We believe that children should have many different experiences, so they can discover their individual learning paths. It’s also important that children learn respect for themselves and others by socialising with their peers and Educators.
Our core principle is to provide a safe and trusting environment full of structured and unstructured activities, along with age-appropriate resources that ignite and inspire a curiosity to learn. At Burnside AELC, activities encompass social, emotional, cultural, physical and intellectual areas to ensure a child’s holistic development. We empower children with the knowledge and confidence they need to transition into school and the community.
We believe children communicate and learn about the world around them through speech, writing, movement, drawing, painting, culture, shadow play, sole play, collage, technology and everyday routines. We endeavour to provide these extra avenues to enhance their development.
In our centre, we empower children to explore their environment through play, so they develop an understanding of Belonging, Being and Becoming. This assists our children to become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and informed and active citizens.
We understand that children are all different, which is why we create our educational programs to reflect each child’s background, knowledge and individual needs.
Equality, inclusion and diversity underpin our beliefs for a strong, supportive community. We appreciate and enjoy the wide range of cultural and religious backgrounds within our community, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders. We strongly encourage families to help us celebrate their language, culture and achievements by sharing music, art, recipes and celebrations with us.
We believe that our childcare centre needs to play an active role in the community by participating in local activities and incorporating them into our programmed activities.
Our Educators are expected to achieve the best professional practice in caring for all children at the centre. Our ongoing training will guarantee this outcome. We have high expectations for all children’s learning and are committed to the principles, practices and outcomes of the Early Years Learning Framework as well as relating our program to theorists.
Critical Reflection and evaluation will assist in extending children’s knowledge on a daily basis and help staff to improve their own practices. We value our staff’s individual strengths and encourage all our staff to work effectively as a team and assist in decision making within the centre.