Campus Child Care Co-operative of Guelph

Welcome to the Campus Child Care (CCCCG) family!

Our Mission Statement

We are a community-based child care Centre fostering a co-operative learning environment for the entire family.

Our Vision Statement

We envision healthy children, engaged families and a vibrant community.

Our Program Statement

CCCCG strives to provide a warm, nurturing and supportive environment that views the child as being capable, competent, curious and rich in potential.  This program statement is consistent with the Minister’s policy statement on programming and pedagogy and will be reviewed annually.  Under the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014, the centre is committed to using How Does Learning Happen?, Ontario’s pedagogy for the Early Years (2014).  This is a professional learning document and is intended to support pedagogy and curriculum/program development.   How Does Learning Happen? focuses on four foundations that are essential for the healthy development of children: Belonging, Well-Being, Engagement and Expression.  This document is used to strengthen the quality of all our programs and provide high quality learning experiences through play based learning experiences.

Belonging refers to a sense of connectedness to others, an individual’s experiences of being valued of forming relationships with others and making contributions as part of a group, a community, the natural world.

Well-Being addresses the importance of physical and mental health and wellness.  It incorporates capacities such as self-care, sense of self, and self-regulation skills.

Engagement suggests a state of being involved and focused.  When children are able to explore the world around them with their natural curiosity and exuberance, they are fully engaged.  Through this type of play and inquiry, they develop skills such as problem solving, creative thinking, and innovating, which are essential for learning and success in school and beyond.

Expression or communication may take many different  forms.  Through their bodies, words, and use of materials, children develop capacities for increasingly complex communication.  Opportunities to explore materials, support creativity, problem solving, and mathematical behaviours.  Language-rich environment support growing communication skills, which are foundation for literacy.

Health, Safety, Nutrition and Well- Being of Children

The centre is committed to promoting the health, safety, and well-being of all children.  We ensure that the environment is safe, clean and that nutritious meals and snacks are served to the children.   Our teachers will familiarize themselves with each family’s choices for eating and rest time while being responsive to the child’s choices if appropriate.  Our menu is based on Canada’s Food Guide and is approved by a dietician from Public Health; our cook and any other staff that cook in the kitchen must have training and hold a valid Food Handler's Certificate.  Providing nutritious meals and snacks along with positive eating environments, contributes to a sense of well- being.  Children are respected for what and how much they choose to eat, respecting their hunger and fullness.   We encourage family style serving during our snacks and meals.   

We also respect and strive to support each child’s need for rest and quiet time.  Our rest time is a relaxing and restful time for children to calm and regenerate their bodies and mind.  Teachers, in collaboration with families, will determine the length of time their child should rest within the parameters of the centre.  Children who do not nap are provided with quiet activities to do while the remainder of the group is resting or sleeping. Supervision is also a priority during the rest time period.  Teachers will follow the sleep supervision policy as it relates to each age group. 

When families enroll, our teachers make themselves familiar and discuss with families any medical conditions, allergies and food restrictions that children may have. 

Our program schedules allow for flexibility to meet the children’s needs.  Programs will make every attempt to operate in smaller groups as it is beneficial for the children.   There will be times when programs function as a larger group i.e. snack, lunch and rest time.  Transitions are minimized in an effort to allow for more time that children can engage in play.  

Some of the policies and procedures that are followed may include:

  • Sleep supervision
  • Food handling procedures and training
  • Sanitation and disinfection
  • Diapering and toileting
  • Handwashing
  • Medical policies
  • Anaphylaxis policy
  • First Aid and CPR C training for all staff
  • Playground policies and procedures

Indoor and Outdoor Activities

We value the importance of physical activity and strive to provide ample physical activity throughout the day, both indoors and outdoors.  The outdoor environment provides children with interesting opportunities to explore and be challenged.  Programs will experience 2 hours of outdoor play daily.  Adaptations to the environment can be made so that each child can participate to their fullest potential.

Some of the policies and procedures that are followed may include:

  • Playground policy
  • Weather Restriction Policy/ Air Quality Policy

Supporting Relationships and Positive Interactions

Teachers will listen, encourage and support the ideas and concerns of children and families.  These relationships will contribute to “optimal learning, development, health and well - being”. - How Does Learning Happen?, 2014

Our goal is to create a positive, healthy environment within which all children will be respected. Developing responsive relationships with children and their families is the cornerstone to supporting positive interactions.  Our goal is to be sensitive and respectful of all children and families, creating an environment of quality positive interactions between children and children/staff and staff/families

Teachers encourage positive interactions and engagement in the learning environment by

  • Creating a welcoming home like environment,
  • Preparing a room set up that is reflective of the children in our care.
  • Allowing for a flexible daily schedule, respecting the children’s need for free play exploration and social interactions
  • Participating in small groups when possible
  • Role modelling positive interactions with the children and supporting problem solving skills
  • Ensuring that play materials are hands on, open ended, meaningful, engaging and sensory oriented and in sufficient quantity, accessible to the children at all times

Self Regulation

Teachers believe that children are developing the ability to self-regulate.

Self-regulation refers to how efficiently and effectively a child deals with a stressor and then recovers (Porges, 2011; Lillas & Turnbull, 2009; McEwen, 2002).

Our teachers will support self-regulation skills by providing an environment that minimizes stressors while also assisting a child to self-regulate.  The teachers will reflect on individual personalities and the group dynamics, the play materials provided, and other stimuli in the environment when evaluating the impact the environment may have on the child’s ability to self-regulate. Teachers will be responsive to the needs of each child, assist the child to recognize their own emotions and promote positive problem solving skills.   Our learning environments will have space for quiet and calm time.

Our teachers are trained in Resiliency skills (RIRO) to better support children with the ability to self-regulate .

Learning Environment, Play, Exploration and Inquiry

Learning through play is an important part of children’s development. 

We believe that children are born with curiosity  and with a sense of exploration.  Play is children’s work.

We strive to create environments that are homelike and welcoming to the children and families.  Our environments are inclusive and respectful of individual uniqueness’s.  We want children to feel safe and secure so they have the confidence to explore and discover new things within their environment.

In each of our programs, teachers plan and create positive learning environments that allow for exploration, play and inquiry.  Children develop their sense of self through choices in play experiences, expression of feelings and thoughts, exploring physically, and taking risks.  

Play materials are accessible and available throughout the day with a growing focus on nature based items and materials that are opened ended.  Children initiate their play while teachers are there to support and extend those experiences as active play partners. Teachers play a strong role in the inquiry process by observing the children engaged in play and asking questions to encourage deeper thought, expression and the connecting of ideas.  These observations will guide the teachers to further plan experiences in the environment that are engaging and stimulate curiosity. 

Family Engagement and Communication

Great value is placed on communication and engagement with families.  Ongoing communication with families happens in a variety ways each day.  At the beginning of each day, teachers connect with families to gather an understanding of how their child is feeling, how their night was and any other relevant information, recorded as a daily health check.  Our documentation on daily experiences are displayed each day for families to see what their child and/or group of children experienced in their programs.  Parents are encouraged to read the documentation and also connect with teachers about the stories they have read.

A sense of belonging is fostered when we connect and include families in our programs.  Parents are welcome to visit our programs any time. 

Other ways we engage with families include:

  • Annual parent surveys
  • Annual family night and luncheons
  • Posting of learning stories with pictures of children engaged with peers and teachers
  • Communicating with parents at arrival and departure

 Community

 The centre works closely with local community agencies and partners to provide additional supports to families and children.   Our teachers and community professional’s work together to reflect on our programming and environments and make adaptations that are responsive to the needs of each child.  These agencies strive to support both the child, family and child care centre.

Supporting Professional Learning of our Teachers

CCCCG is committed to the ongoing professional learning for our teachers.  Our teachers attend various professional development events and conference available in our community in addition to any in centre training.  Our staff seek input and support from the Quality Child Care Initiative (QCCI) to build capacity within their programs.  

Teachers are required to keep their First Aid and CPR C training up to date and Registered Early Childhood Educators are required to meet the requirements of the College of Early Childhood Educators regarding professional development.

*Through observation and discussion with teachers, the centre will consider the effectiveness of the approaches outlined in the program statement and make adaptations to the supporting licensing documents if necessary.