Fairfield Early Learning Centre

Our Philosophy

Across all our centres, we implement our very own centre philosophy – or guiding principles that inform our everyday practises – that are developed together with our children, families, educators and teachers.

OUR PEOPLE

We are everything because of our people. We approach all our work with people with respect, ethics, integrity and empathy. We collaborate, communicate and make decisions WITH people. Our village is made up of children, families and teaching teams that empower each other to share their voices in the best interest of the child.

“Find a group of people that challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life forever”, Amy Poehler

OUR PLACES TO BE

We see our learning environments as a third teacher that offers invitations to explore and investigate. They are places that develop, challenge and build children’s capacities with materials and relationships. We are thoughtful, mindful and deliberate about what environments and materials are provided and how these are presented as we believe this directly effects the way a child comes to the learning experience. When we speak of environments we value both the indoors and outdoors equally and have a particular emphasis on engaging learning that respects our natural eco systems, sustainability and environmental awareness.

“Belonging doesn’t require us to change who we are; it requires us to BE who we are”, Brene Brown

OUR PEDAGOGY

Children learn through relationships with people, places and things. All good relationships start with trust and safety first. We recognise that through trust and feeling safe that children’s wellbeing is strengthened. We engage a ‘primary caregiver’ approach which honours the important attachment needed for the child and family as they engage in the early childhood environment.

Play is the context for children’s learning. Through play children learn to take risks, explore, experiment and learn about the world around them. We believe in real-world learning that is underpinned by children’s natural inquiry. Starting with what children are curious about, what they wonder about and what they think about allows us as a teaching team to wrap the curriculum around learning in meaningful ways.

“A learning organisation is one that is continually expanding its capacity to create its future”, Peter Senge

OUR PARTNERSHIPS

We believe in the power of connecting with our community beyond participation but through partnership. We establish connections through strong and authentic relationships with our local community by purposefully building links between what our community values and engaging this within our educational programs. Part of our village is our community and we recognise the strength and diversity this offers to our educational program. We believe in being in our community, being connected and present with the people, places and things that make us unique.

“It takes a village to raise a child”,  African proverb

OUR PLAYGROUND TO PLATE®

Our Playground to Plate ® is a food garden program that aims to revolutionise the relationship that children have with food from infancy through to school age. It is our commitment to laying the foundation for a healthy and active lifestyle from a young age. This program is led by a professional garden educator who is a qualified horticulturalist. We believe by implementing a food garden we can revolutionise the way children think about food and the environment by learning how the food system works, how food is grown, and the value of preparing and sharing healthy food together. Our Playground to Plate ® program creates strong connections between what children grow to what they eat. The Playground to Plate ® program connects to a wider educational approach centred around permaculture and sustainability.

“Walk on the land. Come to know one small patch of earth intimately. Stand on that ground until it becomes dear to you and then open your arms to the whole wide world”, Ann Pelo in ‘The Goodness of Rain’

OUR ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS

We believe in a wide and varied program that requires specialised skills and as such we include the following additional programs for children throughout the week. These include but are not limited to cooking classes, art classes in our Atelier and a tailored community engagement program.

“The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences” Loris Malaguzzi