Purpose
Old MacDonald’s Child Care (OMCC) is a privately owned and operated service with a unique culture in a semi-rural natural setting in Orchard Hills. Part of our culture is the privilege of embedding horticulture and agriculture practices while respecting and caring for the land. Our healthy and nutritionally balanced meals are prepared daily using high-quality, locally sourced fresh ingredients.
While in our care at OMCC, the children’s health, safety and well-being are paramount. It is best practice to maintain, promote, and implement high-quality hygiene standards, infection control, risk monitoring, cleanliness, healthy eating, food safety, and safety practices. All incidents, emergencies, illnesses and injuries will be recorded and communicated to families in a timely manner. The EYLF principles underpin practice that is focussed on assisting all children to make progress in relation to the Learning Outcomes. The eight principles of the EYLF guide our daily practices and reflect contemporary theories, perspectives, and research evidence concerning children’s learning, development, well-being and early childhood pedagogy.
Secure, respectful, and reciprocal relationships are established and expanded through culturally safe and responsive interactions between families and OMCC. Educators consider each child as a unique individual with feelings, opinions, and values. Through positive interactions and a variety of settings, educators acknowledge children have rights and view each child as a capable and competent learner who will establish a solid base for exploration and learning. When children develop secure relationships, feel safe, respected and valued in a nurturing environment, their learning, development and wellbeing take place.
Educators priorities nurturing relationships through sensitive, attentive and responsive interactions as they provide children with emotional support and a positive sense of self. Emotional connections provide children with a sense of security and belonging. Families share routines and everyday rituals that are valued within OMCC and assist in the development of secure attachment relationships. Familiar adults influence children’s ability to self-regulate emotions and support future well-being by developing a positive self-identity and self-esteem.
Children interact with and develop secure relationships with people outside the home. When connections form with the broader community, children are increasingly able to make informed choices about their actions, interactions and behaviours. Children become socially aware, develop respect, and recognise that others have different feelings and ideas. Educators’ expectations are based on individual needs, facilitating a growth mindset. Children are motivated to persevere and explore new learning opportunities through trial and error. Social interactions and environmental expectations within OMCC are developed in partnership with children to establish limits while developing problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills.
Daily interactions between educators and children will role-model how feelings and emotions are labelled, interpreted, expressed, understood, managed, and regulated. Children are encouraged and supported to talk about feelings and why they and others might feel and act the way they do. Role modelling encourages children to interact, develop relationships, and take on various roles within their environment. Educators promote and extend children’s independence and development through collaboration, teamwork, positive guidance, and encouragement.
Partnerships between families, children, educators, supportive professionals, and the broader community involve respecting each other’s perspectives, diversity, expectations, and values. Educators welcome, value, and listen to families with appropriate two-way communication. Being welcomed involves a quick smile, friendly conversation, or an exchange of information between families and educators.
Respectful and supportive collaboration between OMCC, families, and the local community (elders, local schools, support workers, and other allied organisations) supports the best interest of children to explore their learning potential through everyday rituals, routines, transitions, and play experiences.
A professional partnership (not connecting personally on any form of social media with clients and staff of OMCC) is vital for confidentiality and providing quality care.
Families are children’s most influential teachers in their life and development journey. In partnership with OMCC, families collaborate in curriculum decisions to ensure meaningful learning experiences connect home and the service. Partnerships develop a sense of trust, personal identity, autonomy, and independence for children and provide a safe, supportive environment. Trauma-informed practices guide educators to implement an individual-based needs approach with other professionals to enhance learning development and well-being, as well as educators engaging in information sharing and record keeping.
Valuing, trusting and sharing each other’s information, concerns, opinions and knowledge of children commences at enrolment and orientation. During orientation, communicated expectations and attitudes from all parties are discussed, and information is shared on how to participate and receive information through formal and informal methods. Families are encouraged to provide feedback through direct communications, surveys, policy reviews, and maintaining personal information. Feedback is used to reflect on and improve our service delivery.
Family information will be handled with confidentiality, which is critical for maintaining a trusting relationship with a shared decision-making approach. At times during the partnership, sensitive issues need to be discussed and will involve giving and receiving critical messages. Ideas should be communicated freely and respectfully in ways that are easily understood, relevant, meaningful and open to each other’s perspectives.
Ethical partnerships are formed between all stakeholders when a shared decision making process fosters a sense of joint responsibility and accountability. Educators implement safety precautions through Mandatory Reporter obligations and e-safety when exploring digital technologies and media forms to ensure children are safe and their right to privacy is maintained.
Respect for diversity underpins curriculum and pedagogy decisions to provide a culturally safe environment of valuing, reflective practices and beliefs. Australia is a culturally diverse country.
We are born belonging to a culture influenced not only by traditional practices, history, heritage, language, religion and ancestral knowledge but also by individual families and community experiences, values, and beliefs. Children have the right to have their culture, identity, strengths, and capabilities acknowledged and valued to develop their own unique individual cultural identity. Educators recognise diversity contributes to their curriculum by acknowledging and valuing children’s unique and diverse capabilities of their home lives, including spiritual beliefs, child-rearing practices, and lifestyle choices of families to form a sense of belonging, being and becoming within OMCC.
Children learn to interact with, and relate positively to people from diverse backgrounds and children and families from other countries as they develop connectedness to others and a shared identity as Australians. As Australians, it’s imperative to promote a greater understanding of the First Nations Peoples and actively work towards Reconciliation.
Responding to diversity impacts a child’s attitudes and their ability to recognise and respond to unfair and unjust behaviours, as children are aware of differences in people and social attitudes from a very early age. Children learn about fair and just treatment, positive valuing of difference, and respect by observing people they encounter and the spoken and unspoken language of adults and other children. Through respect, educators motivate children to learn a sense of themselves as competent learners and citizens.
Educators hold different theoretical perspectives and beliefs on children’s learning, development, professional qualifications, backgrounds, experiences, and characteristics. Through these skills, educators think critically and acknowledge moments that arise from diversity and action unfairness to foster tolerance, reduce prejudice and develop culturally safe environments.
Shared information informs a strong working partnership, curriculum decisions and pedagogy. When there is continuity between home and OMCC, it motivates children to learn.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives being embedded is a shared responsibility of all stakeholders in the Childcare industry and is critical to Reconciliation. Every child has a right to learn about Australia’s First Nations’ histories, culture, ceremonies, and language. Australia’s First Nations Peoples, past, present, and future, have been connected to Country for over 60,000 years and are acknowledged and valued in children’s learning as the custodians of the land. Relationships and connections to Country and Community are at the heart of the culture and are embedded practices at OMCC.
Educators engage and explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures in partnership with local communities, including local (Dharug), regional and national, through histories, knowledge, systems, culture, traditions, sustainable practices, and language to educate on what has come before and what working together in the future holds.
Through the NQF, EYLF V2.0 and embedding the Acknowledgement to Country daily, children become active and informed members of their community who learn, acknowledge, and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. Culturally safe spaces are created through pedagogy and practice. Through consultation, educators grow their knowledge of kinship systems and cultural connections within their local community to build engaging reciprocal relationships between OMCC and the community.
Equity, inclusion, and high expectations recognise and value different types of knowledge, skills and ways things can be achieved with an equitable and participatory environment that promotes learning development and wellbeing for children to flourish. Equitable means fair, not equal or the same, and is based on an approach to individual needs.
Inclusion is visible, respected and celebrates the diversity of children’s lives in partnership with families. Children are intelligent, capable and competent learners with the ability to reach their potential when encouraged to think, explore, problem-solve, and help make connections with what they already know and can do. Equity in educators’ practices recognises children’s rights to an inclusive service based on individual circumstances, strengths, gender and unique ways of doing and being. Through practice, educators challenge inequities or discrimination and reflect these through curriculum decisions, participation, and inclusion.
Children are unique in the way and rate they learn, develop, and explore. A child’s sense of agency is fostered through their right to express ideas and opinions and share in the decision-making process throughout the day while exploring a safe and secure environment. Educators identify and respond to barriers, including environmental, attitude, practical barriers, and trauma, to nurture happiness, fun, friendships and interactions.
Everyday routines and activities are important social interactions that are flexible and are used to engage children to participate, develop and learn meaningfully. Educators will assist in developing independence while assisting with meals, dressing, toileting, and nappy changes while allowing adequate time for relaxation, meals and rest based on individual needs. Children’s agency and their right to be active participants in all matters affecting their lives is paramount. Developing children’s understanding of citizenship, what it looks like in practice, and their rights and responsibilities as members of their local and global communities is demonstrated through meaningful engagement and experiences.
OMCC has a high expectation of effective supervision and interactions of children from our educators to reduce potential harm and manage the risks.
Sustainability focuses on fair and equitable access to resources, conserving resources and reducing consumption and waste.
Sustainability guides children to learn about the interconnected dimensions of the natural world and how to care for Country through environmental, social and economic sustainability. Children are supported to appreciate that sustainability embraces caring for the natural world, which incorporates social justice, fairness, sharing, democracy, and citizenship.
Through hands-on learning experiences, children will develop an interest in the sustainable world around them and become active and informed citizens. Educators and children are critical in creating and promoting sustainable communities and their capacity to advocate and act for positive change. Children will engage in local biodiversity and learn the Aboriginal names of land, local plants, and animals around OMCC. Educators through the EYLF will encourage and develop an appreciation of the natural world, understanding our impact and the interdependence between people, animals, plants, land and water. Children’s agency and their right to be active participants are fostered to advocate and be part of change. Sustainable practices are discussed and embedded with children to take an active role in caring for the environment within OMCC and the local and global community and to think about ways they can contribute to a sustainable future.
Critical reflection and ongoing professional learning involves engaging with questions of philosophy, emerging theories, ethics and practice in a respectful atmosphere to gather information and gain insights that support, inform and enrich decision-making about children’s learning.
OMCC’s educational curriculum reflects the Belonging, Being and Becoming- The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) through play. Play-based learning involves children exploring literacy, numeracy, science, music, art and technology individually or in partnerships. Children can revisit and build on past experiences while making choices and being co-constructors in their learning. Learning incorporates children’s transition to formal schooling within the local community. Educators are co-learners with children, families and the community by being present, researching and hypothesising together.
Children are knowledgeable, intelligent and competent learners and co-learners. The planning cycle is implemented when educators listen to children’s conversations, observe actions to discover their current knowledge, have sustained conversations that value their ideas and opinions, and use the information to make meaningful curriculum decisions.
Pedagogy, practice, observation, and assessment are adapted to facilitate children building on previous and current knowledge and what they are familiar with, to maintain high expectations, and to enable children to progress and experience success.
Educators work with colleagues, children, families, and other professionals to share decision-making and engage in conversation and critical reflection about their own and others’ practices and different theoretical and philosophical approaches to the pedagogy they adapt. Critical reflections inform future practices that demonstrate an understanding of each child’s learning, development, and well-being with equity and social justice implications.
Educators are committed to ongoing professional learning and development to increase their capabilities, collaborate with colleagues, and support critical reflection on everyday practices within OMCC.
OMCC’s Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) reflects our commitment to continuous improvement by reviewing our practices for service delivery, curriculum, policies, and procedures in partnership with families, educators, staff, and management.
Collaborative leadership and teamwork are built on shared responsibility and professional accountability for children’s learning, development, and well-being. “Leadership” is when all team members use their professional skills, knowledge, and attributes to work collaboratively to achieve their best for children, families, and co-workers. “Teamwork” is when educators lead their own ethical practices and take professional and personal responsibility for their actions and decisions.
Collaborative leadership and teamwork are built on professional, direct and respectful conversations about practice where each other’s views, perspectives, opinions, skills and knowledge are respected. Being comfortable having challenging conversations is essential for collaborative, productive teamwork.
Educators, individually and as teams, engage with critical reflections on their practices and contribute to curriculum decisions and QIP.
OMCC’s curriculum reflects educator practices and learning outcomes for children through an ongoing planning cycle that is documented and incorporates observing (listening), assessing (analysing/interpreting), planning (designing), implementing (enacting) and evaluating (critical reflection). Educators use a range of information obtained through formative assessments to communicate with families about children’s learning and how their child is participating in the curriculum. The planning cycle is completed in partnership with educators, children, and families while reflecting on the five learning outcomes, developmental areas, knowledge, and experiences to plan meaningful learning.
Collaborative leadership and teamwork support a culture of peer mentoring and shared learning where all the team members contribute to each other’s professional learning and growth for high-quality programs.