At Somerville Kindergarten we believe in creating a positive, supportive and friendly centre for children and their families to belong to and feel welcomed and involved in their child’s education and community.
Respectful relationships involve staff and families connecting to show acceptance and support of all families in our community, acknowledging diversity and valuing uniqueness, regardless of culture, religion or sex.
We believe that working in partnership with families enriches the service we provide to our community, creating an environment that is inclusive and provides a sense of belonging. We will support and help children in their learning about themselves and their world to establish meaningful connections to their world and those in it.
We want children to be able to learn and develop in our Kindergarten through following their interests and experiences. We want each child to reach their potential through accessing learning areas of our program be providing play and learning areas that cater to children’s individuality and expected learning outcomes for each child. We acknowledge that each child learns differently and we will help motivate and ensure each child feels success in who they are and their learning. We want children to be confident learners, self-motivated, challenged, engaged and enjoy themselves along the way in a happy, stimulating and welcoming learning environment.
We want children to learn and play in a natural environment and have freedom to express ideas and be encouraged to follow through, extend interests and reflect on what they have learnt. Our natural environment will include our surroundings, items from nature (beach, bush, garden, forest, etc.) and living through incursions and excursions from the Mornington Peninsula. Our families have expressed their values in care, friendliness and structure o we will support these values in our program and approach. We believe in a group eating time where children and educators sit together in a relaxed social setting. We value mat and circle times with groups where children learn to sit and contribute and listen to each other and educators. We will provide child initiated teacher initiated learning experiences for all children.
We value healthy lifestyles and will provide families with information and support to practice healthy choices and provide healthy food for their child whilst at kindergarten. We respect cultural diversity and will provide opportunities from a multi-cultural perspective. We also believe our curriculum should reflect an understanding of aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing and being.
The staff at Somerville Kindergarten believe in a holistic approach to learning and believe reflective practices is of great importance to engaging children learning and teaching within our centre. We believe that the children’s emergent learning and development outcomes should foster children to:
- Have a strong sense of identity
- Be connected and contribute to their world
- Have a strong sense of wellbeing
- Be confident and involved learners
- Be effective communicators