At Little Learners Place we are passionate and dedicated to the learning journey our little learners and educators go on each time they are in our place. Our curriculum is grounded in the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), My Time Our Place Framework and inspired by the Reggio Emelia and Educaring approach (RIE).
Incorporating the EYLF with the Reggio Emilia and RIE approach allows us to offer a high quality and theoretically grounded early childhood approach.
At Little Learners Place we aim to provide a solid foundation for lifelong success
The Early Years Learning Framework describes the principles, practices and outcomes that support and enhance young children’s learning from birth to five years of age, as well as their transition to school.
This framework is a key component of the National Quality Framework (NQF) for Early Childhood Education and Care and offers a vision where ‘all children experience learning that is engaging and builds success for life’.
The EYLF was developed with the fundamental view of children’s worlds being characterised by belonging, being and becoming. This thinking is embedded through our practices at Little Learners Place, whereby every child in our care can experience a genuine sense of belonging; they are provided with environments that allow time and space to be themselves and all our little learners are supported in who they are becoming.
My Time Our Place Framework
The Australian Government My Time, Our Place Framework has been designed to assist educators to provide children with opportunities to maximise their potential and develop a foundation for future success in life. In this way, the Framework will contribute to all children having the best start in life to create a better future for themselves and for Australia.
My Time Our Place represents Australia’s first national framework for school age care to be used by school age care educators and aims to extend and enrich children’s wellbeing and development in school age care settings; namely in the Little Learners Place OSHC and Vacation Care settings.
This Framework is linked to the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) which focuses on children from birth to five years. It extends the principles, practices and outcomes to the contexts and age range of the children and young people who attend school age care settings. Further, the National Quality Standard for Early Childhood Education and Care and School Age Care supports the implementation of this national framework.
Educators guided by the Framework will reinforce in their daily practice the principles laid out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Convention). The Convention states that all children have the right to relax and play, and to join in a wide range of cultural, artistic and other recreational activities. The Convention also recognises children’s rights to be active participants in all matters affecting their lives and respects their family, cultural and other identities, and languages.
The Framework acknowledges the importance of play and leisure in children’s learning and development and that their learning is not limited to any particular time or place. Developing life skills and a sense of enjoyment are emphasised. The Framework recognises the importance of social and emotional development and communication in learning through play and leisure, and it forms the foundation for ensuring that children in all school age care settings engage in quality experiences for rich learning, personal development, and citizenship opportunities.
At the heart of the Reggio Emilia philosophy is the belief that children are full of curiosity and creativity. The Reggio Emelia approach originated in the town (and surrounding areas) of Reggio Emilia in Italy. Since its development in the 1940’s, this educational approach to early childhood learning has been used worldwide; particularly forming key aspects and methods of teaching in Western Australia. Little Learners Place is inspired by the Reggio Emelia approach and we apply an adaptation of the approach specific to the needs of our community. You will find no two Reggio Emilia inspired communities that look alike, as the differing needs and interests of the children, their families and our educators, will always be the centre of their learning.
We believe the first place of learning for all children is their home. This is why we value you as the first teacher of your child and build on that foundation and learn from you in helping raise your child.
We encourage uninterrupted play by offering even the youngest infants free play opportunities, allowing them the freedom to explore and engage with other infants, sensitively observing and trusting, appreciating and admiring what our babies are doing
Resources for Infant Educarers or “RIE” were founded in 1978 by early childhood educator Magda Gerber, who advocated respect and trust of young children. We not only respect babies, we demonstrate our respect every time we interact with them. Respecting a child means treating even the youngest infant as a unique human being, and trusting in babies to be initiators, explorers and self learner. RIE creates authentic children, ones who feel secure, autonomous, competent, and connected. When we help a child to feel secure, feel appreciated, feel that “somebody is deeply, truly interested in me,” by the way we just look, the way we just listen, we influence that child’s whole personality, the way that child sees life.