Cuddly Bear Templestowe Early Learning Centre

At Cuddly Bear Templestowe we aim to provide an inclusive environment for all children, families and educators, acknowledging the uniqueness of everyone regardless of their race, gender, sexuality, religion, culture, physical and mental abilities and socio-economic background.

At Cuddly Bear Templestowe we aim to provide a supportive environment that welcomes and fosters a strong sense of belonging to the entire community.

Our centre community is made up of a professional team of Early childhood educators from various diverse backgrounds which have a long-term commitment to the service with many educators exceeding 15 years of service. Cuddly Bear Templestowe is proud of the cultural diversity represented amongst our children, families and educators. By providing an environment that accurately represents our broader society, this enhances and fosters tolerance and understanding within children from an early age.

We are guided by the Early Years Learning Framework and Victorian Early Years Learning and Development framework and in partnership with the Early Childhood Code of Ethics.

We are governed by the National Quality Framework, and Education and Care services Regulations and Law. Our service philosophy guides the curriculum, our educators, management, policies and procedures at our service, and drives continuous quality improvement at Cuddly Bear Templestowe Early Learning Centre.

We believe in implementing a school transition program in our Government Funded Kindergarten, that allows smooth passage into schooling for children and families. We continually strive to develop and maintain collaborative and open partnerships with families and invite their participation into all aspects of our programs, policies, procedures and events. We invite parents to help us to meet the changing needs of our centre, valuing their feedback and ideas as we strive for continual improvement.

At Cuddly Bear Templestowe we view all children as being capable and competent learners. We believe in creating a close and positive partnership with families, the Manningham area and wider community so we can work in collaboration to support the capabilities of all children, with regular incursion and excursions such as sport programs (Kelly- Sports) music and dance (Jumparoo), ELLA ( Early Learning Language Australia) and weekly aquatic education classes at local Swim-Centre.

Our Beliefs

We believe home and family are the child’s primary educators and we foster collaborative partnerships for the holistic approach to learning, meeting each individual child’s needs for the best possible outcomes.
We believe children learn best through hands on play, in the inquiry-based model of learning and having an emphasis on learning, incorporating intentional teaching with consideration for communication and language (Early Literacy and Numeracy), social and emotional development.
We believe in an open-ended play setting including the indoor and outdoor environments which encourages creativity and imagination skills, competency and choice in the child’s play.

To facilitate children’s learning, we are committed to the 5 learning outcomes in our curriculum development. The five learning outcomes are -

Children have a strong sense of 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.

All our interactions, experiences, routines and events are carefully considered to engage children and identify their strength and interests.

We believe in promoting a sense of children’s agency which allows many opportunities to practice making choices and decisions a foundation for growth, learning and development. We pride ourselves in providing a progressive, calm and aesthetically pleasing space for learning that encourages each child’s strengths, talents and abilities to flourish in all aspects of development and where children’s views and opinions are celebrated and valued.

Our aim is that children be aware of and contribute to the sustainability of the natural environments and to become environmentally responsible by recycling, using upcycled materials, planting and maintaining natural resources at our centre, at home and in the community.

Cuddly Bear Templestowe is aware that evidence shows when children eat well, they find it easier to learn – are more alert and more likely to grow and develop to their full potential. Our rotational menu prepared by our experienced and qualified chef is jam-packed with wholesome, nutritionally balanced meals that reflect cultures of the community and promote healthy eating to all children, families and educators. This is also done embedding activities such as cooking healthy food with children and growing and picking vegetables

Our Commitments

Our Service is committed to the safety, wellbeing and support of all children and young people. Management, Staff and volunteers will treat all children with the utmost respect and understanding.

Our professional practice allows us to choose appropriate teaching strategies to build and nature relationships, curriculum and decision making. We as educators at Cuddly Bear Templestowe capture meaningful learning through a range of different documents types including Storypark and other multimedia platforms. Our educators partake in ongoing professional development as well as in inhouse mentoring to enhance our skills and knowledge consistent with change in the Early Childhood Learning field.

Educators are committed to gain knowledge and strategies for helping children, young people, families and educators through everyday practices and ongoing professional Development, we achieve their best possible mental health through the BE YOU program, which is associated with Beyond Blue. Our Educators respect each other and aim to offer high quality programs through reflective practice and value one another’s contributions and critically reflect upon ourselves and practices.

This philosophy has been devised with considerable input from the centre’s community, educators, approved provider, children and families in addition to research from replicable sources, theorists and input from the Early Childhood Sector including the code of ethics, UN rights of the child.

Cuddly Bear Templestowe Early Learning centre is divided into 4 rooms based on children’s ages and developmental stages. These rooms are

Babies Room – 6 weeks to 2 year old

Toddlers Room – 2 years to 3 years old

Pre-Kinder Room – 3 years and 4 years old

Funded Kindergarten – 4 year old and 5 years old.

Babies Room

Our Babies room caters for 10 children aged 6 weeks – 2 years old. Our aesthetically pleasing environment is inviting and calm for all children and families. Our sleeping area is designed to comply with safe sleeping practices.

Many experiences for the children are planned around individual routines such as meal and nappy change times, sleep and settling routines. These plans will be very individualised, and are focused on one to one interactions between your baby and our nurturing educators.

When planning for babies, educators and families need to work together to understand what is seen as being as priorities in assisting their child to settle happily into the service while developing their skills.

Our baby room also has their own separate outdoor play area, where children can explore their natural environment, have fun and feel secure.

Toddlers Room

Our Toddler’s Room caters for 15 children aged 2years old, Our environment is designed to challenge and extend on and promote children’s agency.

Children's art work is displayed around the room in a respectful manner to build on the children’s self-esteem and sense of belonging.

Children share their outdoor environment with the older children.

Planning for toddlers generally has a strong focus on supporting them to develop their language, independence and social skills. Planned experiences will often focus on supporting toddlers to engage in play experiences where they can practice and develop their skills in this area.

Planned experiences also include one-on-one and small groups, and be flexible enough to allow children to engage in each experience in a way that best suits their interests and abilities. Educators will act as guides and role models, helping children to negotiate with others and to express their emotions appropriately

Pre-Kinder and Funded Kindergarten.

Our kindergarten rooms are designed for two groups of 15 children.

Our curriculum revolves around the interests of the children and includes a great deal of learning through hands-on experiences. Your child will be busy exploring the environment, confronting problems and finding solutions, thinking and playing creatively. We believe that children learn best in a social context where peers and adults are viewed as valuable resources and the environment promotes exploration, creativity and a sense of wonder. All this assists children to develop a strong image of themselves and a love of learning.

Funded Kindergarten

Cuddly Bear Templestowe Early Learning Centre is a Government funded Kindergarten.

The Victorian Government provides funding to support children to access a high quality kindergarten program in the year before they start school. The funding is a contribution towards meeting the cost of the kindergarten program.

Your child can only be funded for a kindergarten place at one service at any one time and only for one year (unless your child is assessed as being eligible for a second funded year by your child’s kindergarten teacher).

Our kindergarten teachers are Bachelor Qualified in Early Childhood Education, as approved by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

At Cuddly Bear Templestowe, children in our Kindergarten room have the opportunity to learn Chinese (Mandarin), through Australian Government initiative called ELLA. Early Learning Language Australia is a digital, play-based language learning program for preschool children.

This inspires children by driving a genuine interest in a new language and culture. More information can be found at the Ella Website - https://www.ella.edu.au/

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