Welcome

Here at Ballan Community Kindergarten, we value children as curious, independent and capable learners. We strive to provide a program that reflects each child’s individual needs and draws on the wider community. We respect families’ culture and knowledge and look for ways to include their values and in-put into our program. Within the services we have developed spaces that are calm, child centered and facilitated learning, we have pride in our kindergarten’s aesthetics and draw on the natural environment for inspiration and resources. Within the kindergarten we hope to foster a supportive and inclusive environment for learning through family input, children’s interests, critical reflection and community knowledge.

Children

Ballan Community Kindergarten strives to provide a welcoming and supportive environment for children that reflects their needs, interests and development. As Teachers and Educators, we work hard to form connection with each child and to support them in feeling a sense of belonging and connection to our kindergarten. When working with children we believe it is important for them to develop a sense of autonomy, to be able to think and act for themselves. We believe when children feel respected, welcomed and valued they can learn and grow into confident and independent children.

Ballan Community Kindergarten provides an ’emergent curriculum’ which is play based and that builds upon the strengths and interests of the children and also works in alignment with the Early Years Learning Framework. Through an emergent curriculum, children’s ideas and thought are valued and respected as important and meaningful, this also supports engagement and in dept learning, Teacher and educators use their observation, conversations with children and family input to inform their planning. Using a cycle of observation, planning and reflection, Teachers are able to continually develop a program that is responsive to the children needs, engaging and meaningful. Teachers also strive to make their documentation family friendly by using minimal educational jargon, making it accessible and sharing their plan and ideas via Story Park.

Environment

At Ballan Preschool we pride ourselves on providing a calm, natural and responsive learning environment, we endeavor to provide an environment which is warm, safe, creative and culturally rich with diverse experiences, Teachers take pride in the experiences which are offered and take the time to ensure the room is an inviting place for children to spend their days. We believe that in order for our learning environments to facilitate learning they must reflect the children’s interests, development and needs. When planning experience and the layout of the environment teacher are mindful of the aesthetics, they use of natural resources and the amount of space required to achieve a successful learning environment. Ballan Preschool is also committed to a sustainable environment and regularly reflect on their practice to ensure provisions are made for sustainability within the Preschool Community.

Families

At Ballan Community Kindergarten we respect that families are a child’s first and most influential teacher. This means we value their ideas and parenting technique; we endeavour to draw on their experience and knowledge and we regularly seek their input and thoughts. Every family comes to our service with their own cultural identity, and we wish to find ways to introduce family’s cultural backgrounds and pay respect to their customs. Along with the we regularly seek family’s feedback and reach out to them for input into the educational program. We have learnt that there is a lot than can be learnt from families and that they can be a wealth of knowledge and inspiration in our teaching.