After 22 years of business St. Anthony’s Child Care Centre has now been renamed St. Anthony’s Early Learning Centre.
 
The centre now caters for children from the age of 6 weeks – 6 years.
 
We are a centre that exceeds the National Quality Standards and takes pride in a consistent and well monitored program for children preparing for school. We work in collaboration with the local primary school to prepare the children for a smooth transition to school.
 
Our team includes one university trained teacher with a Bachelor of Teaching in Early Childhood, two diploma trained staff, one certificate III and one trainee. All staff are fully trained in first aide, asthma and anaphylaxis.
 
All staff possess a thorough knowledge of the Early Years Learning Framework that guides them to focussing on an interest based program that is altered to suit the needs and desires of all children on a daily basis.
 
On site is a fully qualified chef who has taken on the role of sustainability officer to manage sustainable practices. Our chef caters for the needs of all and uses Halal meat to provide substantial and nutritious meals for all attending St. Anthony’s Early Learning Centre.
 
St. Anthony’s Early Learning Centre is open 51 weeks in the year and closes for one week over the Christmas period and is closed for all public holidays. All enquires welcome so please contact us as we look forward to your comments and input.

Centre Philosophy - Patricia Crofts

St Anthony’s Child Care Centre is governed by the Code of Ethics, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the introduction to the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. We believe that this will form a foundation ensuring that we provide the best possible care for all children attending our Centre.

We understand that every child is unique in their development and that they learn in a variety of ways which are reflective of their needs, wants and interest.

Our aim is to create a feeling of Belonging, Being and Becoming………

We believe that in order to encourage the children to belong, we will need to respect and acknowledge all cultures. This will form the basis of a relationship that defines self-identity and self-worth. By providing an inclusive teaching practice we can encourage children and families to become active participants in daily events. We will assist in providing essential knowledge that will form a partnership between families and educators; this will encourage partnership in the learning experience.

We have a strong belief that the children will learn from play based experiences that are guided by quality teaching and learning. By encouraging the children to become active participants, they will bring an array of knowledge that will be shared by others and will result in a positive, fun environment that will bring warmth and richness to the Centre. We believe that by allowing the children to be part of this development we will create a foundation for the rest of the child’s life and that it will lead to the children showing respect towards families, culture and the languages which they bring with them.

The children attending St Anthony’s Child Care Centre will be exposed to a variety of children/adults from various cultural backgrounds that may have additional needs. These needs will be planned for and incorporated in to, the Centre in a positive way; this will guide the children into accepting and understanding other ways of being.

We respect the diverse nature of all those surrounding us and will incorporate all dates of importance into our educational program. We believe that by doing this we will provide a clearer view of all cultures around us, this will assist us to accept people for who they are and who they want to be.

We believe in promoting self-confidence and will plan according to the children’s best interest and needs; fostering their physical, social/emotional, cognitive, language and creative development. We understand the need to listen to all families around us and will respect the parents/caregivers as the children’s first educator. We will continue to guide them through their beliefs; extending their knowledge of how, why and when.

We believe that the staff will have a major influence on everything the children see and do and we will be proactive in improving our standards through on-going learning and a reflective practice. We believe that change should be a natural progression of improvement in standards and incorporation of parental concerns and ideas. We plan to form a partnership that is reciprocal and respectful to the needs of all attending St Anthony’s Childcare Centre.

We believe that every child has the right to feel safe and secure in their surroundings. It is our intension to manage child behaviour by reinforcing positive behaviour and guiding them through inappropriate behaviour.

We believe that all children should be exposed to nutritious food that in order to promote a healthy body and mind. We will be proactive in their dietary intake and cater for all cultures and dietary needs.

We believe that by enforcing our philosophy we will influence the children to make lifelong decisions that will have a major influence on how they set and reach personal goals and view the world surrounding them, thus creating a foundation to provide the best possible education for all children attending St Anthony’s Child Care Centre.

Reviewed by Patricia Crofts (ECT) February 9th 2012. Guided by The United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child (1989), The Code of Ethics, Early Childhood Australia, (2009). The Early Years Learning Framework (2009), The Council of Australian Government’s.