is a special time in life, and children need time to just ‘be’- time to play, try new things and have fun.
• Becoming is about the learning and development that young children experience.  Children start to form their sense of identity from an early age, which shapes the type of adult they will become.

The Framework focuses on your child’s learning.  Educators will work with you in order to get to know your child well.  At this Service we will create a learning program that builds on your child’s interests and abilities and keep you in touch with your child’s progress.  Through the Framework’s five learning goals Educators will assist your child to develop:

• A strong sense of their identity (have confidence in themselves and to form friendships)
• Connections with their world (learn to respect the environment and cultural diversity)
• A strong sense of wellbeing (socially, emotionally & physically)
• Confidence and involvement in their learning (explore, create, learn, experiment)
• Effective communication skills (by using literacy and numeracy to communicate)

Source: Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations for the Council of Australian Governments.

CENTRE GOALS: EYLF OUTCOMES

Outcome 1 - Children Have a Strong Sense of Identity

• Children to feel safe, secure, and supported
• Children develop their emerging autonomy, inter-dependence, resilience and sense of agency
• Children develop knowledgeable and confident self identities
• Children learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect

Outcome 2 - Children are Connected with and Contribute to their World

• Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation
• Children respond to diversity with respect
• Children become aware of fairness
• Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment

Outcome 3 - Children Have a Strong Sense of Wellbeing

• Children become strong in their social and emotional wellbeing
• Children take increasing responsibility for their own health and physical wellbeing

Outcome 4 - Children are Confident and Involved Learners

• Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity
• Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, enquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating
• Children transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another
• Children resource their own learning through connecting with people, place, technologies and natural and processed materials

Outcome 5 - Children are Effective Communicators

• Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes
• Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts
• Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media
• Children begin to understand how symbols and pattern systems work
• Children use information and communication technologies to access information, investigate ideas and represent their thinking

Source: Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations for the Council of Australian Governments.