Program Goals and Objectives

As pursuant to the Child Care and Early Years Act and structured around the foundation of Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years: How does Learning Happen.

1. Promote the health, safety, nutrition and well-being of the children

Approach:

• Provide opportunities for fine and gross motor development both inside the classroom and outside on the playground or excursions 

• Balance of quiet activities and active play throughout the day

• Nutritious meals and snacks according to Canada’s Food Guide and ensuring safe and hygienic practices

• Meet all local government by-laws regulated by Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Region/Town of Durham

• Staff to be trained and informed regarding policies and procedures upon commencement of employment and periodically or annually thereafter or as required

Implementation:

• Health:

  • Hand washing and hygiene practices of children

  • Staff to coach children on maintenance of personal hygiene

  • Staff to observe and be mindful of the physical state of each child through the day

  • Daily sanitization of equipment in facility

  • Enable a quiet area which is accessible to children throughout the day

• Safety:

  • Maintenance of child-staff ratios in accordance with Ministry of Education guidelines

  • Keeping of hazardous substances or medicine in a safe locked area outside of reach at all times

  • Staff training to respond appropriately in emergencies such as fire and anaphylaxis incidents

  • Staff certification in First Aid / CPR

• Nutrition:

  • Provision of daily nutritious morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack and access to water throughout day

  • Recognition of each child’s individual nutritional needs (food restrictions and allergies)

  • Menus to be aligned with Canada’s Food Guide

  • Children to be educated on healthy food habits

  • Children to be encouraged/guided to serve and feed themselves during meal times

2. To support positive and responsive interactions among children, parents, child care providers and staff

Approach:

• Encourage respectful interactions amongst children, childcare providers and parents / caregivers

• Promote open communication and dialogue

• Treat our staff with respect by having open discussions with them regarding their strengths and opportunities for improvement. Involve parents in the process as required to positive improvements to the centre.

• Encourage an open place for communication with children and their parents

Implementation:

• Staff to display compassion through posture, voice tone and physical contact with children and parents and other staff

• Staff to be at child’s level most of the day to maintain eye contact and build confidence

• The ideas of children, families and staff will be heard and validated.  Acknowledge child’s thoughts and feelings

• Staff to ask parents relevant questions upon drop off and pick up to inform child-led programming throughout the day

• ·Abundance of smiling, nodding and welcoming and good-bye hugs to demonstrate affection and build a safe environment

3. Encourage children to interact and communicate in a positive way and support their ability to self-regulate

Approach:

• Use collaborative learning experiences for children to develop interpersonal skills and various approaches of positive expression

• Foster self-regulation through a conducive learning environment comprised of routines and collaborative experience

Implementation:

• Staff to help children navigate through conflict using negotiating and problem solving skills

• Staff to engage with children one on one and as a group to demonstrate appropriate social interaction

• Staff will be engaged with the children for most of the time during play inside and outside to capture and build upon teachable moments

• Design classrooms to allow for small and large groups and individual activities throughout all day

• Build routines into the schedule for the day to promote self-regulation

• Staff members to respond quickly to children when upset and validate their feelings

• Children to be encouraged to acknowledge what they are feeling with staff support

• Use of community circles to encourage dialogue and expression

4. Foster the children’s exploration, play and inquiry

Approach:

• Invite children to explore their learning environment and make positive connections

• Build curriculum based on the interests shown by the children from the previous week to ensure its child-led and focuses on building upon their curiosity

• Learning environment to consist of developmentally appropriate play-based learning materials

Implementation:

• Staff to plan most of their curriculum for the next week, but will allow for spontaneous activities to happen as the week progresses

• Curriculum to include sensory activities and resources for child-initiative play based learning such as reclaimed materials, art materials, etc

• Staff to enhance their indoor and outdoor environment with age appropriate activities that encourage manipulation, construction and creative expression

• Staff to allow children to explore freely when engaged in an activity

• Staff to ask ended-questions to children to try and understand their thought processes, instead of imposing our ideas onto them

• Staff to provide a planned provocation weekly to foster children’s inquiry and exploration

• Children to be encouraged to explore all areas of their environment, allowing play materials to be used in an appropriate manner

5. Provide child-initiated and adult-supported experiences

Approach:

• Staff to encourage children to take ownership in their learning and consider risks in order to recognize strength and areas of growth

• Smart Start to provide adult-supported experiences while allowing children to maintain a sense of autonomy

Implementation:

• Child-initiated experiences:

  • Building with lego, blocks, sticks

  • Use of push toys

  • Constructing puzzles

  • Visual and creative art

  • Reading and listening to stories

  • Exploration through deconstructing and building of products

• Adult-supported experiences:

  • Yoga and mindfulness

  • Circle time, story time

  • Toilet Training

  • Workshops participation

  • Sing-a-longs

  • Supervised exploration of natural elements (water, sand/earth, planting)

  • Cooking and food preparation

6. Plan for and create positive learning environments and experiences in which each child’s learning and development will be supported

Approach:

• Play-based materials are provided that are open-ended and single-purposed materials

• Classrooms are organized in learning areas which are developmentally appropriate and reflect each student’s interests and abilities.  The décor of the room is child-inspired

• Childcare providers take time to get to know each child holistically and in order to differentiate instruction which is catered to the needs of the child

Implementation:

• Play-based materials:

  • Visual art

  • Fabrics and textiles

  • Manipulative toys

  • Puppets and soft toys

  • Toy cars, people, animals and dolls

  • Puzzles and board games

  • Maps / globes

  • Play kitchens/tools centre/doll houses

  • Dramatic area

  • Easels

• Areas of learning:

  • Reading centre

  • Culture area

  • Rest/quiet place

• Knowing each child:

  • All About Me child information form / documentation

7. Incorporate indoor and outdoor play, as well as active play, rest and quiet time, into the day, and give consideration to the individual needs of the children receiving care

Approach:

• Learning environment includes spaces allowing for active play and rest/quiet time.  Children always have the choice to engage in rest / quiet time when needed.

• Smart Start encourages children to make choices with respect to choosing and initiating activities

Implementation:

• Outdoor Play:

  • Bicycles, tricycles

  • Ride-on toys

  • Outdoor balls

  • Toy golf clubs/ bats

  • Ladder ball

  • Sports – basketball, baseball, soccer

  • Seasonal outdoor activities

• Indoor Play:

  • Music and movement, dance

  • Karaoke machine

  • Large/small playmats

• Quiet/Rest Play

  • Cots/cribs for sleep

  • Carpet and mat areas

  • Couches

8. Foster the engagement of and on-going communication with parents about the program and their children

Approach:

• Foster a solid home to school connection for the children and their parents.

• Smart Start strengthens relationship and trusts with parents by facilitating ongoing dialogue with caregivers regarding the program and development of their children

Implementation:

• Staff to greet families as soon as they enter the room and will communicate with them in regards to their child and their day at the centre

• Infant and toddler parents to receive a daily sheet that provides information of the primary needs such as feeding, sleep and diapering

• Supervisor to have an open-door policy which invites parents to communicate issues when they arise

• Supervisors to take all necessary steps to follow through on parent concerns with investigation, communication and solutioning

• Daily verbal communication

• Daily charting of nap times, meals and toileting, and other key observations for parents to see if requested

• Public Health reportable illnesses that occur in a centre or classrooms to be posted for parents

• Learning stories to be created and posted by staff to show a snapshot of learning occurring in the classrooms

• When required, staff and management along with parents and support staff to have meetings in regards to children’s behaviours

• When required, staff to allow adjustments to their programming to benefit all children’s needs.

• Parent engagement happens throughout the year to encourage relationships with families

• Staff to welcome support staff into their classrooms and take into consideration the development of all children when planning their curriculum

• ·Welcome volunteers into the centres to support care when needed

9. Involve local community partners and allow those partners to support the children, families and staff

Approach:

• Smart Start invites and collaborates with local community partners in attempt to support children, families and care providers

Implementation:

• Region of Durham through training courses

• Fire Dept

• Region Police

• Public Health Dept

• Local care providers – paediatric dentist

• Local activity workshops – karate, music, French, yoga which may be subject to reasonable price per workshop series

10. Support staff, home child care providers or others who interact with children centre with continuous professional learning opportunities

Approach:

• All of the staff are dedicated educators committed to on-going professional learning.  We provide opportunities for collaborative learning, courses and pedagogical inquiry

Implementation:

• Supervisors to take copies of the staff’s certificate of completion for their files.  Staff must attend periodic staff meetings, which includes professional development opportunities

• Staff will attend courses offered through Region of Durham for on-going training on early childhood best practices

• ECEs belong to the College of ECE or have been approved by a Ministry Director

• Supervisors to continuously monitor and mentor staff

• Supervisors to conduct yearly performance appraisals on each staff

• Management to stay well-informed of the evolving field and keep staff updated as necessary

• Once a year, the staff and management to document and evaluate our strategies set out in our program to ensure it reflects our vision. If it is deemed necessary, a plan will be put into place to better meet these strategies

• Staff must attend at least 2 workshops a year as well as in-house workshops

• Review resources such as: HowDoes Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years

11. Document and review the impact of the strategies set out in clauses A to J above on the children and their families

Approach:

• We understand the importance of reviewing the practice of each caregiver to ensure goals of the program statement are being implemented.  The evaluation allows us to identify the impact on our children and their families and test effectiveness of learning strategies

Implementation:

• All staff, students and volunteers will review the program statement prior to interacting with children and at any time the statement is modified

• Teachers will observe and record the observations on each of the children at least once a week.   The observations serve to capture the children’s interests, inquiries and discoveries.  Based on these observations the teachers determine the children’s interest.  Program planning allows teachers to provide materials and provocations to deepen the children’s thinking and learning.  Teachers will create pedagogical documentation that demonstrates children’s thinking and learning

• Documentation may take many forms, such as photos with learning stories, video clips, art projects, etc.  Documentation will be displayed in the classrooms and shared with parents, as well as kept in the child’s portfolios.

• All staff, students and volunteers shall review and sign off on the program statement prior to interacting with children, annually and when the program statement has been modified. Records of this shall be kept for 7 years

• Regular discussions amongst room staff will take place in order to develop appropriate programming

• Periodic meetings will take place to discuss programming details and new curriculum information.

• Individual observations of each teacher will take place twice per year, accompanied by feedback and mentoring on their performance and teaching style

• Training will be provided to all students and volunteers so that they are familiar with the program statement and implementing all aspects of it along with the classroom teachers

• Strategies to review with children and their families:

  • Families are encouraged to provide informal feedback on an ongoing basis

  • Families are given the opportunity to complete an annual nursery school evaluation at the end of each school year.  Outputs such as reflective observations about the program are discussed amongst Educators when the program is done

 Our Promise

At Smart Start Learning Centres we promise:

• Children come first and foremost in any decisions relating to the running of its child care centres

• We promise to continually strive to improve the learning and working environment for all participating children, families and staff

• To establish, maintain and conduct the highest quality child care centre licensed under the Childcare and Early Years Act for the education, care and guidance of children

• To do our best to provide a clean, safe place for your child to grow emotionally, socially, physically and cognitively

• To provide your child with activities to enhance all areas of child development so that they have a good solid educational base to start school with

• Never take for granted your precious child

• To provide nutritious, freshly cooked meals that provide your children the energy to have a happy and productive day

Our Programs

 Smart Start Learning centres offer full and part time care for:

Infant Room

Full time for children aged 0 months to 18 months of age.

Toddler Room

Full time or part time for children aged 18 months to 2 ½ years of age.

Junior Room

Full time or part time for children aged 2 ½ years to 4 years of age.

Senior and/or Kindergarten Room

Full time or part time for children aged 4 to 6 years of age.

School Age

Before & After school care (School holidays & P.A. Days Included) for children 6 to 12 years of age.

Half Day Preschool

Nursery program for 2/12 to 4 from 9 to 12 (with lunch optional).

 Refer to daily schedules by classroom for more information on programming.

Program Development

Smart Start Learning Centre provides opportunities for indoor and outdoor activities.  Weekly program plans are posted in each room.  Parents are encouraged to take a look at these plans and talk to teachers about their child’s development. Smart Start Learning Centre uses the Emergent Curriculum as a guideline for program development.  This program uses the skills outlined in the ELECT (early learning for every child today) program. 

Parents of infants, and toddlers will be receiving a daily record of their child’s day.  This will include any milestones achieved, activities they participated in, as well as a record of food eaten, and diaper changes.

Parental Involvement

Smart Start Learning Centre believes that parents need to be very involved in their child’s learning process.  Communication with the child’s teacher is also highly encouraged.  Parents can also get involved by donating materials such as plastic bags, empty cans, tissue boxes, cereal boxes etc.

General Information

Hours of Operation

Smart Start Learning Centres will be operational from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Smart Start Learning Centres will be closed on statutory holidays.  Should statutory holiday(s) fall on a weekend the centre will be closed on the preceding or following business day(s).  Parents will be notified if there are changes to statutory holidays. Statutory holidays are as follows: New Year's Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Civic Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and December 26 (Boxing Day). 

Nutritious Meals and Snacks

We at Smart Start Learning Centre believe that nutrition plays a vital role in a child’s ability to learn.  We provide home cooked freshly nutritious and delicious lunches and snacks.   Menus are posted on the parent board near the entrance of the centre.  We also offer nutritious meal alternatives for Spring/Fall 2017 that cater to our growing communities, including Halal options.  See our menu options.

All Smart Start Centres are peanut free so parents are not permitted to bring in home made goods.  Store bought, sealed birthday cakes are permitted as long as they are nut free.  Infant food and snacks may be brought in if the child is not on a regular diet.  If there are diet restrictions, a parent may bring in a substitute when necessary.

Field Trips and Off-Site Activities

As part of the curriculum, field trips and other off-site excursions are planned periodically throughout the year. Parents will be notified in advance of field trips on the monthly calendar and will be required to give written permission for their child to attend.  There may be a moderate fee for trips.  Smaller off-site activities such as neighbourhood walks are also part of our curriculum planning. Parents are required to sign a permission form to cover all such informal excursions prior to enrolling their child as such activities are not always planned in advance.

Waiting Lists

Smart Start Learning Centre does not charge a fee for adding children to a waiting list.  If a parent wishes to place a child on a waiting list, the centre supervisor must be notified of desired start date.  The parent will be contacted as soon as a spot becomes available.  A child will remain on the waitlist until the parent has indicated they have found an alternate spot.

Registration Process

Please visit to the centre to pick up a registration package.  When all required forms have been filled out and submitted, and registration fees and deposits are made, the child is considered as registered with the start date indicated on the registration form. 

Supervision of Volunteers and Students

At Smart Start Learning Centre, we believe that volunteers and students are a valuable resource.  All volunteers and students will be supervised by an employee at all times and will not be left alone with any child. They will never be counted in staff/child ratios.

Prohibited Behaviours

Smart Start Learning Centre is a safe place for children, staff, parents, students and volunteers. There is a zero tolerance against any abuse to a child, parents, staff members or volunteers.  If a serious incident has occurred where a staff has blatantly defied the policies of the centre and rights of the child then an immediate suspension of duties will occur. A follow-up investigation will occur immediately and the Supervisor/Owner will make a decision of termination if it is deemed necessary. Any allegations of abuse will be addressed as per the Smart Start Learning centre Abuse Policy.  

Staff are encouraged to contact the Supervisor or Owner to report any incidents that will be properly investigated and addressed according to the process for monitoring compliance and contravention.  Any repercussions of true and false allegations will be dealt with on a timely basis.

Monitoring

As part of the CCEYA, Smart Start Learning Centre is required to have a written record of the monitoring policies and procedures as well as program implementation for up to 3 years. These monitoring records will be completed by the Supervisor at each program and are to be completed on every staff member every 6 months. When a staff member changes rooms or leaves the room on a permanent basis for any reason the Supervisor will make a note in the file.

Privacy Policy

As of January 1, 2004, the Government of Canada requires all organizations to have a privacy policy in place and appoint a Privacy Officer. Smart Start Learning Centre will ensure that all personal information gathered about our parents, guardians and children is kept confidential. Should it be necessary to disclose such personal information, we will seek consent to do so.

What Parents Need to Provide

Clothing:

Please make sure your child has a complete change of clothing in case of an accidental spill.  Indoor shoes are a must for sanitary purposes. Please remember to label all clothing coming into the Centre.  Appropriate clothing should be available to suit the season as all children will be attending outdoor activities, weather permitting.  Parent should provide child adequate winter outdoor clothes (hat, mittens, scarves, boots).  Also, for summer, hats, sunscreen, swim attire for the planned water play dates.

Diapers and other necessities:

Only disposable diapers are to be used at the Smart Start.  An adequate supply is to be kept in the child's change basket, along with any wipes and/or powder.  Please bring any creams or vaseline your child may use.  If a child is in training pants, it would be wise to keep several pairs on hand in their cubby in case of accidents.

Sunscreen:

Parents are responsible for supplying sunscreen for their child's use. Please remember to label the bottle. Staff will notify you when your child's sunscreen is running low.

Blanket / soft toy:

If your child (toddler and up) has a favorite blanket or soft toy, please bring it to the centre.  It will be sent home weekly for cleaning.

Other necessities:

Please provide your child with a sippy cup for water if he/she prefers one.  As well, please feel free to donate a box of Kleenex per month.  We will provide supplies as well.

Please label all your child’s belongings as Smart Start Learning Centre is not responsible for any lost items.  We will have a lost and found on-site of unlabelled items that will be donated seasonally if items are not claimed.

Photographs and Media

On occasion parents and/or staff members take photographs of the children while at play during the day. These photographs are used for personal reasons only.  The Centre will post some photographs for displays. Names of the children are not used when photographs are displayed.  Parental consent will be obtained at the time of registration of all children new to the daycare.

Drop Off and Pick up Policy

Your child must be dropped off by persons over 16 years of age.  Contact with a teacher must be made prior to the drop off person leaving. 

Your child may only be picked up by persons listed in their authorization list.  Written or verbal permission from a parent or guardian must be provided if anyone else is picking up the child.  Proper identification will be required when that person picks up the child.  If an unauthorized person arrives to pick up a child, access will be denied until identify and permission is confirmed by parent. Your child will remain under the supervision of Smart Start Learning Centre staff until an authorized person arrives for pick up.  Whomever drops a child off, must receive recognition with staff in the room so that they are aware that the child is on premises.  Smart Start Learning Centres will be operational from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.  We pride ourselves on extended hours to accommodate our parents.  Out of respect for our staff’s time, a late fee per child will be charged after 6:30 p.m. The parent must pay the teacher on duty directly.

Admission and Discharge Policy

Upon enrolment at Smart Start Learning Centre,

• Parents must fill out a registration package.

• An interview with the supervisor will be arranged in order to review policies and to give the parent a chance to become familiar with the centre and staff.

• A minimum of 1 month (20 daycare days) written notice is required if you plan to withdraw your child from the centre. If written notice is not received, full child care fees will be charged in lieu of notice.  Deposits will not be refunded if proper notice is not given.

• Please defer to the registration / payment policy in the registration package for more information.

Health Policy

The Health Policy contains guidelines that ensure the health and well-being of all our children and staff.  The main objective of the Policy is to minimize the spread of illness.  If your child becomes ill while at the centre, you or the emergency person will be contacted, and the centre may request that the child be picked up. In the event that your child develops a fever of 101°F or higher, vomiting, diarrhea or a communicable health condition, you will be asked to remove him/her from the centre and return after 24 hours of non-incidence.  Please refer to Health Policy in Parent Handbook for complete information. 

Anaphylactic Policy

Smart Start Learning Centre has a comprehensive anaphylactic policy.  All anaphylactic allergies will be posted in all rooms.  Upon registration, if applicable, parents will have to fill in an anaphylactic plan for their child

Allergies

If your child has an allergy, the centre must be notified and all applicable paper work must be filled out and kept on file.  All allergies will be posted in each room. 

Administering Medication

The staff at Smart Start Learning Centre can administer prescription medication and also other medication if accompanied by a doctor’s note.  Before any medication can be administered, all of the following conditions must be met.  Please refer to Parent's Handbook for complete information.

Emergency Policies

We have policies and procedures in place for fire, tornado and other emergencies.  In case of emergency, the staff will follow policies and procedures.  The Supervisor/designate will  arrange communication to you via email or phone call depending on the requirement in accordance with our policy.  They will also provide a written debrief and be accessible in person or over the phone for any questions or concerns.  If required, there is an emergency shelter evacuation site for each centre. For 201 Williamson, it is 60 Seggar Ave, Brother Andre Catholic School.. For 81 Middlecote, it is the Tim Hortons located in the same plaza. Please contact the Supervisor if you have any questions or concerns.

Fees

Please call the centre to understand our various programs and fees as we are continuously evolving our program offerings to meet the needs of the community.  Please note that fees are subject to annual review and may change at discretion of management.