All Saints Pre School’s philosophy has been informed by input from educators, parents and the committee of management and guides all aspects of the kinder operations.
Image of the child
We have an image of children as unique, curious, capable, expressive, and full of potential. We believe that children are social beings who explore, learn, discover, and make sense of their world through interacting with others. We believe that providing an inclusive environment that supports children of varying abilities is important.
The importance of Play – Based Learning
We believe that children learn best in a nurturing play-based environment that fosters trust, curiosity, creativity, and autonomy. We believe that play is a fun, engaging, and meaningful activity that enables children to explore, create, imagine, discover, investigate, and make sense of their world.
Relationships
Strong and respectful relationships are at the core of everything we do. We wish to build a sense of belonging for children and families through relationships that are honest, caring, open and kind. Relationships between educators and our committee of management are important too, and we strive to work collaboratively and support and celebrate each other’s strengths.
Learning and Development
We believe that children’s learning should be based on their individual needs, interests, and personalities. Our curriculum is meaningful, purposeful, and intentional. We are guided by the principles, practices, and outcomes of the Early Years Learning Framework. We acknowledge that every child will take a unique path towards achieving their developmental milestones, and that children have diverse learning dispositions.
Respect
We acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation as the traditional owners of the land that we play, learn and work on. We aim to actively include aspects of the rich history of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our teaching. We value the natural environment and aim to educate children about nature and caring for the earth.
We have ZERO tolerance for child abuse.
We aim to promote a culture of respect for everyone, and the children’s sense of agency, autonomy, and acceptance of individual differences are important to us. We also respect and place high value on family’s choices, language, cultures, and traditions, as well as inclusion of diverse learning styles, abilities, and family structures. We believe that children should see and experience the connections between their home lives and kindergarten.
School readiness
We are dedicated to helping the children develop the broad range of skills that encompass school readiness. We believe that in addition to some academic basics, school readiness skills also include self-help skills, attention and concentration, physical skills, emotional regulation, language skills and play and social skills.