Curriculum

Early Years Learning Framework

We implement the Australian Early Years Learning Framework to extend and enrich children’s learning through opportunities which maximise their potential and develop the foundations for future success in learning.

 

We record and evaluate each child’s achievements, strengths and interests, then plan to extend their interest and build upon their strengths.

 

We provide young children with ongoing opportunities for active learning through play - to explore, to learn at their own pace, to experience success, and develop initiative, curiosity, resourcefulness, and self-confidence to foster qualities which will serve them well throughout their lives.

 

“This is the stage of a child’s life when they learn to be confident and interested in the world around them, to be smart and creative.” “At this age they need to be encouraged to paint and poke and build and create and enjoy the world of things, animals and people. If the people around them share some of these activities with them, they will pick up on their enthusiasm and pleasure in making and doing. Their brain will become permanently switched on to learning.” Steve Biddulph- Family Psychologist for 25 years and author of “Raising Girls ”and “Raising Boys”.

 

We aim to facilitate growth in the use of expressive language to empower the child to make meaningful connections with his/her peers, and to facilitate social competence to effectively function as a capable and contributing member of the group.

 

Our goal is that every child becomes a successful learner, confident and creative individual and an active and informed citizen. Fundamental to the Framework is a view of children’s lives as characterised by belonging, being and becoming.

 

Experiencing belonging: knowing where and with whom you belong is integral to human existence. Belonging acknowledges children’s interdependence with others and the basis of relationships in defining identities. In early childhood, and throughout life, relationships are crucial to a sense of belonging. Belonging is central to being and becoming in that it shapes who children are and who they can become.

 

Being recognises the significance of the here and now in children’s lives. It is about the present and children knowing themselves, building and maintaining relationships with others, engaging in life’s joys and complexities, and meeting the challenges in everyday life.

 

Becoming reflects the progress of rapid change that occurs in the early childhood years as young children learn and grow. It emphasises learning to participate actively in society.

 

The Framework conveys the highest expectations for all children’s learning from birth through to the transition to school.

 

It communicates these expectations through the following Learning Outcomes:

       * Children have a strong sense of identity.

       * Children are connected with and contribute to their world.*Children have a strong sense of well-being.

       * Children are confident and involved learners.

       * Children are effective communicators.

 

Underpinning the Framework are 5 Principles:

1.  Secure, respectful and reciprocal relationships.

 

Educators provide nurturing relationships with consistent emotional support to assist children to develop the skills and understandings necessary to interact positively with others. We help children to learn about their responsibilities towards others, to appreciate their connectedness and interdependence as learners, and to value collaboration and teamwork. Through a widening network of secure relationships, children develop confidence and feel respected and valued. They become increasingly able to recognise and respect the feelings of others and interact positively with them.

 

2. Partnerships.

 

Learning outcomes are mostly achieved when early childhood educators work in partnership with families and support professionals. This involves valuing each other’s knowledge of the child, communicating freely and respectfully with each other, sharing insights and perspectives and engaged in shared decision-making.

 

3.  High Expectations and Equity

 

Educator’s promote inclusion and participation of all children and believe in every child’s capacity to succeed, regardless of diverse circumstances and abilities.

 

4. Respect for Diversity

 

Educators who respect and honour the diversity of families and communities and the aspirations they hold for children, are able to foster children’s motivation to learn and reinforce the child’s sense of themselves as a competent learner. The curriculum they provide upholds children’s rights to have their cultures, identities, and abilities and strengths acknowledged and valued.

 

5.Ongoing Learning and Reflective Practice

 

Early Childhood educators are involved in an ongoing cycle of review through which current practices are examined, outcomes evaluated and new ideas are generated which support, inform and enrich decision making about children’s learning.

 

The principles of early childhood pedagogy underpin practice. Educators draw on a rich repertoire of pedagogical practices to promote children’s learning by:

   -    Adopting holistic approaches recognising the connectedness of mind, body and spirit.

 

   -    Being responsive to children, educators are able to value and build upon children’s strengths, skills and knowledge to ensure their motivation and engagement in learning.

 

   -    Planning and implementing learning through play provides opportunities to discover, create, improvise and imagine. While playing with other children they create social groups, test ideas, challenge each other’s thinking and build new understandings.

 

   -    Intentional teaching is deliberate, purposeful and thoughtful. Promote learning through worthwhile challenging experiences that foster high-level thinking. Utilising strategies such as modelling, open questioning, speculation, explanation, and shared problem solving to extend children’s learning.

 

   -    Creating vibrant and flexible physical and social learning environments that are responsive to the interests and abilities of each child and promote sustained shared thinking and collaborative learning, have a positive impact on children’s learning.

 

    -   Promoting children’s cultural competence by valuing the cultural and social contexts of all children and their families, celebrating diversity and honouring differences is central to successful lifelong learning.

 

   -   Providing for continuity in experiences and enabling children to have successful transitions by assisting children to understand the traditions, routines and practices of the settings to which they are moving to and to feel comfortable with the process of change.

 

   -   Assessing and monitoring children’s learning to inform curriculum provision and to support children in achieving learning outcomes.

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