Centre Philosophy & Goals

• At London Carriage, we are committed to providing high-quality care, which fosters attitudes of mutual respect, open relationships, and support between staff, children, families and management. We recognise the importance of the first five years of the child’s life and how it is fundamental to the development of the child as a whole.

• We believe that each family knows their child best, and we cherish the uniqueness of each child. We work in partnerships to develop positive relationships with families to ensure the best outcomes and continuity of learning for all children in our care.

• We ensure that our programme is accessible, meaningful, and that it includes and supports children and families with diverse abilities and alternative perspectives. We extend this attitude of inclusion, respect and acceptance to visitors, students, and staff members.

• We acknowledge Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and will celebrate and embed their cultural richness into the teaching and learning at our site. In particular, we respectfully acknowledge the traditional lands of the Gadigal and Bidjigal people on which London Carriage stands and strive to build our knowledge of and connection with the Gadigal and Bidjigal people past and present.

• We follow an interest-based curriculum which incorporates children’s current knowledge, ideas, cultures, abilities and interests into their learning. We place great emphasis on learning through play and value the importance of intentional teaching. We believe as children play, they are exposed to opportunities to talk, listen, experiment, explore, discover, solve problems, and most importantly, make friendships.

• We believe in and appreciate a warm & natural environment that provides opportunities for children to connect with nature while also teaching them to assess risk, challenge themselves and make discoveries. When supported, children can make decisions about their risk-taking in play, resulting in abundant opportunities for learning, problem-solving and developing social competence. We are committed to having our spaces flexible to support the learning of children, and we are receptive to their individual and shared interests.

• We embed sustainable practices in the children’s daily routine and through their day to day activities. Families and the wider community are also educated and encouraged to adopt sustainable practices and to share ideas with our program.

• London Carriage is committed to achieving the seven areas of the National Quality Framework (NQF) by continuously working towards improving the quality of our service, and by maintaining our high standards of care through constant evaluation of our practices and by ongoing professional development training for our educators.

Aim

Goals

1. Positive relationships with children.
   • Where children can develop confidence and positive self-esteem through a supportive and secure environment.
   • Promote each child’s confidence and positive self-image through various provisions, experiences and opportunities that build upon their understandings, skills and values and promote success.
   • Giving children the responsibility to be independent and create their own identity.
2. An environment where all children feel a sense of belonging.
   • Provide an environment that reflects the individuality of the children in our service.
   • Foster children’s interests and ideas and include them in the daily program.
   • Create meaningful and deliberate play-based learning environments.
3. Family involvement
   • Welcome our families into the service and promote involvement in our program and centre activities.
   • Promote partnerships with families, acknowledging that each family knows their child best.
4. Curriculum
   •  To align our centre with the early years learning and national quality frameworks.
   •  To provide intentional teaching moments to the children in our care.
   • To base the curriculum on the interests of the children by incorporating children’s current knowledge, ideas, culture, abilities and interests.
5. Community
   • To create more connections within the local community.