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Play
We believe that childhood should be about fun and having the freedom to play.
We provide an open-ended, play based learning environment focused on children’s individual interests, strengths and needs. This approach provides many opportunities for children to discover and explore through play in a relaxed manner. Children are given a voice and the power to make decisions regarding their play and social interaction. Play is the tool for learning but as educators we also use directive pedagogy in play experiences when we feel it will extend and benefit children’s learning.
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Environment
We aim to provide an environment that is happy, provoking, stimulating, educational, relaxed, supervised, calm, nurturing, loving, and non-pressured.
We believe that all children learn best in a rich, natural and beautiful environment and value our outdoor play environment just as much as our indoor play environment.
We provide an environment that encourages the use of natural and recycled materials in the children’s play experiences. We believe the world’s environment should be respected and try to instil this belief through encouraging our children to save water, use less electricity, save paper and recycle. We encourage respect for the natural environment by educating children to care for the world around them as well as encouraging them to respect their own environment through looking after their toys, equipment and belongings.
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Relationships
We value trusting, positive and inclusive relationships between children, staff, families and the community.
Everyone should be made to feel welcome, wanted and needed. We believe that every child, staff member, family member and visitor to our centre deserves to be treated equally and with respect regardless of nationality, gender, appearance, religion, class, ability or beliefs.
We believe that family takes on the most important role in a child’s life. The Avenue encourages the involvement of families in all aspects of their children’s every day experiences such as cooking, reading, our learning stories or any skill they have to offer.
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Community
At The Avenue we don’t just have a sense of our community, we exist because of it.
We thrive on the development of positive relationships and embrace the diverse cultural input, teachings and voices that our families provide. We are actively involved in nurturing our immediate environment as well as our broader community.
Through working bees, excursions, in-services and networking with local organisations, our unique and vibrant community is the cornerstone of The Avenue. The Avenue staff members enjoy the opportunity to socialise and get to know families on a more meaningful level as many of us live in the local community and interact with families outside the centre environment.