Our mission at Woodridge Pre-school is to provide quality play-based education for all children in our safe and nurturing environment.

We believe in the foundation statement of Te Whariki which acknowledges the aspirations that children grow up as competent and confident learners and communicators, healthy in mind, body, and spirit secure in their sense of belonging and in the knowledge that they make a valued contribution to society.

Woodridge Pre-school is committed to the protection of children and the provision of a child safe, children friendly environment.  We will protect all children in our care from foreseeable risk of harm, abuse or injury.

Our educators are guided by the National Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) & Victorian Early Years Learning Development Framework (VEYLDF) which have strong links to the foundations of Te Whariki i.e. empowerment, family and community, holistic development and relationships. Programs are documented using learning stories with direct links to the practice principles and outcomes from the EYLF and VEYLDF.

With our emergent curriculum, children are active participants in the development of the program and learn that they are important and that their ideas are valued.  Our curriculum is inclusive of children with additional needs and every child will be supported to participate in the program.

Woodridge Pre-school embraces the input of families, parents and the wider communities as we believe it takes a community to educate a child.

We acknowledge Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and we celebrate and embed their cultural richness into our educational program.  In particular, we respectfully acknowledge the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people on which Woodridge Pre-school stands and we strive to build our knowledge of, and connection with the Wurundjeri people past and present.

Woodridge Pre-school is committed to protecting our environment to ensure a sustainable future for our children who are encouraged to become environmentally responsible.

Our community is an important part of our reflective practice and are encouraged to contribute to our programs, policies and our Quality Improvement Plan (QIP).  This ensures Woodridge is meeting the needs of our children, families and wider community.

As educators we work with the children and their families to develop skills, behaviours and attitudes that assist children to be safe on our roads as passengers and pedestrians.  We incorporate road safety education into day to day activities.

We believe that all children should be treated with equality and their cultural and linguistic diversity embraced and acknowledged.

• We respect children as capable learners by including their perspective in teaching, learning and assessment.  We ensure childhood is a time of being in the here and now and not solely about the preparation for the future.

• We aim to support children in building their confidence and independence as they learn to manage a variety of transitional situations.  This is achieved through building trusting relationships with each child and their families.

• It is important for children to be provided with opportunities to take ‘safe’ risks. These opportunities develop the child’s cognitive and problem-solving skills, and helps to build their resilience and social competence.

• Our program engages the children in an environmentally accountable setting with sustainable practices throughout our program. For example, we utilise water tanks for our outside water play, gardening and our disabled toilet facilities.  We have a working worm farm that the children feed their food scraps to, which is then used in our gardening program.  The recycle, reuse and reduce principles are embedded in our program.

• In our kinder environment we have a variety of pets which include turtles, fish, silk worms and chickens.  Encouraging direct contact and developing bonds with animals, can help children build empathy.

• We operate an inclusive program and have high expectations for all children. We are passionate about the inclusion of children with special needs.  We encourage children to participate in a variety of experiences and routines which allows us to recognise children’s individual strengths and needs. We believe all children have the capacity to learn and teach other children through their skills and different abilities. 

• In our program we have also embedded a sense of social justice.  This is achieved through a variety of charitable endeavours where we support local community groups. These activities are shared with the children and their families in a sensitive and respectful manner.