In January 2015 Regand Park ECEC launched their service’s new vision and a five year Strategic Plan. After an enormous amount of research on early childhood education, consultation with key stakeholders, and reflection of their findings, we didn’t want to rest on the outstanding   success of our previous external rating of “Exceeding the National   Quality Standards” and the vision: Nourishing, Respectful, Partnerships was established. 

For Regand Park ECEC this means: 

Nourishing 

We will encompass a holistic approach to truly nourish one’s mind, body and spirit. Not only will we provide a healthy, nutritious and clean lifestyle in a hygienic physical environment, we will also foster a nourishing community that feeds the mind and spirit of our children, families and educators with positive thoughts and attitudes which foster the children’s social and emotional wellbeing, and values engagement in Yoga and Mindfulness experiences. 

Respectful 

As a service we will be respectful to our environment by implementing and educating children and families on sustainable practices to ensure that we build connections with the land and that we instil a lifelong passion for the care of our planet. We will foster respectful relationships by celebrating individuals’ strengths and passions as well as diversity within the community.

Partnerships 

We will build reciprocal partnerships with children, families, educators and our wider community.  We respect that children have a voice and are competent,  capable and resourceful learners who can engage in ‘real things’ and promote change by raising awareness of social equity and world issues. We recognise the valuable knowledge families have about their children and understand and support them in this role. As educators we engage in professional development and advocate for the Early Childhood profession. We strengthen partnerships within our local community and country, and believe this directly links to a child’s ability to feel a sense of belonging and ongoing pride in where they live.

Broad Strategic Objectives for 2015 - 2020:
1. Environmental Sustainability: Regand Park ECEC will minimise our environmental footprint by significantly reducing the amount of waste we produce and implement more sustainable practices.
2. Excellent Service: To be a service of excellence by meeting, and exceeding the needs of our children, families and Educators.
3. Best Possible Start: Regand Park ECEC will inspire children, families and Educators to live their lives to their full potential by implementing clean practices, educating others on clean living, engaging in positive social and emotional experiences and accessing other services as required.   
4.  Future Growth and Development: To plan for the future success and viability of an excellent early childhood education and care service, by ensuring future growth and promoting our brand within the profession.

Statement of Philosophy - 2015

In relation to children:

1. We believe all children are unique individuals who need opportunities to extend on their individual strengths, needs, interests and growing sense of agency. We   believe all children, regardless of their age, gender/transgender, background, religion, culture or abilities should be able to participate in all aspects of the curriculum in order to engage in dispositions of learning such as curiosity, trial and error, and persistence.

2. We believe that all children should feel welcome and need a sense of belonging developed through nourishing, secure, respectful and reciprocal partnerships with Educators and their peers.  We will do this by greeting children by name, displaying their individual and family photos, and modelling positive social interactions.

3. We believe children learn best through hands-on play based experiences, in environments that provide stimulating, practical and exciting experiences using resources that are open-ended, educational, natural, recycled and fun. We will engage children in opportunities to investigate the natural world, participate in sustainable practices and engage with loose parts to promote creativity and imagination. We will also engage children in opportunities involving ‘risk play’ which allows them to challenge themselves, follow their gut instincts and become good decision makers in the future.

4. We believe all children are competent and capable and we value and respect their thoughts and ideas. We do this by involving them in ‘real’ tasks; displaying their artwork in meaningful ways; giving them opportunities for expressive language through ‘talk times’, news and responding to their gestures; and providing them with opportunities to actively reflect on their own learning and assist in documenting this learning.

5. We believe it is a child’s right to become a successful, confident learner within a safe, respectful learning environment. We support this by nurturing children’s mind, body and spirit through the implementation of the iKiFit Safe Respectful Learners (SRL) program and Glowing Kids Yoga, and providing guidance from educators qualified and accredited in these programs.

6.   We will provide a safe, nourishing and comfortable environment where children feel wanted, loved and valued. Our educators will engage with the children in our service, not just supervise them. We will ensure each child’s health and   wellbeing are paramount by formulating and adhering to a range of health and safety policies and procedures, including promoting healthy eating practices based on whole foods and eliminating many additives  and preservatives from our menu.
7.   We believe every child should be given the opportunity to enjoy being a child. We do this by scheduling long periods of uninterrupted time to truly live in the moment, explore the environment, revisit their investigations to extend on their learning, and engage in experiences that are ‘uniquely outdoors’. 

 In relation to families:

8.   Our educators will work with families to develop nourishing, respectful   partnerships that enable the exchange of information about their child’s interests, strengths and needs as well as their personal preferences, thoughts and ideas on care giving strategies, educational pursuits and policies and procedures. We   understand that parents want to know how their children are developing for their age and how their children cope in an early childhood education and care service.

9.   We believe all families, regardless of their structure, background, religion, culture or abilities should feel welcomed, respected and valued for the integral and pivotal role they play as their child’s first teacher. We believe families provide us with valuable knowledge about their children and need educators who understand and support the complexities of being a parent. Families are approached by name and given more than the traditional “They had a good day”. We support families in their parenting role by assisting them to access other agencies in our community, providing tips on parenting in our newsletter,  giving out baby bags on the birth of a newborn and by providing a parent resource    library that they can access.

10.   We will allow families to feel welcomed into our service community by inviting them to participate in special days and outings throughout the year.  Siblings also have opportunities to visit one another during their day at Regand Park ECEC.

11.   We educate families on our educational program, the Safe Respectful   Learners (SRL) program, Glowing Kids Yoga, The Early Years Learning  Framework (EYLF) and the National Quality Standards (NQS) through Parent Information Nights, day books, daily conversations, children’s observations and printed media such as newsletters, photos, and take home items. By doing this, we hope they feel they belong, are involved in the process and not only understand how we program for their children’s emerging skills and milestones (becoming), but also recognise the importance of allowing children opportunities to ‘be’.

12.   We have an Open Doors Policy that welcomes families at any time of the day to participate as they feel comfortable. We believe this inclusive practice promotes a sense of comfort and allows them to see, first hand, what occurs throughout the day.

13.   We will engage in shared decision making with families and where possible incorporate their ideas so the service becomes an extension of their family.  Families are encouraged to approach educators/staff with questions or concerns. Families can speak to educators/staff in their child’s class directly, contact our Director, arrange a meeting or place a note in the fees box. We conduct family meetings and surveys throughout the year to gain valuable feedback to assist with our continuous improvement. 

 In relation to educators and staff:

14. We believe qualified educators and higher staff to child ratios significantly   contribute to a high quality educational service.  Therefore we employ MORE  educators with HIGHER qualifications than required by the Education and Care Services Regulations.

15. We believe that all educators and staff, regardless of their age, gender/transgender, background, religion, culture, experience, qualifications or abilities should feel welcomed, respected, valued, and appreciated as part of our team.   Educators/Staff are encouraged to express their thoughts and ideas, knowing these will be listened to and seriously considered.  We implement a Distributed Leadership model which recognises and utilises each other’s strengths and  knowledge. This includes acknowledging the important role our Administrative and Leadership team do in ensuring our service operates effectively.

16. Educators/Staff are trained in the service’s policies and procedures and are actively involved in any reviews to these to ensure a consistent approach in the   service program and delivery.  Reviews may be a result of research or changes in Regulations.

17. A professional and caring team approach will be fostered by supporting        educators/staff studying or undertaking professional development. This engages all educators/staff in a process of critical reflection as they discuss their learning with others, which improves personal and professional development and allows for continuous improvement in our policy and practice.

18. Educators/Staff will formulate annual professional goals and are involved in developing service goals as part of our Quality Improvement Plan (QIP), which  reflects our commitment to continuous improvement.  Educators/staff are provided with regular professional development training based on these goals, to learn new skills, gain fresh ideas, and access networks within the wider community. Ideas are then critiqued before reviewing our policies and procedures or implementing them into the curriculum. We subscribe to numerous journal publications that our  educators/staff are encouraged to read and reflect upon, and our Director regularly poses provocations to encourage critical thought and analysis on a range of topics relating to early childhood.

19. We will provide educators/staff with a happy, friendly, positive, supportive and flexible work environment, which fosters motivation and commitment to a strong work ethic and a “want to” come to work attitude.

20. As part of our commitment to high quality programs based on researched ‘best practice’ and to encourage a culture of life-long learning, we provide scheduled Administrative Time to all our team.  This time allows them to complete observations on children; develop our educational programs and menus; share ideas, values, teaching practices and goals; and critically evaluate ourselves, our service policies and procedures, our educational programs and menus through regular reflective time.

21. Management consistently review procedures, practices and positions to ensure educators and staff are content and best suited to their positions in order to minimise staff turnover and to maintain a familiar, reliable team within the service.

 22. New educators and staff, or those returning from a long period of leave  participate in an effective induction process to ensure they understand what is  expected in their role and what they can expect from the service. All educators and staff are given support, guidance and assistance during their employment with the service, including a review in their first three (3) months.

23. Educators/Staff are qualified Early Childhood Professionals and actively  promote the important role they play in shaping children’s futures and supporting the role of families both within the service and within the wider community.

In relation to curriculum and educational program:

24. We provide excellent individualised early childhood and preschool programs that nourish respectful partnerships through a play based curriculum. Our inviting indoor and outdoor learning environments foster a positive approach to learning across all developmental areas. Documentation includes individual and group   observations, day books, samples of children’s work, voice and video recordings, and take home pages/books.  All allow children to have ownership of their learning and make connections between home, the service and the wider community.

25. We will plan experiences that are meaningful, interesting and educational. These will be based on educator’s observations, children’s and parent’s ideas, individual specialised programs from other agencies/professionals, and community events. They will acknowledge children’s agency; provide practical, open-ended opportunities for children to thrive; and will foster their love of learning, curiosity and wonder by using the children’s interests, ideas and own knowledge to guide our Session Topics.

26. We will allow educators to have ownership over the service’s program and to guide each other, and liaise with our Educational Leaders in order to foster a professional and united team, dedicated to creating a relevant educational program for every child.  We will employ additional educators in the roles of ‘Environmental Educator’ and ‘Creative and Community Educator’ to ensure sustainable practices, creative experiences and meaningful links with our  community are embedded into our service.

27. Educators use an inclusive anti-bias approach to ensure programs cover all abilities and learning styles. We continuously reflect on our practice; incorporate visuals and key words in home languages; and use intentional teaching to educate children on social equity and global empathy. We ensure the iKi Safe Respectful Learners and Glowing Kids Yoga programs are embedded in our service and actively involve children in growing their own food and assisting in the preparation of the food they will eat.

28. Educators are given released ‘Set Up Time’ and will set up purposeful experiences and learning areas to enhance children’s interests, extend milestone development and engage children in the learning focus of our Class Aims. The Indoor and Outdoor environments are viewed as a “third teacher”, deliberately arranged to enhance independent learning, exploration and skill development. A range of open-ended, varied, natural, recycled and manmade equipment is utilised.

 29. Educators will assess each child’s ongoing learning and development by documenting individual and group observations as part of our summative assessments of children’s learning; formative assessments for children’s learning against the five learning outcomes of the EYLF; and share assessments as children learn with families through displays and day books.

In relation to wider community:

30. We will be actively involved in our community via excursions, centre  experiences and organising family/social events both inside and outside our operating hours. From this, children learn care and empathy for others, explore the natural world, and develop a sense of belonging and community spirit. It also encourages children to become active community members and supports them to voice their concerns in matters that affect them in the wider community.

31. Educators use the wider community as a teaching tool by incorporating events into our curriculum. We celebrate and embrace gazetted days (e.g. Jeans for Genes, Sustainability activities), participate in community events (e.g. our local Show, Waste to Art, and sponsoring the Rhinos at the Zoo) and encourage donations of resources and time from community members and local businesses. We acknowledge the traditional owners, the Tubbagah people of the Wiradjuri nation. We aim to incorporate aspects of their Indigenous culture respectfully into our programs.

32. We will actively promote our service in the community and advocate for Early Childhood by welcoming early childhood students on practicums and study tours; being a member of the Dubbo Chamber of Commerce; and networking with a range of other Early Childhood Services, Organisations and Schools.

Sources:

• ACECQA, October 2011, Guide to the National Quality Standard;
• DEEWR, 2009,The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia;
• DEEWR, 2010, The Educators Guide to the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia; CCCC NSW, Summer 2012, Rattler 104 Quarterly Journal – Article: “NQS Spotlight – Philosophy”;
• Early Childhood Australia, 2011, EYLF PLP e-Newsletter No.15 ‘Our Philosophy’;
• Early Childhood Australia (2012) EYLF PLP e-Newsletter No 28 ‘Revising the service philosophy’; 
• The Education and Care Services National Law Act and Regulations 2010.