PHILOSOPHY
“The philosophy is the ‘why’ behind your work with children, their families and each other. It is the combination of your beliefs, values and hopes for the educational program that you provide and its outcomes.”
Early Childhood Australia, Revising the service philosophy, 2012
Our Philosophy
At the heart of our philosophy is the importance of acknowledging the child’s rights, well-being, emotional and individual needs.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to provide a nurturing, stimulating and fun playground where children, their families and educators feel safe, make memories, and enjoy a sense of belonging.
OUR VALUES
Respectful Relationships
We uphold the right for children to feel safe, respected, heard, and always have access to quality education within our service.
Children at Noriter know they are cared for, listened to, and respected and can give input into their learning.
We recognize that building relationships take time and effort. Educators are genuine and warm in their interactions with children. Educators provide a calm environment where children can develop a sense of belonging and learn to be compassionate, confident, independent, responsible, and resilient.
Reciprocal relationships with families are fostered. We strive towards a collaborative approach to working with families and ensure our families feel welcomed, supported, heard, and involved.
Making Learning Fun
Learning through play is the foundation of our Centre’s curriculum. We believe that learning is so much more motivating and effective when it is done through enjoyment and fun. This is supported by allowing them the time and space to learn through their play. We aim to inspire and ignite a passion for learning in every child by making their learning fun and engaging.
We view children as capable, competent learners with a sense of agency and autonomy. Through play, children have opportunities to communicate, work cooperatively with others, and develop confidence and a positive self-identity. We provide meaningful and authentic learning experiences based on their interests and strengths to ensure their voices and natural curiosity are respected and heard.
Our natural environment encourages children to wonder, explore, imagine, investigate, and take risks. We utilise project-based collaborative learning initiated by children, families, educators or involvement in the wider community to support creative thinking and problem-solving.
Sustainability is embedded in our practices, fostering children’s sense of appreciation for the environment and encouraging them to be environmentally responsible through caring for the land and living things.
Diversity and Inclusion
We value our rich diversity of culture, language, abilities and experiences. We invite and encourage families, children and educators to share their cultural heritage, beliefs and traditions reflected throughout our curriculum and guide our practices.
We are respectful and inclusive of all children, families, educators and the wider community. We promote an anti-bias approach where children develop an understanding of fairness and social justice and a positive attitude towards diversity.
The language immersion program is incorporated into our daily program. Children and educators explore and learn diverse cultures and languages from each other through greetings, songs, games, books and cultural celebrations.
We recognise and respect the unique culture and contribution that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people bring to our community. We are committed to providing a culturally safe environment where everyone feels safe and secure in their identity, culture and community.
Community Engagement
Community engagement is an important part of the program for children to feel connected and actively contribute to their expanding world.
We believe in developing connections with the local community, including but not limited to; local schools, businesses, community support services, cultural and indigenous organisations and incursion and excursions services to enable our children to embrace new experiences and build a better understanding of our community in which we live in.
We welcome parent contribution into our curriculum so families can share their culture and knowledge and participate in learning experiences with the children to enhance their learning.
Kindness, Compassion and Empathy are highly valued by our Noriter community members, and we seek the opportunity of giving back to those less fortunate. We hold fundraising events for various organisations such as Cancer Council, Pyjama Foundation, Epilepsy Foundation and Rural Aid Australia.
Ongoing Learning and Reflective Practice
Our service is committed to continuous improvement, working collaboratively with educators, families, children and other Early Childhood Professionals. We regularly monitor and review our policies and procedures to ensure we are delivering high quality care and education.
We believe in highly qualified educators, supporting their teaching journey and professional development to meet their individual goals and needs for their growth as a teacher, ultimately benefiting our children.
The Educator Yarning Circle of our service represents how we as a professional team respect and value each other’s ideas influenced by theory and research, then we critically reflect on these practices ongoing.
Alexa Young, CA
‘I like teachers when they cuddle me.’
Lena, 4 years
Morgan James, NY
"‘I am happy when friends play with me. Teachers are my friends too.’
Ellie, 5 years
Lisa Driver, MI
‘I like that I tasted beans at Kinder’
Keira, 3 years
Alexa Young, CA
‘We learn drawing, colouring and cutting. I love reading books.’
Easton, 4 years
Morgan James, NY
‘l like to help people when someone falls down when I grow up’
Ashleigh, 3 years
Lisa Driver, MI
‘I want to become a teacher in kinder’
Avia, 4 years
Statement of Commitment to Child Safety
We are dedicated to protecting children from abuse and neglect and promoting a child-safe environment, maintaining children’s wellbeing. We adhere to our comprehensive Child Protection Policy, standing by our mandatory reporting responsibilities to protect children from physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse and neglect.
We are dedicated to promoting cultural safety for Aboriginal children, cultural safety for children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds and providing a safe environment for children with a disability.
We work in collaboration with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and have confidence in educating children about their right to be safe. We believe in teaching children what to do if they feel unsafe and encouraging them to express their views and thoughts on matters that directly affect them.
Noriter Bilingual Early Learning is committed to the safety and well-being of all children and young people. We understand our responsibilities and statutory duty of care to comply with both the Victorian Child Safe Standards and the Reportable Conduct Scheme to build our capacity as an organisation to prevent and respond to allegations of child abuse.
We are committed to implementing and abiding by our Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy based on Child Safe Standards in Victoria, which accentuates our zero tolerance for child abuse and raises awareness about the importance of child safety in our Service and the community.
We work to ensure a clear awareness of appropriate and inappropriate behaviour towards adults and children. To maintain children's safety, we require clear precincts between children and employees, volunteers, and the community.
We value diversity and do not tolerate any discriminatory practices.
We are committed to ongoing professional development for employees to maintain their ability to distinguish and respond to situations of abuse and neglect, ensuring employees are responsive to their responsibilities in keeping children safe.
As educators we listen to and empower children to act on any concerns, they or others may raise which is reflected in our policies and procedures for keeping children safe.
“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.”
― Haim G. Ginott