Roderick Street Community Kindergarten Philosophy
At Roderick Street Kindergarten we nurture our builders, creators, detectives, nature lovers, risk takers, artists, storytellers and explorers through play!
An Environment to Inspire Learning ~ Roderick Street Community Kindergarten is a place of learning where children, teachers and parents come together in a supportive, nurturing environment. We provide welcoming, natural, beautiful and inspiring environments where children’s curiosity and wonder are sparked. These environments promote conversation, interaction and exploration. We feel it is important to encourage the children to respect and care for the environment and we aim to raise awareness of sustainable practices with them.
Everyone is Welcomed and Included ~ We celebrate and embrace the diversity and the uniqueness of every child and family and commit to building our cultural competence within the kindergarten community and beyond. We encourage an awareness of the importance of recognising and respecting one another’s shared and unique rights.
Indigenous Perspectives are Embedded ~ We respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners of the land where our kindergarten stands. This land has been occupied and cared for by their ancestors for countless generations. Connections to Australia and our Indigenous past and present are valued and their cultural richness is embedded into the teaching and learning at our site. We strive to build our knowledge and collaborate with First Nations Peoples to foster mutually positive and respectful relations.
Relationships and Partnerships are Key ~ Meaningful relationships and partnerships are essential to children’s well-being and thus help to foster children’s learning. Central to our philosophy are the values of respect, trust, honesty, integrity, compassion, courage and resilience. We want the children to feel secure, nurtured, respected and believed in. Thoughtful and sustained conversations between children and their teachers are conducive to a relaxed and vibrant place of learning. The rights of each child are paramount. The role of parents and families is both respected and supported and at our kindergarten, we view their input as an integral part of our programs.
Play is Paramount ~ At Roderick Street Kindergarten, we recognise the value and richness of play as the vehicle for children’s learning. The provision of a play based curriculum is the foundation of a quality early childhood environment. The children need long, uninterrupted blocks of play and we believe that they need the opportunity to return to unfinished work until they are satisfied. All of the Educators at Roderick Street Kindergarten are guided by the Early Years Learning Framework, the Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guidelines, the National Quality Framework and C&K’s own curriculum framework – Living and Learning Together.
Children’s Rights are Crucial ~ We recognise people as unique individuals who will have strengths to contribute and work alongside each other. To this end, we view children as competent and capable with rights and responsibilities. We believe they have a right to investigate what is of interest to them. Children are individuals with different learning capacities, who learn in many ways within the context of their family, their community and the wider world. We support children in their efforts to become independent, creative problem-solvers who are confident to represent their understanding, knowledge and thinking in their own ways.
We recognise and value children as active agents in their own learning. Learning is planned collaboratively with the children and connects with prior and present experiences and their future life and learning. Parents and teachers share the responsibility for the education of children. We believe that everyone in our learning community is beautifully unique and has a wealth of knowledge, which we love to honour. The children’s ideas and explorations are highly valued and teachers use meaningful and respectful conversations and questioning to encourage deeper thinking and problem solving. We offer a wide variety of inclusive and open-ended materials and resources, books and technology to involve the children in inquiry based learning and creative endeavours.
As Early Childhood Professionals, our staff are passionate about celebrating early childhood. They act in partnership with children and their families to lead and promote positive changes for everyone involved.
(Updated September 2023 in consultation with children, staff, families, committee members and community)