THE
EMPOWER
PHILOSOPHY

At Empower we believe that early learning is particularly significant as it lays the foundations for all learning. We believe an active learning process can assist children to construct their own knowledge and understanding through learning at their own pace, building on their strengths and following their interests.

The centre intends to provide an enjoyable and challenging learning environment where children are encouraged to learn through play so that they will enjoy learning through life. We believe that the process of inquiry is more important than producing an end product. We believe the teacher’s role is to facilitate the children’s learning, to assist, guide and offer support when children are challenging themselves or refining new or established skills.

Our centre’s practice will demonstrate respect, reflective thinking, thinking about the child’s perspective and looking and listening for what is really happening as we interact with the children and they with each other.

We acknowledge that children are part of a family and that the family is the primary caregiver. We recognise that the family culture plays an important role within the service and in the child’s development. We recognise the crucial role that parents and educators have in supporting children’s wellbeing and learning. We value family input into decision making and intend to draw upon that to improve the quality of the centre.

We support and value the diversity within the Australian society and believe that children should learn to respect and celebrate that diversity. We believe that children should be exposed to a wide range of different social and cultural experiences and that drawing on the children’s family experiences and including these in aspects of the program can help bring respect and understanding.

We acknowledge and respect the Dharug land EMPOWER is built upon. We committed to supporting and facilitating participation and inclusion of Aboriginal children, young people and their families within our service. We have a current Reconciliation Action Plan, endorsed by Narragunnawali and Reconciliation Australia (link to rap) and our philosophy reflects our core values of Relate, Respect and Reflect.

EMPOWER recognises the importance of providing an anti-bias approach to positively support children’s growth of identity, self-esteem and critical thinking and so give the children the tools to use in life to counter stereotypes and discrimination.

We are committed to Child Safety (guided by Child Safe Standards), We support and respect all children, as well as our team and volunteers. We are committed to the safety, participation and empowerment of all children. We have legal and moral obligations to contact authorities when we are worried about a child’s safety, which we follow rigorously.

We embrace the vision of the right for all children (guided by the UN rights of a child) to be brought up in a spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance and equality. We honour the aspirations of individuals and the unique nature of individual communities, just as we honour the uniqueness of each child.

We recognise that particular groups of children may require additional consideration and specialist knowledge. Our centre will reflect contemporary theories of development, which look beyond traditional developmental milestones and skills, acknowledging the interrelated nature of development and learning, and viewing the child holistically.

We value the importance of working as a team to provide high quality education and care. We believe that an effective environment requires respect for the strengths, skills and resources that each member of that team has to offer. We value and support educators with their input into decision making, continued professional development and the role educators play as advocates for the wider field of early childhood.