Policy statement
At Roots and Wings Community Preschool, we believe in the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu on the Rights of the Children:
‘You may see many pictures of children as they should be – happy, healthy, laughing, learning, holding securely to adults they could trust, who would protect and uphold their inalienable rights – the rights formally laid out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. These are the rights of all children everywhere and always. (…)
We each can make a difference if we are vigilant to create a new kind of society, more compassionate, more caring, more sharing where human rights, where children’s rights are respected and protected. Politicians ultimately offer what the people want. Let us tell them we want peace and prosperity for everyone.’
Roots and Wings Community Preschool promote children’s rights to be strong, resilient and listened to by creating an environment in our setting that encourages children to develop a positive self-image, which includes their heritage arising from their ethnicity, their language(s) spoken at home, their religious beliefs, cultural traditions and home background.
Further, we are committed to encouraging children to develop a sense of autonomy and independence, grow children’s self-confidence and the vocabulary to resist inappropriate approaches.
The Preschool Team support children to establish and sustain secure relationships and bonds within their families, with peers, and with other trusted adults whilst working in partnership with families to build their understanding of, and commitment to, the principles of safeguarding all our children.
Procedures
Roots and Wings Community Preschool is committed to promoting children’s rights to be strong, resilient, and listened to.
We understand that these values manifest in the following ways and we set our environment up to naturally support these skills:
To be strong means to be:
- Secure in their foremost attachment relationships, where they are loved and cared for by at least one person who is able to be consistent, positive with unconditional regard, and who can be relied on;
- Safe and valued as individuals in their families and relationships beyond the family, such as day care or school; self-assured and form a positive sense of themselves – including all aspects of their identity and heritage
- Included equally and have a sense of belonging in both the early years setting and in community life;
- Confident in their own abilities and proud of their achievements;
- Progressing optimally in all aspects of their development and learning;
- Part of a peer group in which they can learn to negotiate, develop social skills and identity as global citizens, respecting the rights of others in a diverse world; and
- Able to represent themselves and participate in aspects of service delivery that effects them, as well as aspects of key decisions that affect their lives
To be resilient means to:
- Be sure of their self-worth and dignity;
- Be able to be assertive and state their needs effectively;
- Be able to overcome difficulties and problems;
- Be positive in their outlook on life;
- Be able to cope with challenges and change;
- Have a sense of justice towards themselves and others;
- Develop a sense of responsibility towards themselves and others; and
- Be able to represent themselves and others in key decision making processes.
To be listened to means to:
- Adults who are close to children recognise their need and right to express and communicate their thoughts, feelings and ideas
- Adults who are close to children are able to tune in to their verbal, sign and body language in order to understand and interpret what is being expressed and communicated;
- Adults who are close to children are able to respond appropriately and, when required, act upon their understanding of what children express and communicate; and
- Adults respect children’s rights and facilitate children’s participation and representation in imaginative and child centred ways in all aspects of core services