Philosophy

Relationships among children, families, and educators 

We value strong, respectful, collaborative, reciprocal and equitable relationships among children, families, educators, the community, and the environment. We believe in equity and inclusion. We also value diversity. Each child, family and educator is unique and valued individuals. We value and honor diversity, and accept and celebrate differences in different people. We are working together to support each child's growth and learning.

 

Respect diversity

We value our rich diversity of culture, language, abilities and experiences. Educators and families at Playhouse come from different cultural backgrounds. We speak different languages at home and we have different child-rearing practices and lifestyle choices. Through our relationships and conversations with families and children, we will reflect our respect for diversity throughout our curriculum. 

 

Related to children

At playhouse, we believe all children are unique, competent, and confident learners, with individual needs, interests, strengths and endless potential. We are committed to the equality of all children regardless of their gender, culture, socio-economic background, diverse circumstances and abilities. We acknowledge the rights of the children as paramount. We believe children have the right to feel safe, supported, heard and loved. We perceive children as learners so that they learn best when they feel valued socially, emotionally and intellectually. We believe children learn best when they are engaged in a stimulating, challenging, high quality, play-based learning program. We believe children are encouraged and supported to develop reciprocal, respectful and meaningful relationships with others that enhance their learning.

 

Related to families

We believe that each child's family is unique and families are children's first and most influential teachers. We are inclusive of all and family culture is respected. We encourage each family to participate in the playhouse to support their children’s learning and welcome parents’  involvement and suggestions. We aim to develop a supportive partnership with families through open and honest communication, and guide the children in our program and curriculum through knowledge and skills, and shared vision and decisions with the families.

 

Related to educators

As educators, we endeavour to understand and accept different family practices, values, cultures, languages, traditions and lifestyle choices of families. We are committed to improvement and are continually upgrading our knowledge of children and child educational practices through conferences, workshops, professional collaboration and reading professional journals. We believe in professional staff who strive for excellence through reflective practice and commitment to an ongoing personal learning journey. We believe in staff who are caring and responsive to all children's learning abilities. 

 

Related to environments 

Children have the right to learn in a safe, healthy and inclusive environment. We believe in creating a welcoming and nurturing learning environment where children and families are treated with respect and where partnerships are based on trust, positive, open communication, and encourages and supports children to explore, investigate, create and problem solve. We provide a positive environment in which children can learn and grow safely, explore, make mistakes, evaluate their mistakes and learn from them. 

 

Related to programs/curriculum/pedagogy

The program is based on secure, respectful and reciprocal relationships between children, families, community groups, support agencies and educators. Each child's current knowledge, ideas, culture, abilities and interests are the foundation of our program. We believe in providing an educational program for children that develops a passion for lifelong learning.

 

Our curriculum is guided by the EYLF, the literacy and numeracy indicators and guidebooks, observations of each child, and children's interests, theories and ideas. We use current research and site inquiry findings to support the implementation of our curriculum. We aim to stimulate children's thinking and build upon their existing knowledge and skills to enrich learning. We also believe that our curriculum should reflect and promote a better understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing and being.

 

Belonging Being Becoming

Through these relations we will build on the strong development of belonging, being and becoming for each child. We are committed to providing the highest quality education and care in an inclusive, welcoming and harmonious environment, informed by children's voices, rights and best interests.