Our Centre's Philosophy
Our Vision ‘To Learn, Grow & Develop Through Play’;
by working together with families to support, facilitate & encourage children to become confident individuals & successful learners for life; in an inclusive & play based environment that promotes competence, independence & exploration; facilitated & supported by educators that are qualified & dedicated, respectful & ethical aswell as caring, nurturing & encouraging in their interactions & education strategies.
Padstow Play N Lear believes in the importance of the children, families, educators, management, the wider community & the environment; & reflect upon their diverse values when implementing our centre’s philosophy.
In our vision; ‘To Learn, Grow & Develop Through Play’, we acknowledge & incorporate the National Quality Standards (ACECQA) & the Early Years Learning Framework (National Curriculum) into our daily practises.
Management
Management pride themselves on implementing effective leadership to sustain quality relationships & environments that facilitate each child’s individual learning & development by promoting a positive organisational culture & building a professional learning community.
We ensure that a documented philosophy, principles, policies, procedures & practises are available & developed, maintained & implemented, guiding all aspects of the services operations; aswell as facilitate regular reviews & evaluations of such documents in consultation with educators, families & the community to ensure the ethical management of the service & it’s commitment to ‘Continuous Quality Improvement’.
Management ensure the effective implementation of quality administrative systems; storing & maintaining confidentiality of records in accordance with legislative requirements.
Management ensure that all educators, students, volunteers (& any other persons that come into contact with children at the service) are a ‘fit & proper person’; ensuring that all employed staff hold the required qualifications & experience to fulfil their role at the service, inductions are comprehensive & all persons undergo ‘Police Screening’ before commencing employment at the service.
Continuity of educators is promoted aswell as the establishment of clear goals & expectations for teaching & learning (these goals & expectations are used to evaluate educator’s performance).
We ensure that information is exchanged regularly with families about all aspects of the service & their own individual child in a variety of forms & contexts, aswell as ensuring that there are appropriate processes in place to effectively manage grievances & complaints.
Educators
Are a consistent & dedicated team, who work in collaborative ways to share knowledge & further develop skills in support of their commitment to on-going professional development. Educators believe & engage in interactions that convey mutual respect, equity & recognition of each other’s strengths & skills.
Educators enhance children’s learning & development & ensure their safety & well-being by maintaining regulation (or higher) Educator-to-Child ratios& qualifications.
National Quality Standards (ACECQA) guide practise, interactions & relationships & through the implementation of the Early Years Learning Framework (National Curriculum), educators ensure that the educational program & practise contributes to each child’s learning outcomes in relation to their identity, connections with community, wellbeing, confidence as learners & effectiveness as communicators. Educators are focussed, active & reflective in designing & delivering the program for each child by being responsive to children’s ideas & play, & use intentional teaching to scaffold & extend each child’s learning. Educators regularly use critical reflection when implementing the program.
Educators ensure that children are protected & their health is promoted.
Children
Are respected & supported with warm, responsive & trusting relationships that enable them to engage with educators in meaningful, open interactions that support the acquisition of skills for life & learning. We believe that children are confident, competent & resourceful learners who are capable of constructing their own knowledge of the world around them.
Educators aim to build relationships that support children to;
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Feel a sense of belonging, wellbeing & strong sense of identity
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See themselves as constructive contributors to the community
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See themselves as valued, unique & powerful
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Learn respect, responsibility & empathy for each other
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Learn conflict resolution techniques, regulation of self- behaviour & responses to various peer behaviour
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Learn a love of nature & respect for the environment & work towards developing environmentally sustainable practises.
Families
Are recognised & respected by our service as valuable educators of their children & a useful resource for Educators; it is for this reason that PPNL believes in the importance of communication & collaboration between families & educators to develop & maintain respectful & supportive relationships.
We have current & readily available information to families regarding the service & services of the wider community.
We encapsulate an ‘Open Door’ policy promoting & providing families opportunity to be involved in the service & contribute to service decisions & improvements.
We adapt effective enrolment & orientation processes tailored to our individual children & families, aswell as support families in their parenting role whilst respecting their individual values, beliefs & customs on child rearing.
Community
We respect & acknowledge the importance to build relationships & engage with the local community.
Our service provides regular & current information regarding community events & services & ensures that this information is readily available to families.
Our service collaborates with other organisations & service providers, creating & maintaining links to enhance children’s learning & wellbeing; inclusion support assistance is facilitated on the address of needs.
We take time to educate children & families on community & environmental issues aswell as promote community awareness & understanding of the importance of Early Childhood Education &quality services.
Environment
We encompass an environment that is foremost safe, clean & well maintained.
We are working towards promoting a growing importance of sustainable environments & will continue to develop strategies & experiences that support & encourage children to become environmentally responsible & show respect for the environment. Our play spaces (both indoors & outdoors) are inclusive & free flowing promoting competence, independent exploration & ‘learning through play’. Play spaces are strategically designed & set up to ensure use & access by every individual child (being inclusive of all needs & interest) aswell as encouraging freedom of choice, child interest initiated activities, spontaneous & intentional teaching experiences. Play based learning is visually evident within our environment.
