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23 Boundary Rd
LIVERPOOL NSW 2170
Ph: 9600 8333
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Welcome to Young Achievers Early Learning Centre. We trust that your experience at our learning centre will be one that is enriching, insightful and educational. We hope to build a strong foundation upon which your child can further develop and grow in their later years. The aim of Young Achievers is to nurture young Australian dreams and as such, we believe that a firm foundation, built in the critical years of early childhood will provide a springboard for later confidence following the ‘Early Years Learning Framework’ supporting children in Belonging, Being and Becoming. We hope that this confidence will allow the children to move into primary school with a sense of self-esteem that will allow them to perceive learning as a journey and a challenge, not something to be feared but rather, embraced.
As a working mother, I understand that parents find that their position is not very different to that of a juggler's. They have the juggler’s balls of "partners", "management", "deadlines", "finance", and most importantly, "children" constantly floating and in need of their attention. I also understand that your children are your most precious assets and their future is more important to you than all the jewels in the world, whilst I know that children are children and they are most beautiful when they laugh and play, I believe that as teachers in early childhood, we need to provide them with a stepping stone to the future they dream of. My goal for each child passing through these doors is that their time here will be filled with educational fun and through the carefully planned activities; they will grow to love learning and smile through life.
I believe that an education orientated approach to childcare, highlighting the fun in learning will be the right step in your child's educational pathway. This centre will facilitate this step. It has been my personal dream to be part of an establishment that can play an active role in nurturing young Australian dreams. I thank you for allowing me to share my love and passion for my career and hope that you will let us share part of your family's journey.
Kathy Memovic (Director of Young Achievers)
Young Achievers E.L.C. Centre Philosophy 2013
Developed by: Educators of Young Achievers; Kathy Memovic, Nancy Truong, Zeinab Rabah, Cheryl Whitmore, Irma Mahir, Isabelita la Mendola, Hinemoa Luausu, Monica Garro, Natasha Toseski
Children
- Children are capable and resourceful learners who are active contributors to their own learning
- Children are assisted to build lifelong skills with the help of educators in scaffolding children's learning
- Children need to be valued as individuals, within the context of their family and their community.
- Children can develop confidence and positive self-esteem through a supportive and secure environment
- Provide children secure trusting relationship and continuity of care
- Support children to work with others, learn from and help others through collaborative learning opportunities
- Assist children to understand social rules develop acceptable social skills and learn to manage own behaviour as well as being able to handle conflict
- Implement a child-centered program based upon the principles outlined in the NSW curriculum framework and the National Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) – ‘Belonging, Being & Becoming’
- Strive to empower children, by using their thoughts and ideas to develop the program
- Promote each child’s confidence and positive self-image through a range of provisions, experiences and opportunities that build upon their understandings, skills, values and sensitivities and promote success
- Implement an inclusive approach to positively support children’s growth of identity, self-esteem and critical thinking
- Encourage each child to reach their full potential in accordance with their individual ability
Families
- Trust, respect and collaboration form the basis for strong partnerships between families and staff
- Families are welcomed to the service and are provided with vital information about the centre as well as being involved in the service and contribute to service decisions.
- Provide families with ongoing information about the centre and inform of any changes
- Families, children and staff form a caring community
- Assist families to have access to community services as well as providing families directory to health services to support parenting
- Family involvement is integral to a high quality program we:
- Are committed to open and constructive communication with families which includes discussions, child portfolios, daily diary and newsletters
- Strive to have empathy and be responsive to family needs, and provide support when required
- Encourage families to engage in meaningful participation within the program
- The Program
- Children learn through collaboration and communication with other children and adults and through interacting with the environment
- Children need opportunities to practice and consolidate their skills in key learning areas including: language and literacy; creative and expressive arts; mathematics; science and social and emotional development and work towards learning outcomes as expressed in the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) – ‘Belonging, Being & Becoming’
- A rich, stimulating and nurturing environment has the potential to stimulate imagination, promote creativity and enhance aesthetic development
- Diversity within our centre, families, staff and wider community should be respected and celebrated and that we can play a role in fostering and developing a social conscience among children with a view to addressing social in-equities.
- Implement a flexible program that is responsive to the evolving nature of the early childhood environment and that provides for different learning styles
- Make observations of children and document their work to form the basis of the program
- Use both the indoor and outdoor environment to encourage the children’s ability to observe, perceive, explore, investigate, imagine, make choices and problem solve.
- Provide attractive, well maintained play areas, with the thoughtful use of furnishings and displays
- Introduce children to a wide range of social and cultural experiences, family types and different ways of doing things so they will learn to value diversity, learn to accept challenges they may face and become fully realised members of society.
Staff
- In employing staff who are committed to working for the best interests of children and families
- That each staff member brings fundamental, personal qualities to the centre environment such as empathy, respect, warmth and a passion for learning
- In the importance of creating an environment of collegiality where personal and professional contributions are valued, communication is open and confidentiality is maintained:
- Provide opportunities for staff to share in decision making and to obtain feedback
- Provide a safe and comfortable working environment with release time for programming and other duties
- Provide ongoing professional development for staff
Community
- We must strive to be a centre of excellence for early childhood education within our community
- As advocates for our profession, it is important to share our knowledge and experience
- We are a central link to information and support services within the wider community
- In the importance of nurturing established relationships with community organizations, council and local schools
- The needs of children, families, staff and the community are constantly changing and that ongoing evaluation is essential to create a service that is responsive to those needer fore we:
- Ensure that we operate within the guidelines set down by governing and professional bodies
- Use the established channels of communication with committee, council and the community
- Encourage Early Childhood and work experience students to take part in our program
- Utilise local services in an effective and meaningful way
- Participate in community events
- Evaluate our centre goals and program regularly
From this philosophy we have developed many policies, which provide guidelines for the operation of our centre. Policy review and development is ongoing. Current policies are located on the veranda at the parent library area just outside the Billabong room.
The first day in a new environment can be quite daunting and yet exciting for a child. There are new faces, new surrounds, new rules and new expectations. At Young Achievers Early Learning Centre, we endeavour to ensure that your child's first experiences at the centre are positive and happy. To achieve this, we feel it is important to provide the child with an opportunity to meet staff and children in a manner which is non-threatening.
Our orientation days will help familiarise children and their parents with the daily routine and activities and also get to know staff much closer to build strong relationships and trust.
Procedure
- Upon confirmation of a child's enrolment at the centre, the Director will discuss with the parents the opportunity to visit the centre for "lead-up" visits. These visits can be as short as a few hours or as long as one or two days if the parent or Director deems necessary.
- A parent will attend with the child on days and times mutually agreed between parents and the Director.
- In order to maintain our staff - child ratios, parents will be required to remain with their child for the duration of the visit/s.
- The child will be encouraged to participate as fully as possible in the routine but staff understands that many new children will prefer simply to watch.
Staff will show children and parents the daily routine, Daily reflective diary (program), the child's locker, toilet area and the information areas for parents and any other necessary information that the parents may request on visits. No fee will be charged for pre-visits. Fees will begin upon commencement.
THE FIRST WEEK
The Director will recommend that parents pick their child up early for the first few days. This will assist in reassuring your child that their parents will return to collect them.
All staff members will take responsibility for welcoming the child each morning and assisting your child in settling. Getting to know each staff member assists in building trust and security for the children and can help in settling at school.
Rest routine will be explained in detail and the child will be encouraged to bring an appropriate security item (i.e. Favourite toy etc.) for rest time if necessary.
Whilst children are generally not encouraged to bring toys and personal items to the centre, new children will be allowed to bring a soft toy to hold onto until he/she is settled.
For lunchtime, some children may not be adjusted to our menu or foods served. Parents are welcome to discuss their mealtimes at home and staff will be able to discuss what we can do to assist your child in settling for meal times.
The child's teacher will provide daily feedback to parents in regards to their child's day. Staff will actively encourage parents to ring as often as they wish throughout the day to check on their child.
What to bring
It is the policy of the centre that you should follow the "What to Bring List" in order that you will counter a smooth transition enrolment period.
Please ensure that you follow the "What not to Bring" list to ensure the safety and comfort of other children with in our care.
What to Bring:
We encourage families to bring a small (clear labelled) school bag to place your entire child's personal belongings such as a sun hat, some spare change of clothing, socks, under wears, suitable comfort toy or blanket for your children to settle if they are unable to settle. All shoes, hat and clothing items must be clearly labelled to prevent getting lost or confused with other children attending.
If your child has been prescribed with medication from a G.P. please ensure that you complete the medication authorisation form and please personally hand the medication to the group leaders in your child’s room being Cheryl Whitmore or Isabelita La Mendola. If you child requires a specific sunscreen or nappy rash cream please supply a labelled Tube and please hand it to a staff member and do not leave it in your child's bag for safety reasons. If your child requires repellent, please apply this before attending school.
On enrolment you must bring your blue book to supply the centre with your child's Immunisation Details. Please make sure your children are up to date with immunisation so if an outbreak is to occur your child is protected.
If your child suffers from asthma; you must provide us with a current Doctor's Asthma Plan and a labelled puffer if necessary for emergency use.
If your child is anaphylactic or has a anaphylaxis response to certain allergens Please supply us with a current Doctor's Plan to Anaphylaxis situation and an epi pen labelled for your child.
Please supply us with each of the names of the contact person that you have nominated for your child's emergency pick up records. These will be added to your contact list and if it is their first time picking up we will need identification (drivers licence) to make sure that is the person identified on the emergency contact list.
If you have any court case orders; please supply on enrolment. These are important to us.
If your child does not speak any English and it is his or her first time in care, Please supply us with a list of key words in your home language to assists us in settling your child.
What not to bring!
Please discourage your child from bringing personal toys to the Centre, this is to ensure that undesirable or unsafe toy parts are not to be available to other children in care. This also includes money as coins can be swallowed by children and also small objects from home. We are also not liable for lost money brought in. Please discourage children from bringing in notes and coins. We also advise parents to please be aware of what is insode their children’s bags when brought to school, foods, drinks, toys and medication should not be inside their bags and should be removed before attending school. Children are not permitted to bring food from home, this is to ensure that we eliminate all allergens to the centre and protect all children in care.
Please do not bring "UNprescribed medicine to the centre; medicine such as Panadol, cough medicine etc. as we can only administer this during an emergency otherwise parents need to administer this before attending school or may come to school to administer it to their children. Please do not place any form of medicine or products which may causes harm such as choking or poisonous in your child's bag as other children may have access from their locker.
Please do not allow your child to wear expensive jewellery to the centre as staff will not be responsible for your child's lost of jewellery items.
Please dress your child in clothing that you consider comfortable, appropriate and for school use. If in the event that your child has fun during the day and may encounter splashes of paint or dirt and may be hard to remove. Please do send your child in their best clothing which in the event that it gets soiled or painted which is hard to remove and will cause great up set to you and your family. Children are unpredictable and staff will monitor them as best they can for you throughout the daily activities. Protection and use of aprons are available at all times but at times children may do otherwise.
Birthday Cakes and lollies are NOT ACCEPTED from home; however please refer to our Birthday Policy. (Once again this is done to protect the interests of all children and for those in particular with a life or death anaphylaxis reaction to certain allergens.
School readiness
It is the policy of this centre to focus on school readiness for children within the preschool group. Parents shall be consulted and advised on what is expected to assist their child/ren to prepare them for primary school or as children call it “Big School”.
Procedure:
- A school readiness pack shall be given out at these meetings. The centre shall seek the parents' input and follow up on parents' requests to tailor for their child's learning.
- Parents will be given a checklist in order to assist them in evaluating their child's personal abilities and will help parents to honestly determine whether their child/ren is ready for primary school.
- Each child will be given a written summary from their focus teacher. The summary shall place your child's progress on a developmental continuum to indicate their school readiness level.
- Prior to enrolling your child for primary school it is encouraged that you consult your child's focus teacher on their development. This is to ensure that children will not feel disadvantaged in their kindergarten year if they are not cognitively, socially or emotionally ready.
Education program – The Early Years Learning Framework is part of the Council of Australian Government’s (COAG) reform agenda for early childhood education and care and is a key component of the Australian Government’s National Quality Framework for early childhood education and care. It underpins universal access to early childhood education and has been incorporated in the National Quality Standard in order to ensure delivery of nationally consistent and quality early childhood education across sectors and jurisdictions.
The Early Years Learning Framework describes the principles, practice and outcomes essential to support and enhance young children’s learning from birth to five years of age, as well as their transition to school. The Framework has a strong emphasis on play-based learning as play is the best vehicle for young children’s learning providing the most appropriate stimulus for brain development. The Framework also recognises the importance of communication and language (including early literacy and numeracy) and social and emotional development.
The 5 EYLF Learning Outcomes
Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity
- 1.1 Children feel safe, secure, and supported
- 1.2 Children develop their emerging autonomy, inter-dependence, resilience and sense of agency
- 1.3 Children develop knowledgeable and confident self-identities
- 1.4 Children learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect
Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world
- 2.1 Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the
- 2.2 reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation
- 2.3 Children respond to diversity with respect
- 2.4 Children become aware of fairness
- 2.5 Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment
Outcome 3: Children have a strong sense of wellbeing
- 3.1 Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the
- 3.2 reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation
Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners.
- 4.1 Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity
- 4.2 Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, enquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating
- 4.3 Children transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another
- 4.4 Children resource their own learning through connecting with people, place, technologies and natural and processed materials.
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators.
- 5.1 Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes
- 5.2 Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts
- 5.3 Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media
- 5.4 Children begin to understand how symbols and pattern systems work
- 5.5 Children use information and communication technologies to access information, investigate ideas and represent their thinking
Family Involvement
It is the policy of this centre to welcome all family involvement. Our open door policy invites families to be actively a part of our learning experiences. We believe that your presence within the centre will enrich our children's learning experiences and helps draw you close to your children's development even though our world restricts us through career commitments.
Procedure:
- At any time you wish to be a part of our centre's daily learning experiences, please notify your group leader or centre director of your availability and involvement you wish to offer.
- We value your input and constructive comments, therefore, we have provided Parent Input Forms regarding our centre policies, menu, program and centre presentation. A suggestion box for these forms and other general comments are available in the foyer and in each of the teaching rooms.
- We endeavour to hold centre events such as Grandparents' Day, mother’s day and father’s day Morning Tea and Afternoon Tea and many other cultural and non-cultural events that parents can attend at the centre. We hope that parents and guardians will enhance the festivities of these events by attending and sharing the events that have meaning to them.
- Accreditation is a very important process of our centre's growth and improvement. It is vital that all families take part in the accreditation process thereby we would like to invite all families to attend our accreditation Family and Friends meeting held monthly. The purpose of these meetings is to evaluate the different principles of the accreditation areas. At these meetings we will discuss all the accreditation areas in fine detail. The centre director will report to the council group of the centre's progress in working towards these accreditation areas. The centre director will then ask families to support and evaluate where the centre is at and perhaps set short term goals to achieve high quality standards for all of the accreditation areas.
- Please remember that this process is all about improvement and your input can only benefit your child's daily experience at the centre. It is our aim always to provide high quality care for your precious gemstones (children). We will put in 110% to strive for high quality. We ask for your support to validate that our centre's personal self-study is true and correct.
- A Parents and Friends Group (P&F) will be established where parents and guardians are able to meet with the centre director and staff once a month in an informal setting. At these meetings, we will discuss our daily operational issues, report on our centre's achievements, set short term and long term goals for the centre. Also, this provides an informal gathering where families can get to know each other to build on their children's friendship circle within the centre.
Communication
It is the centre policy that we provide families with a communication book found at our sign in shelf in each room. Should families that cannot attend the centre to pick up their child/ren and uses other extended family/friends, they can commute through this book and share ideas, give suggestions and even give feedback to all staff about their experience and overall service. It is our aim to communicate to our families personally and eliminate notes or written communicate as we would like to give you the personalised customer service.
For those families that have access to the internet and those whose work allows email access, please provide your work or personal email address so that we can send newsletters and various notices to inform you of the centre's events and health alerts.
Young Achievers Early Learning Centre will encourage parent input and feedback through a variety of centre activities, written materials and ongoing interactions with them.
The avenues of communication which will be provided by Young Achievers Early Learning Centre will include the following:
Parent Meetings
- Parent and Friends
- Parent/Teacher meetings
- Fundraising
- Talks by community members
Parent committees will aim for parents, staff and other interested persons to work together in their complimentary roles. Such committees will define the philosophy and goals that guide the program, the style of interactions and various other activities conducted by the centre.
Written feedback
- Sign in/out attendance books with space for parent or staff comments.
- Sleep/eat charts (written daily)
- Room notices (upcoming events, illnesses, reminders etc.).
- Menu Board (each room)
- Newsletters (published periodically) - These will provide Parents with an overview of centre events, important dates and reminders, policy reviews and helpful information. (sent through email and placed at foyer to read)
- Reception notice boards - changed regularly to reflect upcoming events, parent reminders and changes to policies etc.
- Progress reports for individual children - (one mid-year report per child per year in Billabong and Possum Room.).
- Individual Observations - staff will maintain records on each child's development one per month. Parents may request to see these at a mutually agreed time with the room leader.
- Children’s personal profiles containing observations, personal information and goals and also photos and events (electronically stored and in files)
- Parent Information stand - A range of pamphlets and other written resources for parents to take away.
Other
- Social nights - Parents will have the opportunity to meet other parents at various social evenings held throughout the year.
Parents should acknowledge that staff may not be able to speak at length about their child on a daily basis due to supervision requirements. Parents will always be encouraged to seek further information about their child's development by arranging a time mutually agreed upon with the relevant staff member for a 15 minute parent and teacher meeting.
Multiculturalism
At Young Achievers we believe strongly in sharing our cultures and beliefs with one another to teach children compassion, acceptance and respect with one another, We aim to provide a sense of belonging and understanding of one another and reflect this in our program.
Policy: It is the policy of the Centre that our program will reflect and will include Multicultural aspect of our surrounding neighbours and our diverse society today. The children will be taught to respect and appreciate the differences in our Multicultural Society; we will celebrate the different Celebration of the World.
Aim:
To teach the children about different parts of the world
To teach children about the differences in people and where they live
To teach children about respecting our differences and appreciating the different cultures around the world
To teach children about the different food people eat; what they wear; and how they live
To teach children about the different Celebration of the World
Procedure:
- For staff to show children a world Globe and discuss about the different Countries around the world
- For staff to show pictures and books about people around the world
- For staff to talk and explain to children about the differences in the way we look, the way we dress, the different food we eat and the work we do.
- For staff to teach about respecting our differences
- For staff to teach children about the Celebration around the world
Children with special needs will not be discriminated against with regard to enrolment into the centre. Depending on the expertise and facilities of the centre and its staff, we may advise that our centre either can or cannot sufficiently provide the required care for the child.
The centre has access to a pool of special needs workers called *SUPPS WORKERS funded by the Federal Government. These workers will assist staff with the integration of special needs children and compile an individual program for each child and work on a one to one basis with the child and parents.
Our centre will treat each child as an individual and will support his/her own special needs.
There will be inservice training opportunities for all staff on particular needs throughout the year and staff will be encouraged to attend.
* The availability of SUPPS WORKERS is subject to the continuance of government funding.
It is the policy of the centre that the centre operational hours is governed by the Department of Community Services which stipulates the operational hours in which the centre is licensed to operate.
Our operational hours are: Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm
Procedure
The centre will be opened at 7am and not earlier. Children must be signed-in and personally handed over to a staff member upon arrival.
All children must be picked up by 6pm and no later. Should you or your family encounter an unexpected emergency or is held up due to unforeseen circumstances and it is not a regular occurrence, you must notify the centre by telephone to notify the centre staff of your current situation and inform staff of your expected arrival time. A late fee will be charged regardless of the situation due to the staffing costs that are incurred after operational hours.
23 Boundary Rd
LIVERPOOL NSW 2170
Ph: 9600 8333
Please feel free to call us on the number above or complete the form below and we will contact you as soon as possible.
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