Parkside Academy Society’s vision is to be a guiding force for excellence in the care and education of all children, to lead and regularly contribute to the making of high quality care a standardization in our community, province and nationally through modelling and advocacy.

When we say all children and families, we mean ALL children and families.

We value all unique differences that make us individuals including race, ethnicity, culture, gender, socioeconomic levels or range of abilities physical or health care needs. Children with diverse abilities or other needs include children with a specific diagnosis, as well as children who do not have a diagnosis but whose behaviour, development, and/or health affect their family’s ability to maintain early care and education services.

As a core value of Parkside’s mission, we believe it is important to emphasize the explicit connection between quality child care and inclusion practices. One of the cornerstones of quality care is successful family partnerships, which begin in the first conversations with families, before they are even enrolled into child care. We believe that a strong foundation in child development, coupled with respect for meeting a child’s individual needs, prepares early childhood professionals to include children with diverse abilities in our child care program.

Parkside endorses the following definition of Inclusive Practices:

Inclusion is more than the presence of children with unique differences in early childhood programs; it is the full and active participation of ALL children and their families. Support, accommodations, or modifications, when needed, are provided appropriately to ensure full, active participation for ALL children and their families.

Our inclusive child care practices include all of the following:

All children are welcomed, supported, and valued, allowing them to participate meaningfully in all aspects of the child care program provided the facility can staff accordingly to meet the safety and educational needs of the child.

Children of all abilities and families have equitable access to quality child care and are provided supportive opportunities to learn through play with other children and families in the program

Programs are responsive to each child’s individual capabilities and needs; families uniqueness and differences, that all make us individuals

Materials and equipment are appropriate and adapted for children of varying abilities, interests and needs;

Learning environment includes rich opportunities for play and is responsive to the needs of the whole child-including cognitive and language, socio-emotional and physical development;

Activities and instructional practices are based on on-going child assessment, and reflect an appropriate balance between child-initiated and teacher-facilitated activities;

Daily schedules allow children to explore and develop sustained engagement with materials and peers and support individualized transitions from one setting to another;

Environments foster social interaction, collaborative projects, interdependence, and independence;

Family involvement in program planning and implementation and program activities for children and family members that reflect cultural diversity; and uniqueness

Ongoing program evaluation to assure that inclusive practices are being followed and goals for children are being achieved.

Strong connections with community resources to help families access early intervention and family services when needed.

Staff will be offered courses and training on Inclusion:

To educate and prepare the workforce and to create and sustain inclusive settings, coursework and professional training opportunities will be offered that:

Include working collaboratively with the family and their team members (Supported childcare umbrella, like Clements and including specialists ) on the modification of the educational environment and approaches to assessment and curriculum;

Examine issues and practices and develop strategies and modifications that support the humanistic view of the whole child;

Critically assess the processes of both internalizing and resisting biases in the field of early childhood in order to value and support ALL children and family rights;

Understand the characteristics of young children, those who are typically developing as well as those with diverse abilities and other needs;

Understand the history, terminology, legislation, and systems surrounding inclusion of children in the early care and education system