Giggles and Scribbles Early Learning Centre philosophy is underpinned by the Pikler, RIE and Montessori Philosophies. We believe in the benefits of freedom of movement for infants and primary care throughout the toddler and nursery classrooms. We value the principals of Montessori and incorporate the use of Montessori equipment throughout our classrooms.

We believe in maintaining calm, respectful learning environments where children are encouraged to put their resources away after themselves and be respectful of others.

Staff see children as competent, capable and confident learners who communicate their ideas both verbally and non-verbally. As teachers we are responsible for treating each child with respect and dignity. Staff acknowledge each child as an individual and take time to recognise and respond to their cues. We aim to empower and foster each child’s independence and social competence.

Children are encouraged to develop strategies for initiating, maintaining and enjoying a relationship with other children and adults. Teachers will promote the skills required for participating in group play situations.

We believe in weaving our core values into our curriculum and programme planning, which are honesty/truthfulness, courage, respect, kindness/caring, forgiveness, empathy/compassion, resilience, responsibility, perseverance, inclusiveness, contribution, and independence.

We provide an environment that fosters warm and respectful relationships, where all children are able to develop a sense of belonging and trust knowing they are in a safe and secure environment. The programme allows children time to investigate, explore and discover. Children engage in purposeful activities in a collaborative way with the guidance of their teachers. We foster interests and encourage children to develop and test their theories. Children are encouraged to be creative thinkers and self-motivated learners.

Teachers use positive guidance, role modeling and appropriate strategies to help foster the children’s skills such as turn taking, and solving conflict situations. We believe in providing children with safe choices and teachers are respectful of their choices.

The curriculum supports the children’s emerging ideas and interests. Teachers will extend on these, with equal opportunities for both teacher led and a child led curriculum.

We promote literacy, mathematics, science, ICT, social skills, and perceptual motor programme through our Transition to School Programme and daily curriculum. We believe in working with families and local schools to deliver opportunities for each child in these areas.

We understand the importance of collaborative teacher/parent relationships. We value their knowledge and understanding of their children. Through a collaborative approach to individual planning, we will be able to develop programs that result in positive outcomes for the children.

Giggles & Scribbles are proactive at identifying Priority Learners, and working alongside families to develop and implement an IEP (Individualised Education Plan) or seeking external agencies for support should it be deemed necessary or beneficial.

Our centre programme, curriculum, policies and procedures are continuously being reviewed through internal review and improvements implemented and evaluated. Developing successful learning outcomes for all children is at the forefront of all reviews.

We like to celebrate children’s achievements, promote leadership and social skills. Teacher led activities are provided daily that link to group planning and or individual planning. Our planning emphasis is on planning individually for all children, recognising, goal setting and extending learning.

We recognise Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the founding document of New Zealand, therefore, we are committed to bi-cultural practices within our learning environment. We celebrate and respect ethnic, cultural, socio-economic, religious and gender diversity of families within our preschool and all that this diversity brings to the depth of learning which can occur here.

Giggles and Scribbles offers Primary Care for all children. A ‘Primary Caregiver’ is the child’s special teacher. Primary Caregivers are responsible for the child’s care routines, observations, discussions with families and setting appropriate learning objectives in partnership with families. This does not mean that the child and their primary caregiver maintain an exclusive relationship. However, the primary caregiver becomes the in-centre expert on the child, within the team, and holds responsibility for providing consistent care in a way that maximises the potential for learning in all experiences. This allows a strong and secure attachment between child and primary caregiver to develop, and helps the child to gain a positive sense of self worth.

Each child is assigned a primary caregiver before they start their pre-visits. Each primary caregiver has an assigned secondary caregiver. A secondary caregiver is another teacher who works alongside the primary caregiver with their focus group of children. The secondary caregiver knows the children and their routines to ensure the child’s needs are met at times when the primary caregiver is unavailable.

When an infant or toddler starts in the Nursery they have their needs met foremost by their primary caregiver and then by their secondary caregiver teacher in order for them to establish a strong bond from the beginning. If a child has a preference to a particular teacher after a primary caregiver is assigned, changes may be made to acknowledge and respect this child’s feelings.

Infant and toddler’s care routines are special times which allow opportunities for valuable teaching and learning. It is important that these special times are uninterrupted therefore staff will be flexible throughout the day (prioritising children’s needs, parents needs and break times) to enable consistent care for each individual child.

Primary caregivers recognise learning and plan for each individual within the group, ensuring positive experiences for the child within the programme.

Within the team is a support system incorporating consistent primary caregivers who all know the children well and support their team members when needed.

As part of Giggles and Scribbles’ primary care giving system relief teachers unfamiliar to the children will not participate in care routines. Relievers are encouraged to interact with the children and will support the teaching team with the daily housekeeping tasks.

A caring and nurturing environment is provided for our infants and toddlers. We recognise that each child’s emotional security is paramount and that this directly affects their learning and development. We therefore strive to maintain a peaceful and unhurried environment. Our daily routine is relaxed and flexible, allowing for each child’s home routines to be followed as much as possible. This maximises consistency and continuity and eases the transition between home and centre.