Griffith Central Preschool – Philosophy
Through its early childhood services Dorothy Waide Centre For Early Learning and Griffith Central Preschool; Griffith Child Care Centre Inc, is committed to provide the best quality early childhood care and education for children and families within the Griffith and surrounding community. Overall, we hope to create an environment where children can become enthusiastic, inquisitive and challenged. Children are encouraged to follow their own interests; they become in a sense a catalyst for their own curriculum.
Our Service
We are committed to provide children with a quality Early Childhood Education which they deserve. Through our commitment to provide children with quality care and education, we provide a large open natural environment that acts as the “third teacher” encouraging exploration, imagination and reflection of the natural world.
Along with our amazing play spaces and qualified staff we believe we have all the correct tools for guiding children’s learning paths in the best way possible. We enable higher educator/child ratios and Educators hold a range of qualifications and years of experience. With this, here at GCP we can build an understanding and knowledge of how to further support children’s learning and development. Educators are committed to ongoing professional development to further guide, support and inspire our practice and pedagogy.
As educators we aim to inspire children’s lifelong learning.
Our Program
We believe that all children deserve a right to a quality education. We believe what children learn in Early Childhood will assist them throughout their lives, set them up for their future and scaffold their lifelong learning.
Our play-based program is ever-evolving and allows for children’s individuality to be represented.
Guided by the Early Years Learning Framework, we provide a program that is influenced by the children’s interests, knowledge, and developmental needs.
GCP implements a ‘Whole Curriculum Approach”, whereby both out playrooms are open for children to play and engage with one another. Through the implementation of this approach, we allow children and educators to collaboratively extend on social / emotional development and provide children with a wide variety of play spaces to engage and explore. This allows for children to further build on resilience and ability to adapt to change.
Our Relationships
Here at GCP we thrive on building strong relationships with children and families – respecting each child and their family’s individuality. We believe parents are the ‘number one’ teacher in a child’s life, which is why we value their ongoing input and involvement to collaboratively work with the children within our service. We ensure our interactions are warm, caring and responsive through facilitating strong and meaningful relationships with each individual child.
The relationships that we build with children, further assist children with resilience, self-esteem, and overall sense of belonging to our service.
Our Community
We have a vast community at Griffith Central consisting of our Corporation’s Board, staff, families, children, and the wider Griffith community. By embracing our community and building on these connections we, as a service, are able to connect to children and their families.
For us as an early childhood service it creates a sense of belonging within Griffith and its surrounding areas, allowing us to be informed and partake in events within our local community.
Inclusive Practice
Griffith Central Preschool has a strong belief in embracing the cultural diversity we have within the service and wider community. We acknowledge, respect and appreciate the cultural beliefs, customs, religion and value of the uniqueness of each child. The multicultural backgrounds we have within our preschool community add to our service identity.
We place a value on ensuring that our program is accessible and meaningful for all and that it supports each child’s various needs, developmental milestones and unique qualities.
We acknowledge and respect the traditional custodians of Australia. We acknowledge that the preschool stands on the land of Wiradjuri people and that this land continues to be sacred to them, we pay our respects to Elders past and present.