At Happy Little Butterfly Early Learning Centre, our curriculum is guided by the National Quality Framework which includes the Early Years Learning Framework ‘Belonging, Being, Becoming’. These three guiding elements act as a guide for all experiences in the service and educators work in conjunction with the children and their families consistently to ensure that they are meeting their individual needs.
• Belonging, is knowing where you belong and who you belong with. Children belong to a family, a culture, a neighbourhood and the wider community. Relationships are formed within these groups and those relationships help the child to develop into who they can become.
• Being is the here and now in a child’s life. Childhood is a time to make meaning of the world. It is about the child knowing themselves, getting to know others, living and enjoying life and meeting challenges every day. Happy early years helps children in the present and prepares them for the future.
• Becoming, is changes the children experience as they grow, learn and develop. Children’s identities, knowledge, understandings, skills, and relationships change through childhood. We want children to participate fully and be active in society.
The experiences and environment provided here at Happy Little Butterfly, allow your child to develop their own interests, guiding their own learning and exploring them further through the guidance and support of their educators. All of our planned and spontaneous experiences at the services can be linked to the learning outcomes of this learning framework and through this process we are able to assess children’s learning and develop ways to extend upon their learning.
Individual Observations/Portfolios
Learning outcomes and individual observations of your child are documented in a wide variety of ways, which assists educators ensure they are taking a rounded approach to your child’s development and are extending their skills and abilities in meaningful ways. Our daily curriculum is presented to parents through the app Appsessment which also encompasses individual documentation of meaningful play and learning experiences and photographs. Each child also has a portfolio which contains the beautiful artwork they make during their time at the centre. Educators also seek information and feedback from parents regarding children’s interests and needs as well as their aspirations regarding their child’s learning and their thoughts about the current curriculum.
School Readiness Program
The aim of our school readiness program is to help children develop the skills necessary to transition successfully into Primary school and adjust easily to the changes and expectations they will face during their time there. This program is based on the Early Years Learning Framework, meeting the requirements of the NSW Board of Studies and the Outcomes from Early Stage 1 while reflecting the latest trends in early Literacy and Numeracy teaching in NSW schools.
The activities the children will be engaging in during our school readiness program will foster the development of their physical, social, emotional, cognitive and language skills. Our main focuses will be working on letter recognition and sound, recognising and writing our names, number recognition and counting, fine motor skills to help with using craft and writing materials and gross motor and fundamental movement skills. We also recognise that it is essential for children to develop their social and emotional skills before kindergarten so we will be engaging in group learning and working on cooperation, turn-taking and sharing,
helping children to learn to work effectively in a group setting. Some of our activities will also allow for the children to work independently, gaining confidence in their own abilities. The development of self-help skills will be encouraged both within this program and throughout our routine, especially with regard to meal times, dressing and toileting.