The Rosie's Way.....

 

Children have so much to offer, we must listen first to them

 

Rosie’s Early Learning recognises that children are competent individuals who have many strengths and abilities and learning is life long.  We understand that all stakeholders share a common goal, that is, the best possible outcomes for the child – whatever they may be.  To achieve this we recognize that embedding the family’s aspirations, educator’s knowledge and understandings of early childhood theory and National documents is essential.  For the best possible outcomes to be achieved we identify four critical elements:

 

• Strong, Powerful & Meaningful Relationships

• Cultural Heritage & Understanding

• Partnerships and genuine communication

• Rich Documentation of chilren's learning, thinking & capabilities

 

The Early Years Learning Framework, National Quality Standards, United Nations Rights of the Child and Code of Ethics inspires the educators at Rosie's to develop an early childhood community which focuses on quality outcomes.  This begins from the moment the child and family attends their first orientation as we understand the critical role this first encounter plays in developing a sense of belonging, welcoming and security.  To do this, meaningful connections are developed and from this, genuine partnerships emerge. We see connecting the role of the family, children and teachers as an integral part of building genuine community context and this in turn enables educators and the children to advocate their importance as contributing citizens in the world.

 

Our thinking is guided by Loris Malaguzzi’s theory of ‘100 languages’.  We recognise that learning is a journey of exploration and for children to gain confidence to learn new skills and try new things, they need to have the opportunity to share their knowledge through many languages and many rich and meaningful experiences. The educators work in partnership as that of a co-constructor, researcher, documenter and advocate for children as we believe that children are capable of constructing their own strategies and a toolkit ready for use when they meet their next challenge.

 

The environment plays a particularly critical role in this learning and where some may only see play we see rich, engaging learning opportunities for children.  We will provide a safe and nurturing space for children to practice, take risk and explore allowing them to gain many new tools for future use.  We are inspired by Anne Pelo’s statement – ‘Pay attention to the child’s attention’ and reflect on this as environments are designed and integrated with the committed understanding of children’s competence and emerging skills.  Malaguzzi’s statement ‘Each child is unique and the protagonist of his or her own growth.  Children desire to acquire knowledge, have much capacity for curiosity and amazement and yearn to create relationships with others and communicate” is a platform of influence when educators critically reflect to improve practice.

 

Cultural Heritage and understanding is recognized as an essential component of the curriculum and should not be an ‘add-in’ rather an everyday integrated experience.  The development of the BORA, daily Acknowledgement to country in both English and Aboriginal language, development of the Reconciliation Action Plan (reviewed by many Aboriginal elders and people) are some of the strategies used to demonstrate the commitment to reconciliation. A genuine commitment to inclusion and respect for diversity role models to children the values of respect and acceptance.

 

By providing the children with opportunities for long term learning we can see them motivated to investigate, hypothesis and engage with their peers and teachers on a journey of discovery. Vygotski’s notion of the Zone of Proximal Development inspires educators to scaffold children’s learning and this supports our image of the child on an evolving journey rather than just one milestone to achieve.   This scaffolding allows the educators to understand where the child’s learning is leading to and then enables the intentional teaching to be meaningfully considered and collaborated.