Our Philosophy

 

At Kelly’s Place Children’s Centre, we believe in the importance of reconciliation, as a community we would like to acknowledge the Cammeraygal People who are the traditional custodians of this land. We would also like to pay our respect to Elders both past, present and future of the Cammeraygal Nation and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We will guide our children to walk gently on this country, to care for the flora, the fauna and the people.

 Kelly’s Place is proudly a not-for-profit community based centre. Our strong focus on community supports and informs our governance, educational values and opportunities, and pedagogical practices. Kelly’s Place’s curriculum is guided by The Early Years Learning Framework, the anti-bias goals, child development, theoretical knowledge and the voices of our ‘community of learners’.  Our fun interesting curriculum encompasses strong caring relationships, inquiry play based learning experiences and excursions. All of these are guided by our passionate educators’ intentional teachings. 

Kelly’s Place Core Educational Values.

Relationships:

We honour deep, genuine and caring human connections. Children are caring social beings.  They are motivated to communicate and involve themselves within multiple relationships including their families, friends, educators and communities. These relationships support them to develop various understandings about the world around them. Kelly’s Place appreciates the time it takes to establish and maintain trusting and reciprocal relationships. Embedded within our educational and care practices is the ‘Circle of Security’ approach.

Positive identities:

We honour each child’s unique identity. Children have the right to feel valued, to value themselves, their family diversity and that of others. This right guides their self-awareness, their family pride, and their ability to embrace and respect human diversity. Positive self and family identity and a connection to others, will increasingly support others to recognise unfairness in our community and beyond. Kelly’s Place continuously works in partnership with the children, families, educators and community. We celebrate each child’s quirks, humour and personality.

‘Community of learners’:

We honour lifelong learning. Our curious ‘community of learners’ encompasses all our children, their families, our dedicated educators, our local and wider community connecting together to learn from one another. Children are knowledgeable, inquisitive and competent individuals who contribute to their learning environment and have an active voice in our curriculum. This fosters a sense of empowerment within children to confidently share their ideas and interests, and co-construct theories within their ‘community of learners’. Kelly’s Place’s inquiry play based curriculum is multi-facetted, embedding lifelong learning dispositions, and acknowledges the holistic child and their unique learning styles.

 At Kelly’s Place, we truly believe in relationships, positive identity and our ‘community of learners’. Children have the right to be, to belong and to become. Children have the right to feel empowered to reach their full potential. Together, Kelly’s Place celebrates the powerful journey of early childhood.

References:

  • Scarlett, R (2016). The anti-bias approach in early childhood. MultiVerse Publishing.