📗Education Curriculum and Learning Policy (QA1) (video needed, screenshot missing)

National Quality Standard (NQS) -Quality Area 1 – Educational program and practice

Implementation

Our Educational Leader is {Insert name here}.

The role of the Educational Leader is to affirm and extend educators’ teaching practices, support the development of curriculum based on an approved learning framework and ensure children progress towards and achieve the outcomes of that framework.

Our service is committed to the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) for children from birth to 3 years and the Victorian Early Years Learning Framework (VEYLF).  

EYLF Learning and VEYLDF Outcomes:

Learning Outcomes recognise the importance of literacy, communication, numeracy, and social and emotional development.

• Children have a strong sense of identity 
• Children are connected with and contribute to their world
• Children have a strong sense of wellbeing 
• Children are confident and involved learners
• Children are effective communicators 

Educators will:

• Plan a Curriculum based on children’s individual and group interests, voice, culture, language, ideas, play and everyday lives ie connections between children, families, and communities. 
• The curriculum plan WILL include and outdoor element to extend children's learning outdoors and reflect what is happening on the indoor curriculum. 
• Outdoor planning will be highlighted on the Weekly/Fortnightly plan.
• Strong positive partnerships with families to achieve children's Learning Outcomes, and encourage families to contribute to the Curriculum by sharing information about their child/ren or completing activities with children through formal and informal partnership meetings.
• Build connections between the service, schools and the local community around the Campus.  
• Include children in decision making, including decisions about the indoor and outdoor spaces, programming and planning, routines and documenting their achievements and analysis, and give Children appropriate levels of responsibility and strategies that challenge their learning.

Programming must include an inclusive indoor and outdoor program that mirrors children's individual goals or the room learning goals. Indoor and outdoor learning spaces which  invite open-ended interactions, spontaneity, risk-taking, exploration, discovery, and connection with nature.

• Make use of spontaneous ‘teachable moments’ to scaffold children’s learning and analysis where the children's learning is going with engaging in sustained shared conversations with children, families and Educators to extend on children's thinking. 
• Support children’s learning by participating in child-led play-based learning. 
• Provide a balance between child-led, child-initiated with Educators using teaching strategies and techniques that are supported learning by creative rich learning environments and activities that stimulate children’s imagination, creativity, and curiosity and encourage children to investigate, experiment, explore, solve problems, create and construct. 
• Use strategies like demonstrating, dramatic play, role play, open questioning, speculating, explaining, shared thinking and problem-solving to promote and extend children’s learning  
• Use resources (eg man-made and natural loose parts) and implement activities (eg dramatic play, visual arts, role play, games) to promote learning across all Learning Outcomes.
• Regularly assess what each child knows, can do, and understands through an ongoing cycle of planning, documenting, analysing and evaluating, and then implement activities to help each child achieve all Learning Outcomes. Assessments will take into account the period of time each child spends at the service provide opportunities for children to learn individually and as part of a group. 
• Regularly add to a learning portfolio for each child which includes written assessments (summative) of the child’s learning as well as children's creative learning through day-to-day practices. Portfolios will be available for children and their family to view, they remain the property of the Service, the child's Portfolios will be sent home at the end of the year or every 2 years of your child's enrolment. 
• Plan the curriculum with each child's learning goals with always keeping in mind the learning outcomes in mind, and remember that learning is not always predictable or the way you want, or intend it to be. 
• Celebrate the achievements and learning of each child.
• Your curriculum should have parents consent with having reciprocal honest communication if you are wanting to liaise with external agencies and professionals to support children with additional needs (NDIS, OT, learning specialists).
• Regularly evaluate Children's and Educator's practices and reflect on how well the Curriculum is helping each child progress towards and achieve the Learning Outcomes. 
• Display the Weekly/Fortnightly and Termly curriculum in children’s rooms and encourage families to contribute, make suggestions or ask questions about children’s learning at any time. 

Provide the following information to parents whenever requested:

• The content and operation of the educational program. This is to be shared on the Woodlands Educational online programs; Playground, families will be able to view this on XPlor Home. 
• Information about the child’s participation in the program, families will be able to view this on XPlor Home. 
• Learning Summative Assessments of the child’s developmental needs, interests, experiences and progress against the Learning Outcomes to be done online every 6 months and shared to families online and can be put in the child's Learning portfolio's.