The One Tree philosophy incorporates Reggio Emilia and Steiner approaches to early education and care.
It is based on three principles:
1. Our image of the child.
- Viewing children as competent individuals and encourage them to follow their own curiosity, interests and capabilities.
- Opening each child’s learning to ‘the village’ – by including parents, family and the community.
2. Our environments.
- Applying a sustainable lens to what materials we use.
- Up-cycling our furniture, use recycled materials in our learning activities, and ask for donations from the community.
- Aiming to reflect local culture at all our services.
- Designing our services to ‘feel like home’ to assist children to give children a sense of belonging.
3. Our programming and curriculum.
- Using individual portfolios and learning documentation for each child.
- Encouraging parents and families to engage in the curriculum.
We see our One Tree philosophy as a continual journey with staff, children, their families and community.