Philosophy
We follow the social-cultural approach with emphasis on Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky.
“Together may we give our children the roots to grow and the wings to fly”
Community and Diversity
Kinder Cottage acknowledges and respects the original custodians of this land, the Yugambeh People, and acknowledges all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and multiple cultures, as we celebrate the benefits of diversity and honour our differences.
We strongly value the varying customs and beliefs that families bring to our centre. These values and beliefs are part of our ongoing journey and lifelong skills.
Partnerships with Parents
At Kinder Cottage Early Education Centre, we work in partnership with our families and community to provide an environment where kids can be kids and learn through play, exploring the environment around them.
We believe families are the best teachers for the children and we extend on this by creating home learning environments, giving the children a sense of belonging and helping to create a comfortable learning environment.
We view the partnerships with our families as vital and see parent and family participation as a crucial part of a successful learning environment.
We believe in ongoing communication with families and in developing meaningful connections to enhance learning outcomes for children and to assist in consistency between home and our centre.
Program and Practice
As Educators, part of our role is to support children in making choices and encourage them to express and explore their knowledge and thoughts.
We believe in the influence of childcare theorists Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget where the major theme of Vygotsky’s approach is that social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of cognition.
Vygotsky believed in learning through interaction with others and Piaget theorised that children construct an understanding of the world around them. Educators use this knowledge to shape their curriculum and activities to produce an environment where children can “learn through play and experience”.
The programme promotes play as the emphasis through a process of exploring, problem solving, social interaction, role play, communicating and most importantly listening to children which enables them to enhance their skills in areas such as language, self-help, cognitive, social interaction and fine/gross motor skills.
Kinder Cottage embraces the Being, Belonging and Becoming Principals of the Early Years Learning Framework (ELYF) and the National Quality Framework (NQF).
Our centre will continue to reflect, improve and evolve in relation to our Quality Improvement Plan, as needed based on feedback from the Educators, Families and Community.
Children’s Well being
We recognise the importance of a safe environment and respect the rights of all children and will protect them from harm to the best of our ability.
We believe in fostering sustainable practices within our centre, involving the children, as we continue our journey towards a sustainable future for the wellbeing of all in the community.
Our team at Kinder Cottage believe it is important to be open to continuous learning and sharing of knowledge and skills from parents and the community and be constantly developing.
We will use continuous critical reflection to promote ongoing best practice. Through this our team will be modelling to the children that we are all a community of lifelong learners.
