Our Programs
At Little Amigos Childcare, we understand the significance of a child’s first six years of life are an essential part of their ever-growing journey.
Our aim is simple – to provide quality care in early childhood care and education in a safe, welcoming, adopting, and nurturing environment.
At the foundation of our Little Amigos Centre is our love for families and close partnerships with our Little Amigos community. We strive to build meaningful relationships with families based on co-operation and a mutual respect for the reciprocal roles that we play in the lives. Through creating bonds with our families and communities, we can provide the children with the tools to create their best start in life.
Our educational program is one which is based on the Early Years Learning Framework. The framework provides us with a platform from which to form enriching, educational experiences for all children, with 5 key learning outcomes. The learning outcomes are:
- Children have a strong identity
- Children are connected with and contribute to their world
- Children have a strong sense of wellbeing
- Children are confident and involved learners
- Children are effective communicators
Educators are passionate and committed to ensuring children feel a strong sense of belonging within their learning environment, that they are supported to be who they are as individual learners and that they also feel safe and confident to reach their full learning potential.
Children are ultimately the drivers of their own learning so we as educators follow children’s interests as the fundamental basis of our programs and planned activities. Educators guide learning projects which stem from children’s interests and these projects vary in length and complexity based on children’s engagement and focus.
Families are encouraged to have active input into our programming and are welcome to come and spend time at the centre anytime that is convenient for them, to provide feedback on our programs, make suggestions for learning experiences or anything they would like to see incorporated into our program.
Parent surveys are sent out to parents annually which include questions about the cultural background of families, languages spoken at home, any celebrations they get involved in, interests of children, activities occurring at home and any suggestions they may have of experiences they would like to see their child involved in at our centre and any way they think we could improve our environment. The results from these surveys are collated and then used to inform our planning and programming, aiming for the best outcomes for children and valuing this important family input into our educational program.
Our programs place a strong emphasis on developing awareness of:
- Sustainable practices and caring for the environment
- Personal health, hygiene, nutrition and dental health
- Safety concepts across many areas (sun safety, road safety, personal safety)
- Our country’s indigenous culture and history
- Inclusive practices; including various cultures, races, disabilities, genders
As we endeavour to provide high quality care for the families within our centres, we deliver the best education for the children’s social and emotional development. In addition to this, we also build upon their physical and cognitive development, as we frequently expose the children to incursions, providing the children with extracurricular experiences, such as sports, cooking, aerobics, and computer gym. Which are embedded into our day-to-day programming.
We at Little Amigos Child Care have implement an amazing transition to school program, that focus of the children fundamental needs in preparation for primary school, this program has been developed, by our experienced educators, along with the consultation with the local primary school teachers, for the preschool aged children.
Grounded on the principles of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) – ‘Being, Belonging and Becoming’ – and the National Quality Framework (NQF), we have developed an ever-evolving environment which allows for intentional teaching and spontaneous learning. This enables each child to develop lifelong skills of inter-relating, resilience, empowerment, social competence, and independence.