Our Philosophy

Birches ELC believes in providing a sense of belonging through the creation of a safe, warm, caring and inviting environment that fosters secure, respectful, and reciprocal relationships between children, families, and educators. We believe that it is these secure, trusting relationships that help children to build confidence and feel respected and valued.

We provide indoor and outdoor learning environments that are welcoming, challenging, vibrant and flexible while catering for the different learning capacities and styles of the children. The environment should reflect childrens’ needs and interests and invite open-ended interactions, spontaneity, challenges, exploration, and discovery. Learning should be fun. The environment should provide children with enjoyment at any given time and the opportunity to use their imagination and creativity, promoting a sense of being. We believe that children thrive when families and educators work together to support learning and to form a sense of identity that with help, shape the adults that they will become. Birches ELC recognises play as fundamental for children and aims to provide a play-based platform for children to actively contribute to the construction of their own knowledge and understanding of the world they are a part of following the Reggio Emilia approach.

Our educators believe in respecting and honouring each family’s values, beliefs, histories, cultures, languages, traditions, child-rearing practices and lifestyle choices. We also take pride in our heritage by acknowledging the traditional owners of our land in the curriculum.

We believe that by following our philosophy we are helping to guide children into becoming confident, creative, environmentally responsible, and active members of future society, contributing to a brighter future for all Australians.