C209 Range of experiences

Licensing criterion and guidance for C209 Range of experiences.

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Criterion C209

The service curriculum provides children with a range of experiences and opportunities to enhance and extend their learning and development, both indoors and outdoors, individually, and in groups.

Curriculum criteria documentation required

Guidance

Te Whāriki interprets the curriculum broadly, taking it to include all the experiences, activities, and events, both direct and indirect, that occur within the early childhood setting.

Educators and coordinators should enable mokopuna to engage in meaningful interactions with people, places, and things.

Educators anticipate children’s needs for comfort and communicate positive feelings in an environment that is calm, friendly, and conducive to warm and accepting interactions.

Educators and coordinators are mindful of all learners when planning social, sensory, and physical environments. They are intentional and deliberate when selecting resources, teaching strategies, and learning experiences based on knowledge of the child and the local context.

Educators and coordinators support tikanga Māori and the use of te reo Māori, they encourage mokopuna to engage in kaitiakitanga with regular opportunities to connect with the wider natural environment and materials drawn from nature.

The curriculum encompasses different cultural perspectives, recognising and affirming the primary importance of the children’s families and cultures.

The whole of the environment, indoors and outdoors, is used as a learning resource. Educators provide opportunities for exploration, curiosity, and for mokopuna to test working theories.

The outdoor environment is accessible for all children and offers varying degrees of physical challenge and managed risk including opportunities for children to exercise their gross and fine motor skills in this environment.

  • How are we seeking guidance from mokopuna in creating an environment that they find comforting, engaging, and meaningful?

  • Do our experiences reflect and celebrate the rich cultures of our service every day?

  • Are there enough resources to promote children’s choices for challenge, revisiting, wider community experiences, exploration, solitary, and group play?

  • Does the physical access support children to make choices about their movements between the indoor and outdoor environments, and provide access for children with different abilities?

  • How are children, and their parents and whānau, engaged regarding the range of experiences and opportunities that are provided?

  • How do our teaching practices stimulate children’s thinking, and reflect the holistic way children learn and grow?

  • How are the range of experiences and opportunities provided to enhance children’s learning and development informed by assessment, planning, evaluation practices and the curriculum?

  • Is our environment used in purposeful and meaningful ways?

  • Is our environment organised for small groups, quiet play, or to support the different sensory needs of mokopuna?

  • Is the environment arranged in a way that allows choice and opportunities for independence and interdependence?

  • In what ways can educators and coordinators deepen children’s relationships with people, places, and things in their world?

  • In what ways can educators and coordinators increase the range of experiences to challenge children or extend their learning?

The link below gives educators, coordinators, and service providers more information, advice, and guidance to support implementation of the licensing criteria.

Te Whāriki Online – Tāhūrangi