Shaping the Future of the Next Generation

NOW OPEN

A place to learn, share, laugh and grow

Templestowe Kids is a purpose built and family operated centre. We offer engaging and inviting natural spaces for your children to interact, learn, grow, laugh and share.

We work together with our educators and families to create a strong sense of community for our children. We ensure that each child is nurtured, respected and encouraged in order to reach their full potential.

We value, respect and welcome children from all cultures and backgrounds.

Our Philosophy

Here at Templestowe Kids ELC, we have purpose built our centre to enable us to provide high quality care and education within a safe and inviting environment.

VISION

We recognise that each child is an individual and has their own personality, skills and attributes to offer. We aim to provide a collaborative, inviting and safe environment to allow children of all ages and backgrounds to thrive.

We welcome educators, families, and children of all backgrounds and acknowledge the importance of diversity in contributing to our community.

Children are made to feel welcome and are considered to share an important place within the centre regardless of gender, race, culture or religious belief.

THE EARLY YEARS LEARNING FRAMEWORK (EYLF)

We recognise that each and every child is unique and individual in their own way and so our programs are designed with this in mind.

As part of our wider program, our educators tailor individualized learning projects for each individual child in order to foster development, align with their interests, and promote learning and fun.

Using a play-based approach for learning and development, our programs are designed to feed children’s curiosity and learning. Play based learning fosters critical skills, understanding and dispositions which are essential for your child’s lifelong learning and wellbeing.

We encourage each child to participate, promoting a sense of agency and enabling the children to make their own choices and decisions.

We provide an open and flexible learning environment and our resources have been carefully selected with the intention of providing appropriate challenge and development for each age group.

EDUCATORS

We have carefully selected our educators based on their skills, experience and qualifications.

We encourage our educators to continually build on their personal and professional development by providing access to various formal and informal training opportunities. We ensure we stay up to date with industry insights so that we can continue to provide the best possible care our children.

We strive to provide an inclusive and collaborative environment and encourage our educators to work as a team, communicate openly, share ideas and continually review operations to ensure we are delivering best practice.

FAMILIES & COMMUNITY

As a family owned and operated centre, we value family, relationships and a strong sense of community. We view each child and their family as an extension of our own family which is why we often refer to the children in our care as ‘our children’.

We believe that strong ties to the community promote our children’s sense of identity and belonging. We strive to build strong relationships will all of our families and to work together to provide quality and consistent care from home to centre.

We consider partnerships with the local community such as local schools, elders, support workers and other allied organisations to be essential in optimizing our children’s learning and development, which is why we regularly arrange excursions and incursions.

SUSTAINABILITY

Templestowe Kids ELC is committed to maintaining sustainable practices within our service such as recycling, energy efficiency and water conservation. We embed the importance of sustainability within our programs and involve the children in caring for and learning about our planet by assisting in tending to our veggie patch and eating produce grown on site.

AUSTRALIAN, ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER CULTURES

Templestowe Kids ELC acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of the many lands across Australia. We acknowledge our shared histories and the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples, who we recognize as being the first national people of Australia. We value the cultural histories and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We will continue to respect traditions and cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by recognizing within our curriculum, teachings and surroundings, allowing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children, educators and families to feel a sense of belonging.

Templestowe Kids ELC aims to bring our philosophy to life by providing children within our community with high quality care to foster their curiosity, creativity and life-long learning.

Statement of Commitment to Child Safety

Templestowe Kids ELC has zero tolerance for child abuse and all forms of harm to children. We are committed to child safety and wellbeing of all children and young people.

Our commitment is to:

Maintain child safety and wellbeing as an embedded practice in our organisational leadership, governance and culture where every person involved in Templestowe Kids ELC has an understanding of the important and specific role he/she plays individually and collectively to ensure that the wellbeing and safety of all children and young people is at the forefront of all they do and every decision they make.
Ensuring the cultural safety of Aboriginal children, the cultural safety of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and to providing a safe environment for children with a disability.
Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of those who are unable to live at home, are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children and young people.
Support families and communities being informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing.
Provide a physical and online environment that promote safety and wellbeing where children and young people are safe and feel safe, and their voices are heard about decisions that affect their lives.

Our actions will be:

To develop and maintain targeted policies, procedures and training that supports Templestowe Kids, its Management, Employees, Volunteers and Contractors to implement these commitments.
To take a preventative, proactive and participatory approach to child safety which recognises and encompasses, regulatory and law requirements.
To create environments where all children and young people have a voice and are listened to, their views are respected, and they contribute to how their world is influenced.
To engage only the most suitable people to work with children and have high quality staff and volunteer supervision and professional development;
To ensure children know who to talk with if they are worried or are feeling unsafe, and that they are comfortable and encouraged to raise such issues;
To respect diversity in cultures and child rearing practices while keeping child safety paramount;
To support all families through collaboration and support from the community.

All employees, volunteers and contractors have an obligation to report suspected cases of child abuse in accordance with Company Policies, Procedures and Guidelines.