Our Program.
Play Based Learning
The Early Years Learning Framework define play as a way in which children can organise and make sense of their world as they engage actively with people and place. Play allows for being and the opportunity to engage in safe risk taking, be imaginative, creative, explore, discover, use initiative, experiment, solve problems, contribute ideas and take ideas from others, listen and maintain relationships in an everyday context.
There is also the opportunity to relax, enjoy, taking time to learn and practice skills that are imbedded in the realms of cognition, physicality, socialising, and emotional domains. Engaging our senses of sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound with a variety of natural resources where - ever possible.
Our learning environment reflects a warm, homelike, calm, friendly and aesthetically pleasing space. Child led interests are evident in these spaces as educators take care to provide resources for stimulating and thoughtful areas of engagement. Children are active participants in their own learning and bring a range of prior learning with them. Our learning environments aim to foster curiosity, asking of questions, investigation, inference and wonder.
Sustainability and Environmental Awareness
We actively promote an understanding of our natural environment through the activities we engage in, the resources that we use and the focus on caring for our surrounds and the wider impact of our actions upon our community and our world.
Our caring values support healthy emotional and physical interactions with sustainable practices that engender a sense of belonging and a caretaker responsibility that in turns increases the children’s knowledge, sense of worth and connection with their environment
Goals for your child at our Service
“We discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being.” - Maria Montessori
Educators’ practices and the relationships they form with children and families have a significant effect on children’s involvement and success in learning. Children thrive when families and educators work together in partnership to support young children’s learning. Children’s early learning influences their life chances. Wellbeing and a strong sense of connection, optimism and engagement enable children to develop a positive attitude to learning. (Early Years Learning Framework p.9)
We will create a range of short and long-term goals for your child that we will program to and observe on which will be based on the outcomes in the Early Years Learning Framework and include:
- Mutual respect and empathy
- Concern and responsibility for self and others
- A sense of self worth
- Social awareness
- Importance of sustainability
- Self-discipline
- Habits of initiative and persistence
- Creative intelligence and imagination
- Self-confidence as an independent learner
- A love of learning
We strongly encourage communication between families and educators to ensure continuity in what we are delivering to your child and acknowledge that the role of the Educator is to work in partnership with families; children’s first and most influential educators.
Educational Program
We follow the EYLF Version 2 as per our programming policy. This is Australia’s first national Early Years Learning Framework for early childhood educators. The aim of this document is to extend and enrich children’s learning from birth to five years and through the transition to school.
We are committed to providing a developmental and educational program, which caters for each child’s individual needs, abilities and interests. Our program continues to develop as we use the relationships children have with their families and communities, working in partnership with parents, to ensure each child’s knowledge, ideas, culture, abilities and interests are the foundation of our program.
We encourage children to be responsible for their own learning through choices in experiences, interests and routine. We use conversations, actions and play as the basis for teaching which involves the children being partners in teaching by seeking out ideas, opinions, thoughts and questions. We encourage children in promoting their independence and self-help skills by assisting within the routine and involving the children in interest-based projects to further enhance their learning and knowledge. We value children and family input and encourage family involvement to gather a comprehensive and holistic view of the child.
We know that children learn effectively through play and our educators are diligent in their responsiveness to each child to support this. Applying strong intentional teaching practices provides the children with an authentic and meaningful learning environment that challenges, supports and nurtures a child’s development.
Our educational program is on display on our river of learning whiteboard in the room for the children, families, educators and wider community to see and contribute to. Our group learning program is displayed in our floor books which constantly evolve and show the emerging and flexible nature of our program. On the Storypark app we share your child’s individual learning journey through termly learning stories, photos and updates. We also share daily emergent curriculum through group posts on Storypark.
The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia V2.0, 2022
Information Sheet BELONGING,BEING & BECOMING Learning Outcomes
Learning to learn: Positive dispositions as a ‘learning curriculum’
