Erina Kindergarten was formed on the lands of the Darkinjung People. We acknowledge Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander People as the Traditional Custodians of this country and their connection to the land, water and community in which we operate. We pay our respect to them, their cultures and customs both past and present and will continue to value our connection with our local Darkinjung Land Council Elders to ensure our practices are respectful in representing the history, culture, values and traditions.
We believe in cultivating a deep respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures.
We believe children are citizens with rights
With our commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and belief that children’s welfare and wellbeing is paramount, we will strive to protect children from harm, respect their dignity and privacy, and safeguard and promote every child’s wellbeing. Therefore;
– All children will have an equal opportunity to grow and learn within a nurturing environment that embraces a nondiscriminatory, inclusive culture of respect and acceptance where children’s exclusive needs, interests and culture is supported, valued and acknowledged.
– Educators will engage in nurturing and thoughtful interactions with children in developing positive relationships and plan for opportunities for mindfulness and relaxation to enhance children’s resilience, positive emotional wellbeing, mental health and self-worth.
– A nutritionally balanced menu and physical activity will be carefully planned to promote healthy lifestyles with special consideration for food allergies, dietary requirements and specific cultural and religious practices.
We value Early Childhood as the foundation for lifelong learning.
We believe children are competent and capable of co-constructing their own knowledge of the world around them. Therefore, we embrace a play-based curriculum, based upon the principles and outcomes outlined in the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), that provides children with freedom of choice through offering a wide variety of age appropriate learning opportunities and resources that are easily accessible. Hence supporting children to develop at their own pace, whilst encouraging children to share thoughts and ideas, collaborate, explore, experiment, imagine and problem solve. We believe in celebrating children’s play discoveries and our programs reflect planned and spontaneous experiences along with intentional teaching opportunities that are deliberate, purposeful and meaningful.
We believe in facilitating a lifelong connection with our land, nature and animals.
We aim to foster an appreciation of the natural environment and deepen each child’s sense of wonder, belonging, love and interconnectedness to the land, nature and animals. Through careful planning of our indoor and outdoor environments we support children to develop lifelong, positive and proactive attitudes towards caring for the environment and a sustainable future.
We believe positive / nurturing relationships set the foundations for a positive sense of belonging, being and becoming for children and their families.
We are inspired by the words from the children and families within our community identifying friendships, love, kindness, compassion and respect as being core values in providing high quality care and education. We too hold these values as paramount therefore strive to build and nurture respectful, warm and positive relationships with and among children to enhance their sense of belonging, being and becoming at Erina Kindergarten. We recognise that families are the foundation in children’s growth and development. Educators will develop positive relationships with families and work on building a partnership based on mutual trust and a high level of open communication. We will make decisions together with the families to ensure the children are learning to their best ability. We will help to guide and support families in their role, while also learning from families in order to achieve the best outcomes for children.
We value community involvement in all aspects of our program
At Erina Kindergarten we strive to utilise community resources effectively to enhance the growth and development of individual children, families and Educators. We pride ourselves in contributing to our wider community to assist the children in achieving a sense of being, belonging & becoming.
We believe in continuous improvement
Erina Kindergarten has a commitment to continuous improvement and maintains a culture of ongoing learning, reflection and self-assessment. We are committed to Exceeding the National Quality Standards through implementing effective self-review processes in consultation with children, families and the community, that enable our team to continuously reflect upon and improve our policies, procedures and practices. This in turn enables delivery of high-quality practices from our management and educator teams, which contributes directly to improved learning outcomes for children.