10 May Accepting Others by Talia Morris & Jessica Broccio, Discoverers Room Leaders (ELC)
If you were to look through the window of our creche or kinder rooms here at Yavneh Early Learning Centre, you would see a room full of experienced educators and young children engaging in meaningful play-based learning, surrounded by colour, vibrancy, and suitable resources. Whilst every day is not always sunshine and rainbows, the children are constantly being supported, nurtured and fostered appropriately. Essentially, what you are seeing when you look through the window, is a room full of diverse children and adults working together to create a positive learning environment for all present. If you haven’t done so yet and would like to see our centre, please book a tour here, we would love to meet you!
As educators, we strive to recognise and support the individual needs and interests of each child who enters our centre every day. No matter how many days they attend, how old they are, if they are a fussy eater or not, if they walk or crawl, if they talk or babble – each child deserves to be welcomed into our centre with open arms, a friendly smile and a warm embrace. A beautiful quote by American television host and author, Fred Roger (also known as Mr. Roger), ultimately supports our sentiment that “every child is a different kind of flower…all together they make this world a beautiful garden.”
Within the ELC environment, it is also imperative to ensure that equity is upheld, and all children feel welcomed and respected. According to the Victorian Government, children should be exposed to culturally safe practices and procedures and have access to the appropriate support they require to grow and learn. Here at Yavneh, we ensure this by following the guidelines of the National Early Years Learning Framework and their outcome that children experience a sense of identity and belonging. Our Centre’s philosophy is that the environment in which the children learn, and play should be, “warm, welcoming, safe and secure” to ensure all children are instilled with a sense of belonging.
As we navigate diversity and inclusion within our centre, it is our aim to support and reflect each family’s customs and traditions and celebrate our Jewish and Australian cultures. However, diversity does not just cover the inclusion of cultural backgrounds; diversity also extends to respecting and supporting the abilities of each child. As some children may be more vulnerable or have additional needs, they too should feel supported and embraced. To do this, each creche and kinder room strives to ensure all children are represented and accepted, because individually they make up an entity. Through our inclusion policies, we cater to the different abilities and provide an opportunity for different perspectives to be valued and integrated into the learning environment.
We would like to end on two meaningful Dr Seuss quotes that we feel resonate with our outlook on diversity. The first one is “today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is you-er than you” and the second is “why fit in when you born to stand out”. These affirmations are especially valid in the early learning environment, and it is so important for educators and parents to recognise and practice this message as part of our role in the children’s lives.