Aim
The culture at Kendall Street Kindergarten is to provide a warm, happy, caring, family orientated and safe environment that will meet the needs of each child. Our centre has an open, relaxed atmosphere where we cater for each child’s intellectual, aesthetic, moral, social, emotional, and physical development. We aim to create a stimulating, attractive, supportive, and responsive environment which is conducive to learning in which children feel safe and secure allowing them to develop their own identity.
Our program is based on the National Early Years Learning Framework of Australia, the Early Childhood Australian Code of Ethics, and social theorists. In accordance with this curriculum, we aim to extend and enrich the child’s learning from 2 years through to the transition to school, through a specific emphasis on play-based learning and the importance of communication, language, social and emotional development. We embed literacy and numeracy in our everyday practices and work to develop links with local schools and community as children and families prepare for the transition to school.
Children
Our program reflects our belief that children are capable learners that are able to contribute to their own learning. We believe in a socio-cultural theory that children learn best when the curriculum is connected to their everyday lives and interest and learning styles. We endeavour to know each child personally though observation, interaction, and continuous liaison with families. We believe that through providing a caring, stimulating, stable and safe environment we support children to develop the dispositions for learning such as confidence, curiosity, persistence, creativity. Imagination and problem-solving. In our curriculum children are guided to recognise and express their own feelings, as well as to develop empathy and respect toward each other.
Families
We believe in welcoming all families to our centre on an equal basis and making participation in our program a positive experience for all. We recognise the importance of families being the primary influence in the child’s life and believe that children thrive when families and educators work together in partnerships to support children’s learning. We work to continually develop and maintain strong connections between home, the centre, and the wider community. As part of the daily routine, we aim to provide a curriculum that reflects families heritage, culture and opinions and focus on an anti-bias, non-sexist curriculum.
We welcome families to share in, contribute and feel part of the centre’s daily curriculum and practice. We believe that partnerships are important as they are based on the foundations of understanding each other’s expectations and attitudes and build on the strength of each other knowledge. At Kendall Street we act as a resource for families offering support and advice when needed.
Sustainability/ Health
We encourage children and families to be part of the everyday sustainability process by participating in recycling, composting and reducing their use of products such as paper and water. Respect for and appreciation of the natural environment is modelled and supported by our centre’s surroundings and vast space.
We encourage parents to implement the sustainability tips shared,and reduce their carbon footprint on the world.
We promote good health and hygiene practices in conjunction with current recommendations through the provisions of relevant activities, experiences and daily routines. Sustainability and Health are embedded within our daily programs.
Educators and Service
We value a team approach and create an enthusiastic and positive atmosphere that encourages initiative and co-operation, mutual respect, courtesy and understanding for all. We continually look toward building our own professional skills becoming co-learners with children, families, and the community.
We support the development of a strong sense of well-being, we interact positively with children in all aspects of their learning. We not only believe that interactions with children are special and important but that the relationships we form with the children and families have a significant effect on the child’s involvement and success in their own learning.
As professionals, we examine what happens in our setting and critically reflect on what needs to be changed. We continually work on a quality improvement plan to raise our standards.
Community
We celebrate and respect Australian indigenous communities and respect the Guringai people as the traditional custodians of the land on which Kendall Street is located.