Known as St Mark's Preschool for 45 years, the new Integricare Preschool Brighton Le Sands is a Christian, not for profit preschool. We believe that the quality of early relationships, experiences and the environment strongly influences children as they grow and develop; and that positive early experiences lay a solid foundation for their future lives. Our values include love, sharing, friendship, manners, generosity, world awareness and sustainability. We nurture each child holistically - emotionally, physically, socially, mindfully and spiritually. We believe that play is the way that children learn about and interact with the world and the people within it. We passionately create an environment full of uninterrupted play choices and interactions providing varied opportunities to experiment, discover, explore, dream and imagine. We empower children by using their thoughts and ideas to develop a program which supports the Belonging, Being and Becoming of every child as outlined in the Early Years Leaning Framework. Our learning environments and the natural world are integral elements of our lives. We encourage choice making, compromise and negotiation so that each child’s choice is met with equity. Our indoor, outdoor flow gives children choices to be where they feel is right for them. Respect for our natural environment supports sustainable practice. Our vision is to empower children and our team to continually grow and learn. We believe one person can make a difference in the world and that a group of people making small changes can have a big impact. We self-reflect every day to improve everything we do, to see ourselves through the eyes of others and celebrate all that we achieve. We place a value on building connections between a child’s home, family and preschool. Supporting these connections helps children develop a sense of belonging and self worth if they know that their teachers and families have a shared interest in what’s happening in their world. Our Educators are valued for their vision, love and dedication to the children, their knowledge, unique skills and abilities, to their continued learning and development, to their families and each other. Educators are accepted and listened to, nurtured and their intrinsic motivation encouraged. We recognize and respect the strengths and contributions each individual and group makes to the Australian community and challenge bias, build positive relationship and respond sensitively to the needs of each child and their family. We acknowledge the Bidjigal people as the traditional custodians of the land. We pay our respects to them and care for the land on which we live and play on today. We believe that every child is created, valued and loved unconditionally by God. We respect and want to learn about the cultural, social, religious and the socio-economic backgrounds of our families.
