About

Introduction to our Child Care Centre

Sarnia Lambton Adult Learning Support Services Inc. is a not-for-profit Corporation, with Registered Charity status, which was formed in 1988 to operate a licensed Child Care Centre – Miss Helen’s Place. From 1988 to 2000, our child care centre services were offered, specifically, to adult learners including newcomers to Canada, and our facility was located within an Adult Learning Centre. This experience afforded the opportunity for all those involved – children; parents; community partners, to learn and appreciate the cultural diversity we enjoy in Canada.

When we moved to our present downtown location in 2000 we brought with us a strong belief that inclusion is an absolute necessity for families to grow and become productive citizens. There are many advantages to our downtown location…various places of interest for the children to visit; a beautiful waterfront to explore and a bus depot directly opposite Kenwick Place.

Program Statement

Our organization views children as being competent, capable, curious and rich in potential.

The goals of our Organization, as they apply to the operation of Miss Helen’s Place Child Care centre are as follows:

  • To cultivate authentic, caring relationships and connections to create a sense of belonging among and between children, adults and the world around them.
  • To nurture children’s health development and support their growing sense of self by:
  1. Providing healthy and nutritional foods.
  2. Holding monthly fire drills.
  3. Making daily playground checks.
  4. Employing good sanitary practices e.g. frequent hand washing and disinfecting of toys and play areas.
  • To provide environments and experiences to engage children in active, creative and meaningful exploration, play and enquiry.
  • To foster communication in all forms.
  • To ensure the achievement of the goals stated, our Organization will endeavour to:
  • Engage with families and support each child within the context of his or her family, recognizing that family and child well-being are inextricably linked.
  • Establish positive, responsive relationships with children, and their families by:
  1. Verbal dialogue at drop off and pick up times
  2. A monthly newsletter
  3. Documentation via a portfolio, for each child, of events; sayings; photographs;artwork etc. as a running record of every child’s development and experiences at Miss Helen’s Place.
  4. An annual Parent Survey
  5. A Parent Handbook, available in digital or hard copy.
  6. Development and implementation of an informative website.
  • Value children as individuals and as active and competent contributors with their own interests and points of view. This will be supported by educators working towards child self-regulation by discussion and encouragement.
  • Recognize the connection between emotional well-being and social and cognitive development and importance of focusing on these areas holistically.
  • Provide environments and experiences for children to explore ideas, investigate their theories, and interact with others in play.
  • Provide ongoing opportunities for educators to engage in critical reflection and discussion with others about pedagogy and practice to support continuous professional learning and growth by:
  1. Monthly staff meetings focused on How Does Learning Happen,
  2. Facilitating attendance at local presentations which provide reflection anddiscussion with others in the ECE field.
  • Seek and embrace the support from community partners, e.g. Pathways Health Centre for Children, and field trips to establishments and places of interest and information in our community.
  • Establish a Quality Assurance Program approved by the Ministry of Education and the County of Lambton.
  • Review the Program Statement annually and list implementations made throughout the year toward the achievement of goals.

Program Statement Implementation Practices

All staff members will be required to reflect on How Does Learning Happen and will endeavour to meet the required practices of How Does Learning Happen. In the event of a staff member not meeting the practices of How Does Learning Happen, the following strategies will be employed to assist the staff member in the understanding of the HDLH practices:

  1. One on one discussion with the Supervisor of the Centre Partnering with a mentor
    Setting goals to improve personal performance Establish a deadline for these goals to be met
  2. Review the HDLH practices of the staff member

Consequently, if the staff member fails to achieve the HDLH practices once these initiatives have been employed, termination of the staff member may be considered.