Curriculum Approaches

The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia guides our curriculum and promotes each child’s learning in five outcomes:

1. Children have a strong sense of identity
2. Children are connected with and contribute to their world
3. Children have a strong sense of wellbeing
4. Children are confident and involved learners
5. Children are effective communicators

The principles of the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia also underpin our practices and guide our curriculum decision making, these principles are:

1. Secure, respectful and reciprocal relationships
Educators give priority to nurturing relationships and providing children with consistent emotional support to assist children develop confidence and to feel respected and valued.

2. Partnerships
At Horsley Kids we endeavour to provide a welcoming environment where all children and families are respected and actively encouraged to collaborate with educators about curriculum decisions in order to ensure that learning experiences are meaningful.

3. High expectations and equity
Horsley Kids is committed to providing an inclusive learning environment where all children are able to succeed regardless of diverse circumstances and abilities. Educators recognise and respond to barriers in children achieving educational success and make curriculum decisions that promote inclusion and participation of all children.

4. Respect for diversity
Respecting diversity means within the curriculum valuing and reflecting the practices, values and beliefs of families. Educators honour the histories, cultures, languages, traditions, child rearing practices and lifestyle choices of families. They value children’s different capacities and abilities and respect differences in families’ home lives.

5. Ongoing learning and reflective practice
Educators continually seek ways to build their professional knowledge and develop learning communities. Educators are involved in an ongoing cycle of review through which current practices are examined, outcomes reviewed and new ideas generated to ensure issues relating to curriculum quality, equity and children’s wellbeing can be raised and debated. Educators have training in Child Protection, First Aid and Emergency Procedures, Nutrition and Healthy Eating, Occupational Health and Safety requirements, Curriculum and the National Quality Standards.

Reggio Emilia and The Educational Approach

The educational approach of Reggio Emilia has inspired the philosophy at Horsley Kids. Reggio Emilia is a city of over 142 000 people in the region of Emilia Romagna, Northern Italy. Loris Malaguzzi was the educational theorist and leader of the Reggio Emilia educational project for over 40 years.

[Reggio Emilia’s] innovative curriculum recognised the rights and potentials of children to question, reflect, problem solve, theorise, experiment and express their findings…children should be provided with opportunities and time to freely experiment, explore and play, but should also be encouraged and assisted during this time to master the many tools and skills of communication, enabling them to actively translate what they perceive, not only through the spoken word, but also through other potent languages. (Millikan 2003).

The schools in Reggio Emilia teach us to:

• Understand children as competent, resourceful, eager to learn, anchored by relationship, and overflowing with delight and wonder
• Pay close attention to the use of space and time in our classroom environments, creating a learning environment which reflects our understanding of children
• Offer children a range of media with which to represent and communicate their theories, understandings, and questions
• Grow curriculum projects which provide opportunities for children to communicate and reflect on their thinking in collaboration with each other
• Engage in authentic partnerships with families
• Understand ourselves as learners and researchers, supporting and challenging each other in our professional growth

Please visit the following website regarding Reggio Emilia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggio_Emilia_approach

http://www.brainy-child.com/article/reggioemilia.html

http://zerosei.comune.re.it/inter/reggiochildren.htm

http://www.reggioemiliaapproach.net/

Horsley Kids will provide a program that will foster personal and social development, gross motor and physical development, cognitive and memory skills, fine motor and coordination skills, creative and imaginative skills, language and intellectual development. The curriculum will appreciate and reflect the interests, uniqueness and the developmentally needs of all the children in the centre.
With an Inquiry-based curriculum, children are exposed to a variety of learning experiences:

• Reading and writing activities
• Science and mathematic based activities
• Cooking experiences
• Dramatic play, music, dancing & singing
• Drawing and painting, art and craft
• Gross motor and outdoor play
• Building and construction activities
• Gardening and nature walks
• Water, sand & clay ‘play’ activities
• Sculpture making

Meals

The centre will provide 5 nutritious and tasty meals throughout the day. All menus follow the Balanced Dietary Guidelines and have been planned by a certified Dietician. We will provide fresh fruit and vegetables in all planned meals and organic foods when possible i.e. Chemical free chicken and seasonal vegetables and all meats are minced onsite using only quality meats.