Queenstown Child Care

The Queenstown Child Care Centre, an existing centre established in 1983 and previously known as 'Little Possums Child Care', that has recently come under the sponsership of NCN. Located in Selby Street, it is an invaluable service to Queenstown and its surrounding townships. 

Hours of operation

The centre offers care between the hours of 8.00 am to 6.00 pm Monday to Friday.  Session times are:

Full Day                                     8.00 am - 6.00 pm

Morning Session           8.30 am - 12.30 pm

Afternoon Session                     1.30 pm - 5.30 pm

After school Care       3.00 pm - 6.00 pm 

 

Philosophy 

· Partnerships - We acknowledge that relationships are crucial to children’s sense of belonging,and are central in supporting children’s emerging identity. We believe that family support is a key aspect to successful learning and development for young children. We acknowledge that each child is a part of a family, a cultural group, and a community. Building strong relationships with families, through the exchange of information on each child with staff is recognised as central to our practice. We support family input into the centre’s organisation and management and recognise that the skills, knowledge and contributions families can make will enhance the quality of our service. We believe that young children should learn to respect and celebrate the diversity of the Australian community. We recognise that diversity relates to culture, race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status and differing abilities.Our service believes that we have an important role to play as an advocate for young children and their families, encouraging a more equitable and compassionate community, where everyone has a sense of their rights and responsibilities.

· Experiences and Learning - Our service recognises the importance of childhood as a time to be in the present, while supporting individual children’s ability to engage with life’s joys and complexities as they meet challenges and explore new experiences.We believe early childhood settings should focus on the strengths and interests that children already have, with play based learning providing the context for children to organise and make sense of social worlds, as they engage actively with people, objects and representations.The social, physical, emotional and cognitive development of all children is recognised as crucial to group and individual programs. We believe that the centre should provide a diverse, stimulating and enriching program where children will be encouraged to play, explore, discover and practice in a safe nurturing environment, as they become full and active participants in society.

· Staff Relationships - At Queenstown Child Care Centre we recognise that the key principles of secure, respectful and reciprocal relationships, partnerships, high expectations and equity, respect for diversity and ongoing learning and reflection underpin the practice of educators in ensuring that children are supported in their learning. We acknowledge that developing teamwork and positive relationships requires understanding of diversity with respect to each educator’s experiences and background. Educators will be provided with opportunities to have input into decision making, pursue professional development and to reflect on their own practices and that of their colleagues. The service will also support student learning and encourage professional early childhood networks in our community.

· Evaluation - We recognise that the environment in which the centre operates is constantly changing. Ongoing evaluation of the needs of children, families, educators and the community will allow us to create a service that is dynamic and responsive to change. The evaluation process requires us to have an openness to change, encourage reflective practise, recognise diversity and support life long learning.