Cherrybrook Community Pre-School

About

We offer an educational program in a caring and supportive environment. Providing opportunities for children to learn, explore & investigate.

Story

Staff view children, of any age, as having strengths, abilities and interests, and learn through positive relationships. Staff support children to develop relationships which enable them to work together and to actively contribute to their learning experiences and outcomes. Our emphasis is on children learning together through social interactions, rather than learning individually and in isolation from others. Staff also support children to appreciate our differences, to respect and value each person for who they are, and incorporate each person’s cultural background into their learning.

Our staff observe children’s interactions, interests and their understanding of concepts, skills and knowledge. These observations are used to provide experiences which will consolidate each child's skills and allow them to expand upon their knowledge in a supportive and meaningful environment. Not all children will be interested in the same things, or be at the same level of learning, at the same time, so a variety of activities are provided to allow children to explore and learn at their own level and pace.

Indoor and outdoor environments provide opportunities to enhance each child’s learning and development. Experiences will have expected and unexpected outcomes that will influence the relationships and interactions between children, between children and adults and between children and their environment.

A rich array of materials are available to promote, maintain and re-kindle interests that actively involve children in contributing to their own learning.

Provision of flexible routines that allows for expected and unexpected outcomes and facilitates the overall development of each child.

Children have equal opportunities for involvement in all aspects of the program.

Mission

Cherrybrook Community Pre-school Inc gives children the best start in life through:
• Positive relationships between children, their families and educators.
• Educators, children and families working together in partnership to support children’s learning.
• Play based learning that engages children in interesting and meaningful experiences. Play based learning fosters individual development, interest, skills and knowledge, while instilling a lifelong love of learning, enabling a smooth transition to school. These experiences include the physical, social, personal, cognitive, creative numeracy, literacy and spiritual aspects of learning.
• A program that offers support and opportunities for children to discover, create, construct, imagine, question, problem solve, engage in critical thinking and promote positive ways to relate to others in a caring, fair and respectful manner. This promotes the child’s sense of belonging, being and becoming within our pre-school community, while developing interests, constructing their own identities and understandings of the world as they participate in everyday life.
Our learning environment will be one that is happy, safe, secure, welcoming and respectful. It will also reflect and enrich the lives, cultures and identities of the children, families and educators within our community.

Definitions:
Belonging: knowing where and with whom they belong,
Being – the significance of the present,
Becoming – the process of change with learning and growing (pg 7, EYLF).


Based on the principles of Cherrybrook Community Pre-school Inc and our interpretation of Belonging, Being & Becoming, the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (2009) Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations for the Council of Australian Governments.