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Educators at Airdmhor Montessori will enhance children's learning and development through:
a) Relationships and interactions which are responsive, reciprocal, positive and encouraging by:
Ensuring working conditions at the centre encourage low staff turnover, which will make it possible for responsive and reciprocal long-term relationships to be formed between teachers and children.
The day to day running of the centre allowing flexibility for under and over two children to mix together during the day as is appropriate. We feel this is extremely important to enable older peers to scaffold learning for younger children, and to ensure all children are familiar with all the staff at the centre.
b) Extending children's thinking and actions through sensitive and informed guidance, interventions and support by:
Having an image of the child as a capable and confident learner, who has the ability to think about the consequences and the different responses to a given situation or problem, if they see this modelled by adults and peers in their environment.
Listening to children instead of talking too much. Encouraging problem solving and alternative thinking, to enable children to make decisions and control the play
c) Respecting children's preferences and involving children in decisions about their participation in activities by:
As Montessori teachers we believe children between 0-6 are endowed with special powers to absorb the culture in which they live. Our philosophy is to 'follow the child' and allowing children freedom in the prepared environment enables them to make choices about their leaning, and use their preferred learning style.
Demonstrating in practice that they regard each child as competent.
d) Planning and evaluating the physical environment and providing resources to support the needs of each child and to facilitate quality curriculum interactions by:
Providing an environment suited to the size, strength and interests of children, to encourage independence and creativity and enable them to have control over their environment, to manipulate it to suit their needs and imagination.
e) Modelling non-discriminatory behaviour and promoting this with children by:
Ensuring that our own behaviour does not discriminate and by being warm, welcoming and accepting to everyone, whom we come in to contact with.
Guiding children and other adults in the use of non-discriminatory language and behaviour
Using te reo Maori, where appropriate, and by showing respect for Maori protocol in learning experiences and service practices.
Providing puzzles, books and posters that reflect ethnic diversity and a balance of genders
Ensuring the wall decorations, posters and artifacts and the arrangement of the service environment reflect the cultures of the families using the centre.
f) Implementing strategies to include all children by:
Valuing, accepting and welcoming a wide variety of cultures and family structures.
Recognising that a child's first language is a valuable tool for learning.
Developing teaching strategies that cater for children's different abilities, ways of learning, interests, and family circumstances.
Encouraging children to interact and to learn from each other.
Ensuring that our language and references to family/whanau include all the children in the service.
We will demonstrate an understanding of current theory and principles of learning and development and the different characteristics of infants toddlers and young children by:
Employing teachers who have completed, or have nearly completed their Diploma of Teaching in Early Childhood. As well as this qualification many have already completed or are at present completing further professional development, including Montessori Diplomas, and studies towards the completion of their Bachelor of Teaching and Learning Degree.
Being committed to Montessori theory of learning and development, but constantly continuing our professional development by reading, attending workshops, subscribing to professional journals, attending conferences and belonging to professional organisations.
Being committed to regularly discussing practice in terms of current theory and research and working collaboratively as a team planning flexible programmes, which take into account the different abilities, dispositions and characteristics of infants, toddlers and young children.
Being strongly committed to recognising, planning for and interacting with children in ways that acknowledge their differences and individual characteristics.
We will demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the learning and development of each child, identify learning goals for individual children, and use this information as a basis for planning, evaluating and improving curriculum programmes by:
By being committed to our philosophy of working in partnership with parents to provide a safe, creative and loving environment, where each child is nurtured and their individuality is acknowledged and enhanced.
Implementing our observation and assessment policy, which ensures that observations are meaningful, linked to theory, and used to improve practice.
By recording events and activities specific to each day in a daybook, keeping notes of equipment and activities that children have been working on and collecting material for children's individual files. In conjunction with this, each staff member will be allocated three or four children per month to observe in more depth. In the first week informal observations will take place and input from other teachers and parents/whanau will be collected, to provide links with the home and to provide an objective overview or snapshot of each child. The second week formal observations will be recorded during centre time, focusing on a strength, or developing skill. In the third week teachers will work collaboratively on developing a plan for the child using the principles, strands and goals of Te Whaariki, the early childhood curriculum. This will be shared with parents/whanau and other teachers during weekly staff meetings. After these discussions the plan will be implemented in the centre. Before the next R.A.P.I.D is undertaken the plan will be evaluated against the learning outcomes chosen.
Management recognising the importance of teachers having the time and space to record each child's significant learning achievements and allowing time for ongoing record keeping in the programme.
When required working collaboratively with specialist services to implement individual development plans for children with special education needs.
Implement a curriculum and assessment policies which;
Reflect the holistic way that children learn by:
Understanding and implementing Te Whaariki, the early childhood curriculum into our programme planning.
Implementing the observation and assessment policy as outlined in 3
Reflecting the reciprocal relationships between the child, people, and the learning environment by:
Following our centre philosophy, which states "We believe that children are endowed with special powers to absorb the culture in which they live. Our aim is to work in partnership with parents to provide a safe, creative and loving environment, where each child is nurtures and their individuality is acknowledged and enhanced. If the adults in a child's learning environment value and model respect for others, independence, collaboration, wonder at the world, a sense of joy and peaceful relationships, these are what young children will absorb"
Involving parents/guardians and where appropriate, whanau by:
All teachers being open, welcoming, non-judgemental and making time for parents, at the beginning and end of the day, so that they feel comfortable about sharing ideas about their children with us.
Implementing our assessment and evaluation policy.
Enhancing children's sense of themselves as capable people and competent learners by:
Believing in the Montessori philosophy of "the secret of childhood". This is the analogy that children can be likened to seeds, and teachers likened to the gardener, who prepares the environment and tends to the needs of the seeds as they grow. We believe in the ability of the children to become competent learners, as seeds are the promise of the plant they will grow into. Therefore, it is our role to nurture the children, by providing conditions conducive to each child's growth and development into adulthood.
We will plan, implement and evaluate curriculum for children in which:
Their health is promoted and emotional well-being nurtured; and they are kept safe from harm by:
Ensuring infants are held in a calm and caring way.
Combining hygienic practices with warm nurturing relationships.
Talking constantly to infants and use eye and full-face contact with each infant as often as possible. Giving infants every opportunity to hear how language is produced
Being aware that many Maori and Pacific Islands children feel uncomfortable making eye contact when speaking to adults, and not misinterpret this avoidance
Responding appropriately when children express themselves, helping them to understand their feelings
Connecting links with the family and wider world are affirmed and extended; children know they have a place and feel comfortable with routines, customs and regular events; and children know the limits and boundaries of acceptable behaviour by:
Routines being integrated into the curriculum as important, social learning experiences
Being aware that a child's name embodies a sense of belonging and identify that the correct pronunciation of names is extremely important
Understanding young children's need for security and comfort and accept special playthings from home.
Ensuring a consistent, caring educator is nearby to greet young children, especially infants and toddlers when they wake up from sleep
Providing opportunities to meet with parents to discuss child management and ways of enabling children to grow into self-regulated adults.
Liaising with local tangata whenua and demonstrating respect for Papatuanuku(mother nature)
There are equitable opportunities for learning for each child, irrespective of gender, ability, age, ethnicity or background; children are affirmed as individuals; and children are encouraged to work alongside others by:
Ensuring that the size of the groups encourage meaningful interactions among children and teachers.
Ensuring that teachers have time and the opportunity to observe children while out of ratio.
Talking frequently to infants about what the other children are doing, encouraging eye contact, watching facial expressions, and fostering communication skills by encouraging children to respond positively to infant's overtures. Also when possible, allowing under and over two children to have contact with each other.
Encouraging boys to interact frequently with adults.
Reinforcing children's involvement in learning experiences that help them develop initial reading skills.
Providing enough adults and equipment, and arranging the facilities to enable children with special needs to participate fully.
d) Children develop verbal and non-verbal communication skills for a range of purposes; children experience the stories and symbols of their own and other cultures; and children discover and develop different ways to be creative and expressive by:
Encouraging children to initiate and sustain conversations with us that are longer than three turn-takings.
Using routines, especially mealtimes, hand washing, and toileting times as opportunities for conversations with children
Using and supporting children's home language and communication styles
Ensuring Pacific Islands languages, art, dances, stories, legends and chants are part of our curriculum
Ensuring children have access to a wide variety of materials for use in creative and expressive arts and that they are given opportunities to experiment and combine them in new and different ways
e) Children's play is valued as meaningful and the importance of spontaneous play is recognised; children gain confidence in and control of their bodies; children learn strategies for active exploration, thinking and reasoning; and children develop working theories for making sense of the natural, social, physical and material worlds by:
Promoting the use of natural materials
Providing a stimulating environment based on the developmental needs and interests of the children, so they can initiate and make decisions about their own learning.
By believing our role as teachers is to help children to develop the skills that will enable them to adjust their sails to always reach their destination.
Sharing with children our own feeling of not knowing, being uncertain, and wanting to know and model ways of finding answers.
Promoting opportunities for children to mix with children older and younger than themselves, during the course of the day.
Encouraging toddlers to find out how things work by letting them do the actions, while we provide the language. Modelling this for older children so, they learn how to help their peers in this way.
Provide infants with a variety of indoor and outdoor play spaces and surfaces, such as smooth floors, carpet, grass and sand.
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