Early Childhood is a time for children to develop a sense of belonging with family, and community (Belonging), a time to know themselves, and seek and make sense of the world around them (Being), and a time to learn, grow and actualise their potential (Becoming).
Kindy Cove seeks to create a warm, safe, nurturing, and engaging environment for children between the ages of six weeks and six years, acknowledging the critical role that high-quality education and care play in a child's future.
Kindy Cove recognises children to be capable, intelligent, and unique individuals, rich in resources, competent and strong with abilities and expertise, who can make their own meanings and influence the world. We incorporate this understanding into the development of a child's unique program to foster each child's unique personality, resilience, and love of learning.
We recognise the importance of play in a child’s life and our programming and care routines reflect this by providing a play-based emergent curriculum that uses children’s interests, ideas, abilities and strengths as the basis of the program. We also recognise children as citizens with rights and adopt a child-centred approach that provides children with a voice to contribute towards their own learning.
We understand each child attending our service has a unique learning and development trajectory that may require individualised attention for them to fully engage in quality education and care. We collaborate closely with the local community and other professionals to provide children and their families with the greatest possible start in life.
Kindy Cove empowers its educators to provide a stimulating learning environment for children informed by their wealth of knowledge, experiences, and professional understandings and values. Educators view their role as provocateurs, and design curriculum and pedagogy as a means to help children build their own knowledge, discover their potential, and enable them to learn as co-constructors and co-learners alongside their educators. Educators recognise the influence they can have in children’s learning and development and facilitates learning through scaffolding experiences to maximise learning opportunities for children during play. Educators aim to create flexible, open-ended learning environments, plan learning environments with appropriate levels of challenge, and encourage children to explore, experiment, and take appropriate risks in their learning.
Educators at Kindy Cove value their unique strengths and knowledge reflected in our diverse team and offer our skills and abilities to build and maintain a high-quality learning environment. Our Teamwork supports individuals to further their education and maintain their ongoing professional learning and growth. The respect, care, and trust between our team members allow us to create a supportive, welcoming, and safe space in which all children are prompted to learn and grow.
Kindy Cove acknowledges the role the environment plays in a child’s development and strive to provide a safe, nurturing, responsive and inclusive environment for children to support learning across different developmental domains and age groups. In our environment, well-resourced spaces inspire curiosity and creativity, while also creating a sense of belonging for all – our children, our educators, and our families. By creating a feeling of acceptance and a sense of belonging, we provide an environment which enables each child to feel safe, secure, and valued. Educators believe in their role in educating children about caring for the natural environment and embed sustainable practices into the educational program to ensure a holistic and embedded approach to change.
Kindy Cove acknowledges families are the first and foremost educators of children. We aim to develop and sustain collaborative relationships that foster mutual respect with families and understand the critical importance of working in partnerships in a supportive environment that promotes the well-being, education, and development of all children. This ensures continuity of learning and care for children, based on open communication, and reinforces a developing understanding and respect for self and others within the context of our centre’s culture.
Kindy Cove acknowledges that the children are interdependent with the community and their relationship with the community shapes their identity. We embrace the local community and its resources to expand children’s learning opportunities, knowledge, values, and the importance of their environment. We strive to value and connect with people to create a sustained learning community.
We recognise and value our own indigenous heritage and those of the wider community locally, nationally, and internationally. We acknowledge the Cameraygal people, the traditional custodians of this land. Through their example we wish to deepen our connection to the land and respect for those here before us, and all it’s support for us.
We strive to provide a highly positive environment where all members of our community such as staff, children, and families are made to feel welcome and are considered to share an important place regardless of gender, race, culture, or religious belief. Kindy Cove is dedicated to reflecting the principles that underpin the National Law act and National Regulations by educating staff and families of the Law and also implementing the Early Years Learning Framework. The service is committed to working within the National Quality Standards and implementation of our Quality Improvement Plan.
Kindy Cove believes that a philosophy statement is a fluid and evolving document that changes as new insights are gained and practice is evaluated. To ensure that we remain abreast of changing attitudes, policies, practices and new ideas, our philosophy will be evaluated by all stakeholders on an annual basis.