Our Philosophy

Hawthorn Early Years Philosophy

At HEY we learn side by side with children by capturing their natural wonder and curiosity, laying the foundations for the development of future global citizens.

Children are active participants in their own learning, with educators partnering with them to find out what they already know so they can build on this and broaden their knowledge and skills.

We believe that children are capable and competent learners, who need secure ongoing attachments, which we ensure occurs through a key teacher approach.

We are committed to building strong reciprocal community partnerships that enable children to develop a sense of their community and as a springboard to understand and participate in social justice issues.

Respectful relationships are the cornerstone of developing collaborative partnerships with children, families, educators and the wider community. We recognise and respect that each individual has unique talents, ideas, values and opinions that can contribute to a non-biased, holistic and innovative approach to education and care.

We see our environments as a teaching strategy and as such they are natural, open ended and reflect the community and culture our children, families and educators.

We value and prioritise health and wellbeing support and programs for our children and team members as we recognise these elements are basic requirements and needs above all else.

We respect and honor indigenous culture and through our Reconciliation working group will establish authentic and meaningful practices.

We have a strong commitment to undertaking sustainability practices that show respect to the environment and provide children, educators and families with the tools needed to live in harmony with the natural environment.

We are committed to continuous improvement and believe this is a vital element to remaining progressive, innovative and establishing ourselves as a sector leader in excellence.

We promote a distributive leadership model by building agency in all our team members to ensure they play an active role in the planning, reflecting and decision making. Professional development plays a major role in team members feeling fully equipped to make informed and innovative contributions.