Our Philosophy
Secure, Safe, Respectful, Responsible, Honest, and Happy.
Ana Kindergarten, a division of the Australian Anatolian Community Services CO-OP is a Non-Profit Community Organisation, aimed at providing quality of care and educational program for children aged between 0 and 6, supporting families in their parenting roles, and working in partnership with families and community. We provide welcoming, inclusive, nurturing, secure, open-ended, and motivating environment, one that supports risk-taking, connection with nature and invites share ideas for children, educators, families and relevant stakeholders.
We believe that community engagement is important as it has an immense impact on children’s wellbeing and learning. Experiences of relationships and participation in community contribute to children’s ‘belonging, being and becoming’. Engaging with the community builds on children’s interest and expertise in being and becoming contributors to their world.
We believe that secure, respectful and reciprocal relationships provide children with a secure base for exploration and learning. Positive relationships help children to learn about their responsibility to others, to appreciate their connectedness and interdependence as learnings. Our educators believe that engaging in intentional teaching recognises that learning occurs in social context and that interactions and conversations are vitally important for children’s learning. ‘No significant learning occurs without a significant relationship.’ – Dr James Comer
We believe young children represent the first of the future generations which makes it important for us, as educators, to help the children realise the significance of caring for and protecting their environment. We believe in promoting sustainable practices in everyday learning. Educators, children and parents work together to show respect, care and appreciation for the natural environment.
We believe that sense of wellbeing in children incorporates both physical and psychological aspects and is central to belonging, being and becoming. Being healthy, well rested and free of illness assists children to be able to participate happily and successfully in the environment. Educators attend to children’s wellbeing by providing safe and secure environments, affirmation and respectful for all aspects of their physical, emotional, social, cognitive, linguistic, creative and spiritual being.
We believe that our indoor and outdoor learning environments support all aspects of children’s development and foster meaningful connections between children, educators, families, and the broader community. Our environments promote opportunities for sustained shared thinking and collaborative learning. Each space is designed to inspire open-ended interaction, spontaneity, risk-taking, exploration, discovery, and a deep connection with nature. Our environments are inclusive and promote competence, independence, and learning through play.
We believe in working collaboratively with families, children, and educators, using learning outcomes to guide the planning of children’s learning. The framework supports educators in making informed curriculum decisions as part of an ongoing cycle of planning, implementation, and evaluation. Educators intentionally scaffold children’s understanding and development by embracing both spontaneous and intentional teachable moments to extend learning. Reflective practice is also an integral part of our approach, encouraging educators to engage thoughtfully with questions of philosophy, ethics, and practice as part of their continuous professional growth.
We believe that families are children’s first and most influential teachers. Partnership are based on the foundation of understanding each other’s expectations and attitudes and build on the strengths of each other’s knowledge. We trust each other by communicating freely and respectfully with each other to engage in shared decision making.
We believe that being culturally competent is about building respectful relationships to support, promote and embrace cultural difference. It occurs overtime, by our connection with others and through our daily experiences with children and families in local communities, we can equip all children to live well with diversity and become active citizens now and into the future. It is through our commitment and our daily action to truly value difference that we become a community in which all can be long and flourish.
Our service is committed to upholding the highest standards of child safety and wellbeing. We actively promote physical and cultural safety, ensuring every child feels valued, respected, and protected. Guided by the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, we embed children’s rights, voices, and best interests at the heart of all we do.
We maintain a ZERO-TOLERANCE approach to child abuse and ensure all staff, volunteers, and visitors understand their responsibilities in creating a safe, inclusive, and nurturing environment. We believe children are capable, competent learners with the right to participate in decisions that affect them. We listen to their voices, respect their choices, and co-construct learning experiences that support their growth and wellbeing.
