Our Philosophy
Our purpose is to create a love of learning by means of exceptional teaching and learning for all our children in a happy, safe, playful and enriching environment.
We recognise and respect that all children enter the ELC with a diverse range of knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and dispositions, reflecting the diversity of their backgrounds, cultures and experiences.
We acknowledge the Kaurna people as the traditional custodians of the land that encompasses Westminster School. We pay respect to the Elders past, present and emerging, and recognise that their cultural and heritage beliefs are important to them and us today.
We nurture each child’s love of learning in an environment that challenges and stimulates each child’s abilities and skills, as well as extending their interests and supporting their wellbeing.
We initiate supportive, trusting and respectful relationships with all our children and their families at our Early Learning Centre. We understand that parents are the child's first educators and that early learning relies on a connection between home and preschool. Partnerships within our early learning community enables the development of a child’s intellectual, social, emotional, communication and physical skills. We want families to feel welcome, comfortable and involved in their child’s preschool education.
We provide a play-based child-centred program that integrates physical, cognitive, social, emotional, language and aesthetic areas for the total development of the child. Meaningful play fosters a love of learning; allowing individual growth, building of a positive self-image and comprehensive development of dispositions of learning.
We recognise the Reggio Emilia philosophy in our innovative approach to early childhood education, valuing the child as strong, capable and resilient, rich with wonder and knowledge. The Reggio Emilia approach is consistent with our belief that children are motivated by their interests to understand and know more. Our role as educators is to observe our children, listen to their questions and experiences, find what interests them and then provide opportunities for further exploration of these interests. The Reggio Emilia philosophy also takes a child-led project approach where projects are unplanned and emerge naturally from a child’s interests. Children at our ELC may be involved in individual, small group or large projects.
We support our community to develop, implement, respect and promote sustainable practices around donation of resources, the use of resources, recycling and space.
We believe the strength of our preschool program lies in the dedication and commitment of our staff. We support our staff with professional learning, resources and opportunities to create unique and meaningful learning experiences for the children.