Our Philosophy
Progress Kindergarten provides 3 and 4 year old funded sessional kindergarten programs to the children of the local community. The philosophy, programs and curriculum are planned and developed with input from staff, children, committee of management and families.
We believe play is crucial and at the heart of the development of all children. We encourage children to be active participants in their own learning and focus on the process of ‘doing’ rather than the product. When children are playing they are motivated to learn therefore educators focus on children’s interests to encourage them to extend their learning.
Our programs are shaped by our understandings and observations of the children and reflect the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF), the National Quality Framework (NQF), the Early Childhood Australia’s (ECA) Code of Ethics and the Child Safe Standards.
As a kindergarten community, we are committed to the continuous improvement of the services and programs we offer to children and families. We believe that this improvement happens in a context of conversations, listening and sharing by all community members and then working together in partnership and collaboration to achieve our goals. We value the opportunity to work together to make sure that our kindergarten is a place that meets the needs of all community members. All kindergarten community members are encouraged to contribute to our Quality Improvement Plan (QIP).
We believe that children should feel secure, safe and happy
Therefore we will:
- provide an environment for children that is welcoming, safe, supportive, stimulating, comfortable, clean and that fosters a feeling of belonging;
- promote a physical and emotional environment that is family and community orientated;
- ensure that children’s interactions with staff and each other are positive and caring; and
- demonstrate a respect for children through positive interactions.
We believe that children are individuals
Therefore we will:
- respect them as individuals;
- provide child focused programs that reflect the individual needs, interests and development of each child;
- encourage them to develop self-discipline and a responsibility for their own actions;
- provide opportunities for individuals to be able to work with others in a cooperative manner; and maintain developmental records as part of an ongoing cycle of planning, documenting and evaluation
We believe that children learn through play
Therefore we will:
- ensure that they have access to developmentally-appropriate experiences and activities that are rich in variety, are challenging and engaging in both the indoor and outdoor spaces and where appropriate, through incursions and excursions;
- provide a balance of child-initiated and adult-supported play experiences;
- engage in intentional teaching practice to meet the developmental needs of all children; and
- encourage children to explore and experiment with a range of experiences that will foster their wellbeing and their language, cognitive, social, physical and emotional development and wellbeing.
We believe that diversity should be respected and valued, and we are committed to the Child Safe Standards
Therefore we will:
- respectfully acknowledge, both symbolically and in practice, the traditional custodians of the land on which the kindergarten stands – the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation, their spirits, ancestors, elders and community members past and present;
- promote gender equity;
- acknowledge and affirm the cultural background of each child and family, and promote tolerance and acceptance of others, reflecting this in the planned programs;
- ensure the best opportunity for each child’s maximum development regardless of their social background or level of ability; and
- encourage participation of all parents in all support tasks.
We believe that parents have needs and rights
Therefore we will:
- encourage parent involvement;
- support and resource parents in their parenting role; and
- develop cooperative working relationships with parents, maintaining regular, open and constructive communication.
We believe that high quality programs are reflected by high quality educators
Therefore we will:
- employ high quality educators, support them to expand and develop their skills, and encourage their participation in regular professional development;
- respect educators as individuals as well as valuable members of a team;
- value the experience and qualifications of each educator;
- encourage the sharing of skills and knowledge between educators;
- encourage educators in their commitment to continuous improvement through self reflection; and
- employ educators according to their award conditions.
We value the natural environment
Therefore we will:
- foster and encourage amongst children an appreciation of the natural environment;
- participate, and encourage the children to participate, in practices that are sustainably friendly to the environment, including water conservation and waste minimisation, thereby reducing the kindergarten’s impact on the environment;
- endeavour to purchase/provide equipment and experiences made from natural materials where possible; and
- refrain, where possible, from using food as a play material.
We value our community
Therefore we will:
- actively work towards positive partnerships with other groups within our community; and
- support local businesses in our community by considering them first with the purchase of resources and acknowledging contributions made to the kindergarten
