We acknowledge how difficult it can be for parents to leave their children in our care. Our first priority in the Belonging Room is to develop relationships with the parents/families and be able to have open communication about their child so that the best care is provided to their child at all times. Parent involvement is how we as educators ensure we have the most information possible and how best we can provide for your child while they are in our care.
To make the transition from home to group care as smooth as possible we look at our relationships with the parents as a partnership. This begins at orientation where we have two visits with families at the centre to share as much information about home, routines, personalities and more. Educators are flexible with routines and keep as much of what happens at home followed through here, so that children's home life is respected and used to create the basis for our learning.
Our educators and teachers in the Belonging Room are nurturing, caring and experienced. They reflect a diversity of education, including at least one university qualified Early Childhood Teacher, as well as cultural background, training and life experience. Educators and teachers focus on creating loving and nurturing bonds with the children and on ensuring more personalised interactions with children and families.
We strive to provide a safe and relaxed environment for our children, staff and families. We provide a comfortable, quiet sleeping area for individual children's rest and sleep needs and a natural, well-shaded, outdoor learning space that is separate from the older children to allow the younger children to feel secure and comfortable in their exploration.
Our pedagogical approach begins with a deep value of each and every child and what they bring to our Belonging Room, through their families, experiences, understanding, culture and uniqueness. We set up the environment with goals of challenging, enhancing and extending on children's interests as much as possible. It is important to us that the children have agency, and we provide ongoing opportunities for them to dictate what they would like to do and how they would like to do it. However, we also create areas of learning within our environment that stimulate their natural curiosity for learning.
We aim, above all else, that the program provided to our children is fun. We promote independence and encourage this amongst our children in the Belonging Room.