Pooh Bears House Philosophy
“It was not so much that we need to think of the child who develops himself by himself but rather of a child who develops himself interacting and developing with others” Loris Malaguzzi.
Pooh Bear’s House philosophy centres around CONNECTION, to self, others, and Country. Connection is at the heart of our service and teaching philosophy.
Meaningful Connections with every child
Educators build nurturing and responsive interactions with each child, through a ‘pedagogy of listening’ and meaningful interactions Our relationships are respectful and reflect rituals to enhance connections with children and respond to their prompts and voices.
Developing Reciprocal Connections with Families’
We aim to create a village – whereby families feel supported and part of our ‘PBH Community’
Families’ voices and experiences enhance our practices, programs, and environments. We strive to build a holistic partnership with families as a vital aspect of children’s learning, development, and well-being.
Embedding Connections with Country
We respectfully honour and acknowledge the contributions of the past, present, and emerging owners of our land by providing opportunities for children to learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.
We integrate knowledge with respect, and know that we are continually unlearning, learning, and relearning (as stated in our Reconciliation Action Plan)
Enabling Connections with Allied Health and Professionals
Through the School Readiness Funding, we are engaging in ongoing professional learning to enhance our service.
We invite allied health and professional services that are connected with individual children into our service to highlight continuity of learning, development, and wellbeing.
Connecting with the Third Teacher (the Environment)
We create contexts for all to pursue their curiosity, sense of adventure, and interests. Creating spaces for investigation, risk-taking, problem-solving, and researching are central to a well-designed environment. We believe in fostering learning through an integrated approach, where teacher-led, child-directed, and guided play all work harmoniously together.
Our learning environments reflect the identity of children, teachers, families, and the diversity of our community.
Enhancing our Frameworks and Guiding Documents through connecting with the KG Learning Method
The VEYLDF and EYLF are embedded and reflected in our daily rituals and programming cycle. We also seek out connecting documents and frameworks to enhance our practices, such as the Anti-Bias Approach, 8-Ways Curriculum, Possum Skin Pedagogy, and Kindergarten Transition Descriptors.
We acknowledge the Convention on the Rights of the Child and recognize the important role we play in partnering with families and children to advocate for rights and ensure a fair and equitable approach for all.
We welcome an inquiry-based curriculum throughout our programming and service philosophy.
Empowering through Connecting with Educators
Educators respect one another, as they listen to each other’s ideas and engage with continuous learning approaches and ongoing self and team-led research, support, and mentoring.
Connecting to Wellbeing
Through the Achievement Program, we encourage children, educators, families, and the broader community to honour and listen to their physical, mental, and social well-being through movement, mindfulness, healthy eating, and communication.
This philosophy was developed and reviewed based on our original 2010 philosophy, 2017 philosophy (created through the 2017 dream catcher staff meeting), feedback and advice given by Melanie Simpson (DET) in 2022 and after staff reflection in 2022.
