Earlwood Children’s Centre was opened in 1983 and is operated by the local council. The service operates Monday to Friday from 7am to 6pm and is open for 49 weeks of the year, providing early education and care for children aged from birth to school age. There are 39 children enrolled each day, 4 children in the 0-2’s with one educator, 15 children in the 2-3’s with 3 educators and 20 children in the 3’5’s with 2 educators.
Salary subsidy is received from NSW Department of Education and Communities. Families pay a weekly fee and Child Care Benefit and Rebate is available. Earlwood Children’s Centre is regulated and assessed under the National Quality Framework and currently is rated overall at Exceeding National Quality Standard.
Earlwood Children’s Centre advocates for family centred practice, where educators and families have a shared vision for their children – we recognise the family as the focus of the service and work to ensure an appreciation of the social, cultural and linguistic diversity that is unique to the community.
The education program is universal across all age groups – it offers a curriculum based on children’s interest, needs and strengths, one that is meaningful to children, families, educators and the community. All programs reflect the outcomes of the National Early Years Learning Framework.
Learning environments play a key role in our curriculum program – the thoughtful design of environments engages children in a rich stimulating learning environment that reflects an image of the child as competent, resourceful, social and intrinsically motivated to learn.
The learning environments also support routines, such as transitions as well as providing children with the opportunities to practice and refine their skills and abilities – celebrate the processes of children’s learning in which individual learning styles and collaborative relationships are supported and valued.
Earlwood Children’s Centre is committed in providing a high quality service through its promotion of inclusion – this starts as early as enquiring and enrolling onto the waiting list. As we have limited spaces our ‘priority of access’ supports families in the wider community who need additional support and guidance and more importantly to advocate for children with special rights. This includes children from an Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or South Sea Islander background, children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, children with disabilities and or delay and children who are gifted and talented.
Moreover we are committed in following our policy of inclusion which outlines that council will provide services and facilities that are physically and socially accessible to all people and to ensure all staff receive training and resources. When enrolling new families/children the priority of access is the first point of call. Such information is updated yearly and reported to management each quarter.
Working in collaboration with families and other professionals is an important component in our everyday practice, which builds the foundation of trusting and respectful relationships.