At John Brotchie Nursery School the children will feel safe and cared for. They will also have the opportunity to develop confidence and creativity in a social environment. The children will learn through a play-based curriculum, which is stimulating, challenging and meaningful to their current interests, strengths and abilities. We will build upon the children's capabilities and their natural inclination to learn. We also recognise the individuality and uniqueness of each child and our experiences at John Brotchie Nursery School will reflect this.
At John Brotchie Nursery School we pride ourselves on implementing a curriculum based on contemporary theories, research and early childhood pedagogy. We believe and support the principles and practice of The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia Being, Belonging and Becoming.
The following Principles underpin our practice with the focus of helping children to develop the dispositions of a confident learner for the 21st century.
Secure, respectful and reciprocal relationships: we believe that children's wellbeing and ability to be part of a community is supported through building secure environments and relationships. At John Brotchie, we see children as capable and they learn best when they are respected, trusted, valued and interacted with in a positive way.
Partnerships: at John Brotchie we believe that families are the first and most influential teachers in a child's life. We will work in partnership with families to have open communication, make shared decisions, to use their knowledge and skills to guide our curriculum.
High expectations & equity: we feel children achieve their highest potential when they, their families and educators hold high expectations. We continually strive to find equitable and effective ways to ensure that all our children have opportunities to achieve. We know that children are all individual and therefore achievement is also varied and individual.
Respect for diversity: Educators at John Brotchie honour the histories, cultures, languages, traditions, child rearing practices and life style choices of families. Through our relationships and conversations with families and children we will reflect our respect for diversity throughout our curriculum.
Ongoing learning & reflective practice: Educators at John Brotchie will continually seek ways to build their professional knowledge. We are willing to trial and implement contemporary beliefs and early childhood pedagogy. Our educators will engage in ongoing critical reflection of our curriculum and practices to inform decision-making and therefore to achieve the best possible outcomes for our children.
Practice:The principles mentioned above underpin our everyday practice. Our educators draw on a range of strategies to promote children's learning including:
- adopting holistic approaches
- being responsive to children
- planning and implementing learning through play
- intentional teaching
- creating physical and social learning
- environments that have a positive impact on children's learning
- valuing the cultural and social contexts of children and their families
- providing for continuity in experiences and enabling children to have successful transition
- assessing and monitoring children's learning to inform provision and to support children in achieving learning outcomes.
