Learning Program

The Preschool is a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment. It reflects values and respects the children's diverse backgrounds. It is essential that the school community, (parents, caregivers, children and staff), collaborate to set up open relationships for effective communication to ensure that each child is supported in their learning.

The staff plan a program that is inclusive and responsive to a socially and culturally diverse group of children in collaboration with parents and children. The program is based on the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF).

The educators in the centre set up short and long term goals for each child based on information gained from parents, staff observations, conversations, and knowledge of the child. We foster a positive sense of self by allowing and supporting children to make choices, initiate their own activities and to talk about what they see, do, wonder and feel. We encourage the development of literacy, numeracy and thinking skills by providing open-ended questions and tasks, adding more information to child-initiated topics and by following up children's questions and interests. We document the children's learning, their wonderings, thinking and interests, and share each child's development with parents and other staff informally and formally. We respond to the children's level of development and their ideas so as to establish an environment that supports and extends their learning and development through play. We endeavour to find out what the children want to know more about and what they are curious about. Through their interests, we can engage them in the process of learning.

Our program includes both free and guided play and conversations, as these are the main ways by which young children learn about themselves, other people and the world around them. The play-based program allows the children the freedom to choose activities, materials and level of involvement with peers and/or adult. There are no wrong ways of completing or attempting a task, only many different ways - 100 languages of children. The child's existing interests and thinking are stretched to develop powerful learners. Each child has a folder where evidence of their work is collated during the preschool year. The folders are kept in the Preschool and can be viewed at any time. We aim to support the children in accepting responsibility for their own behaviour. We try and discover the reason behind a child's behaviour. We discuss and develop limits and risk benefits with the children and parents to ensure a safe environment for everyone.