The Secret Garden Preschool

Our Philosophy

 

​

The Secret Garden Preschool  believe in  providing a loving, educational and happy environment where the children come first. Through family connection and caring and responsive educators enables The Secret Garden Preschool to provide the children in our care to feel safe, secure and supported, develop a sense of belonging to various communities, become strong in their social and emotional well-being and become socially responsible for the environment.

 

Practice

Children are successful, competent and capable learners who are active participants in their own learning. Play as an essential part of the learning process. Play provides opportunities for children to learn as they discover, create, improvise and imagine. Children have the right to be heard, to make choices, and have input into the direction of their own learning. Children learn through and within the relationships, they form with others at the centre. It is vital that educators professionally document, collect information, plan and respond to each individual child’s learning.  Children’s interests form a basis for learning. Children learn when they are able to share and follow the interests and passions they hold within and outside the centre. Educators use strategies such as scaffolding, demonstrating, modelling, questioning, explaining and engaging in shared decision making and problem-solving. Educators provide vibrant, organised, welcoming, homelike, flexible indoor and outdoor spaces that are responsive to the children’s interests, ideas and abilities.  We all contribute to the well-being of the environments we live in and we want the children to join us as we continue to explore our awareness of the environment, sustainability and the need to conserve our resources.

 

Children

At The Secret Garden Preschool Unanderra we welcome all children and families and actively work on creating and maintaining a culturally safe and inclusive environment where everyone feels connected to the centre. We believe in protecting the rights of children and advocating for them. We value each child equally and believe in each child is unique with individual names interests and strengths. We believe it is essential to enhance each child’s feelings of self-worth to promote confidence and beliefs in one’s own abilities. We place a strong emphasis on emotional as well as physical well-being and understand that each child requires a secure, safe, nurturing and supportive environment. Through secure and nurturing relationships children develop confidence and feel respected and valued. They become increasingly able to recognise and respect the feelings of others and to interact positively with others.

 

Community and Family

At The Secret Garden Preschool Unanderra we acknowledge and value our own indigenous heritage and that of the water community locally nationally and internationally. We believe that families are children’s first and most influential educators. It is important to have empathy and be responsive to family needs and provide support when required. We believe that parent involvement in decision making about the centre, policy development and programming along with family participation is an important part of collaboration. We believe in honouring the diversity of culture, values and beliefs in other people. This is reflected in our environments as we create awareness and integrate these into our everyday learning. We view children as valued members of the community. We highlight the worth of building a community that enables children to develop readiness for the transition to school. We believe in building a strong relationship with our local community and we understand that we are a central link to information and support services within the wider community.