Category: Quality Areas

Community Connection
The element 6.2.3 basically says we need to build connections with community, strengthen them and use those connections to create learning opportunities for children. And don’t forget to share all of this information and learning with families.

Case Study – Excursion to Dubbo City Animal Shelter – Charlee
Charlee organised an excursion to the animal shelter as a follow up to our Responsible Ownership of Animals discussion with the RSPCA (31st August). The educators in Toddler 2 provided the children with access to the shelter and resources for them to investigate the impact of our actions on the animals (LO2.4). We discussed how adoption works and what happens to the animals that are left by their owners with the animal shelter workers.
Once at the shelter, we were greeted by a lady called Jane who unlocked the gate and walked us into a room then started to ask what animals we would like to see today. ‘Puppies!’ Ellie said excitedly. ‘Well what about some little kittens then I will bring a puppy in’ the lady said. ‘Yeah!’ the children yelled out. The children demonstrated care for the animals (LO2.4) as the kittens ran out of their cage and started to walk around the children’s feet demanding attention. Each child patted, held and played with the kittens. Carter, Jaiden and Ellie showed great interest in the kittens and loved the opportunity to care for them. The kittens were soon placed back into their beds and a puppy was brought out for the children to play with. The puppy jumped up and down, ran in circles and crawled onto Quentin’s lap for a cuddle. He was very excited. ‘We were hoping you guys could help us name this puppy because we haven’t decided on one yet?’ Jane said to the children. ‘Zeek’ Hadlee L suggested. ‘Hmm I like that name. It suits a unique puppy like this one’ Jane replied.
The children were then able to investigate new ideas around a puppy’s life experiences in a shelter (LO2.4) as we walked towards the cages and saw a little white puppy who was more than excited to interact with the children through the gate.
We then met Rob, who helped Charlee organise this excursion and find a way for the children to care for and learn about the animals (LO2.4) at the shelter. ‘Let’s go and make some beds, set out some toys and feed some of the puppies we have up for adoption’ Rob said. Rob and another worker handed the children some items then asked them to place the items in each cage for the animals. Churchill was handed a blanket to place on the bed, Rivah was given empty food and water bowls, Kyran was handed a scoop of biscuits to place in the food bowl and Hadley S was given a toy for the pups to play with.

Once the cages were set, the children were given the opportunity to feed the pups that were already in their cages. Rob demonstrated how we would feed the pups through the fence then each child was given a handful of biscuits and an option of which pup they would like to feed. After feeding the pups, we walked to a grassy area where the pups played and were able to run around with a Jack Russell that was up for adoption. This area provided the children with a range of natural materials (LO2.4) that the animals would play with, such as sticks and bones, as well as some toys the pups enjoy, such as balls and squeaky toys.

Exceeding theme 3: Families and community connection

Case study – Use community events
The excursions started when an educator saw a promotion for the NSW Firefighting Championship. She thought this would be a great opportunity for learning and an excursion. There were 72 children taken from the centre to the event. All went smoothly because all ages groups go on regular excursions into the community.

Fire Fighting Championships! (Rhiannon)
This morning Miss Rhiannon engaged the children in a group time, promoting a sense of community (LO 2.1) by asking, “what do you know about fighters and what they do?”
“They keep us safe, and they wear fire coats and they use the sirens on their trucks!” – Liam. “They use the hose.”- Aylarah
“They put out fires and wear special helmets.” – Jake
“They climb ladders.” – Ruby
“That’s right. They do all of those things. Can anyone tell me what the firetrucks have on them?”
“They’ve got ladders.” – Aria
“And a hose.” – Maddi
“They use the sirens so the cars stay out of their way.” – Brandon
“And they use the ladders to save people.” – Jake
“And cats too.” – Hunter

On our way to the firefighting championships
We then boarded the bus and made our way to the firefighting championships. When we arrived, Dominic (Rocky’s dad) had some activities for us to participate in but before we did that Fireman Sam shared lots of fire safety information with us.

“Who knows what number to call if there is a fire?” asked Fireman Sam. “000” said the children together. “Very good, now does anybody know what to do if they get too close to a fire?” “Run?” asked Hunter. “That’s not quite what we do. We have to get down on our hands and knees and crawl to the closest exit, so we get down low and go, go, go,” explained Fireman Sam. “Does anyone know what you do if your clothes catch fire?” “No,” said a few of the children. “Well what you do if that happens is we have to stop what we’re doing, drop to the ground and roll around. Does that sound funny?” “Yeah it does,” giggled the children. “I will show you. Now I might look silly but that’s what you have to do, ready? I’m going to stop, drop, and roll!”

“That’s it, good job guys! Do you think you’re ready to see inside of our practice drill truck?” “Yeah!” shouted the children. Inside the truck Sam and Dominic explained how they fill the truck with smoke and they have to find the people who are trapped inside. “Can we count how many people we find, and remember some of them might be hiding,” said Sam. “Here’s a person on the lounge” said Hunter. “And there’s one here hiding under the bed,” said Natasha. “And here’s another person!” said Maddi. “That’s 3 people in here!” counted Liam.

During this activity, the children explored the connections between people in the community (LO 2.3) as they understood that the fire fighters are there to help people.

Next, we moved outside so the firemen could show us a simulation fire. The fireman had set up a pot on the stove filled with oil. The fire chief explained, “if there is a fire and you are not confident to put it out ring 000 and wait for us to arrive.” “What happens if the door is locked?” asked Nicholas. “If the door is locked we will break it down so we can get in and stop the fire.” “Yeah or you can use a sledgehammer and go, bang!” explained Liam as he was demonstrating what to do. That’s right, we can do that too. Now we are going to show you what happens when you put water on an oil fire.” As a firefighter poured water on the pot the fire went from small to big and it went really high and got really hot. “Now we have to use a fire blanket because the water makes the oil hotter and makes the fire bigger,” explained the chief. The fire fighter then demonstrated how to put the fire blanket over the pot to stop the fire.

As we left the children said thankyou and waved goodbye to the fire fighters for broadening their understanding of the world they live in (LO 2.1).

The centre continued to promote the event to families
Dear Families, tonight there is a family fun night for all with a parade at 7.30pm and fireworks at 8.30pm. You are all welcome to come down and support your local and regional fire brigades. Come down and have a fun night with your family and with your local firefighters.

What does it mean to consistently maintain effective partnerships with other early childhood professionals and the community to enhance each child’s learning, wellbeing and inclusion?

Visit to the Accountants – Our GST needs submitting
“I know, we can visit the accountant’s office behind the centre” said Tash. This will really help with our learning about GST and promote a sense of community. Jobs placed into real life scenarios that children are familiar with promote a better understanding of the community we live in.
Off to the accountants we go. We were very lucky to have Frank give us a guided tour of his accountancy business. Frank showed us the office and where everybody works and we sat in the presentation room with a big screen. This is where the fun began. Max told Frank we have been looking at the GST, and Max said “Where does it go.”
Frank was impressed with Max’s question and told us about GST. Frank taught us that GST is goods and service tax, and just about everything has it except some food, education and houses. He said GST is 10% of the price. As a group we listed many items we buy to see if they have GST (see our list in the room). Frank went on to show how a person pays 10% GST, then a shop collects the GST and gives it to the Government. Frank gave us copies of BAS, which stand for Business Activity Statement. This is something we will be using now in our shopping setup in the room.

What does it mean to enhance the educational program for each child with the community?

Continuing to learn how to manage our emotions, Chelsea decided to extend children’s learning and established a partnership with local community member Pamma, a Buddhist Monk. Chelsea discussed with Pamma the need to teach the children meditation techniques to assist with self-regulation. Pamma explained to the children” all monks meditate, sometimes it’s to make negative feelings go away and sometimes to keep the happy feelings inside.” Pamma then showed everyone a special feelings jar made up of glycerine, oil, water, dishwashing detergent and glitter. “When we are sad or angry or frustrated or scared, we can have lots of things spinning around inside our heads like this jar. And when that happens there are things you can do to help you feel better.” Next, we read a book called ‘Moody Cow Meditates’ by Kerry Lee Maclean. It was about a cow named Peter who was having a really bad day. Having started his day missing the bus, wiping out his bike, losing his temper and getting into trouble, his school friends started calling him a moody cow. His day got worse until his grandad came over to his house and showed him the magic jar and then all his bad feelings went away. Ella, reflecting on her emotions LO 3.1 said, “I feel happy, ”Aria and Maddy said “I feel excited, ”Torah said “I feel ok, ”Landon said “cranky,” Xavier said “I feel bored.” Using this information Pamma taught the first meditation technique. “Can we all pretend we are holding a cup of hot chocolate? Now, when you’re feeling unhappy breathe into your pretend cup like your cooling it down to drink. Can everyone do that?” Now does everyone feel better?” asked Pamma. Everyone said yes. The next technique learnt was a bubble technique. “Can everyone pretend they are holding bubbles and are trying to make the biggest bubble they can” asked Pamma. “Now, blow that bubble as hard as you can and that will help you to feel happy.” The last technique was listening to the sound of a bell. Chelsea gave Pamma a big bell. Pamma hit the bell and said “now can you all hear the bell? Close your eyes and listen to the bell as the sound fades away. This is like when we watch the magic jar and see the glitter settle, our feelings settle as the bell stops.” “That is so cool” said Lewi. We thanked Pamma for her visit and will use these techniques as part of the program to enable all the children to self-regulate their emotions.

Access and Participation Inclusion
How are you meeting the additional needs of all children at your service? Additional needs is the term used for children who require or will benefit from specific considerations or adaptations and who:
⦁ are Aboriginals or Torres Strait Islanders
⦁ are recent arrivals in Australia
⦁ have a culturally and linguistically diverse background
⦁ live in isolated geographic locations
⦁ are experiencing difficult family circumstances
or stress
⦁ are at risk of abuse or neglect
⦁ are experiencing language and communication
difficulties
⦁ have a diagnosed disability—physical, sensory,
intellectual or autism spectrum disorder
⦁ have a medical or health condition
⦁ demonstrate challenging behaviours and
behavioural or psychological disorders
⦁ have developmental delays
⦁ have learning difficulties
⦁ are gifted or have special talents
⦁ have other extra support needs.

As you can see additional needs covers a lot, but the question is how you support these children and families? The NQS wants us to ensure we have a great connection to all services in the community that can assist children and families.

Case Study – Type 1 Diabetic child in our group
Recently one child was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, (born with it, not brought on by lifestyle) which meant we were thrown into a steep learning curve as no educator in the group had experience with diabetes.

First, we worked with a Diabetic Nurse and got some training. The nurse brought a teddy bear in and we practised giving an injection to the bear. We were all terrified about this part as we don’t like needles ourselves, so giving a child a needle was confronting the first few times. The nurse assisted with timings, readings of results and practical ways to deal with situations.

We consider ourselves lucky because Jane, an educator in the other room, is diabetic. Her knowledge and experience helped us a lot and together we reflected from many different perspectives, for example, what it would be like for the child, how best to communicate with the parents, how the experience could affect other children in the group, what learning we could extend upon and especially how to make sure the child didn’t feel singled out because of her diabetes.

Case study – excluded from care because child is autistic.
Recently we have assisted a grandparent as a centre refused care. This situation is a good reminder for us as educators to know our responsibility under the Law. The Law sits above the regulations and in this case, the Law says
(3) The guiding principles of the national education
and care services quality framework are as follows—
(a) that the rights and best interests of the child
are paramount;
(c) that the principles of equity, inclusion and
diversity underlie this Law.

All approved providers must comply with the law, and they must demonstrate how they have done everything possible to accommodate a child. Basically, you can’t say no because it’s all too hard. Generally funding is available from the Inclusion Support Program (ISP)

Exceeding theme 3: Families and community connection

Case study – What a parent of children with additional needs wish educators knew. Chelsea, mother of two children on the autism spectrum.

Before Diagnosis
“I wished the centre had a list of all the professional people in the community I could access, so my children could have received help quicker” said Chelsea, mother of two children diagnosed on the autism spectrum. “It took me a long time to find then go to all the medical specialists before getting a diagnosis. I knew my children were not right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I took them to medical professionals, but at first, they said nothing was wrong and this was very frustrating because 20 minutes later I would be in the noisy supermarket with lots of people and bright lights and the behaviour and meltdowns would start. But when my kids were in the quiet doctor’s surgery they didn’t display the behaviours.

When my kids started school, the teachers wrote in their reports about their learning problems. When I took those reports to the experts they started listening but then they wouldn’t diagnose my children until 6 years of age.

At the centre
I just wanted the educators at the centre to be more sympathetic. I know this is hard, but I felt they didn’t understand the stresses that I was going through. For example, it can take me a long time to get the children out of the house some days. Most are good but every now and then my child might have a meltdown, then it just takes time to get him settled before we can leave.

Toilet training was horrendous. The centre and I didn’t work together. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to work with the centre, they didn’t want to work with us. I know my son and I knew what was working when it came to toilet training. I nearly had him trained then after a situation at the centre he reverted backwards and was terrified to use the toilet. I tried to seek information about what occurred but the educators said nothing happened.

More training is needed for educators
I wish my educators had a better understanding of children with additional needs, especially sensory processing disorder. Educators think children can snap out of it, but they can’t. So telling a child to calm down, or going in for a hug in a meltdown situation just never works. What works is for the educator to be there for when they are ready. Educators need to understand more about meltdowns and be taught that in the child’s mind that is the only thing that matters and it’s like they are in a loop that won’t break and let them see another way.

When meltdowns occur, don’t touch them, don’t tell them to calm down, make the room safe and don’t let the other children stare at them. Let them talk when they are ready. They will eventually come out of it.

More tolerance from educators
If he is having a rotten day, the educators need to support him and not judge, or worse still expect him to behave like a typically developing child, because he isn’t.

As a parent I feel that we are getting judged, getting to class and then work on time is not always going to happen when you have children with additional needs.

Educators fear children with additional needs
I find educators can be scared because they don’t know what to do with additional needs children or how to help them.

I wish there was a lot more support for educators.”
Chelsea

Younger children

Exceeding theme 1: Practice is embedded and Exceeding theme 3: Family and community engagement

Using the checklist above, we need to work out who is doing a great job and celebrate it as a strength ready for the QIP, or identify who needs to have their skill and knowledge improved and create a lesson plan to do this.

3-5-year-old children

Using the checklist above, we need to work out who is doing a great job and celebrate it as a strength ready for the QIP, or identify who needs to have their skill and knowledge improved and create a lesson plan to do this.

Case Study – School Selection and School Readiness
March 9th Message from mother in the Kangaroos closed Facebook page. “I’m hoping this is okay to ask here – if not please let me know and I can delete. For those parents with kids going to school next year – where are your kids going? I’m new to this and realising I need to figure it out pretty soon!!”

Reflection
I didn’t realise how anxious and nervous parents get about school. and don’t know what to expect, who will be there, if their child will have the skills and knowledge necessary for school. I forget that my children are older and nearly left school. How can I help?
I feel that school transition is something we can do better and need to start now.

We need to establish strong, sensitive and equal relationships with families to successfully promote transitions. We may also need to establish these relationships with local schools and early intervention/additional needs professionals. Here are some ways we can develop these relationships:
⦁ home visit program
⦁ families and educators exchange (at least basic) information about children during drop-offs and pick-ups
⦁ educators share with families some of the specific interactions they had with the children during the day
⦁ information about children’s eating and sleeping patterns is provided to families
⦁ during the settling-in period, educators discuss with the family how their child is adjusting and together they plan to support the child
⦁ educators consult with families about experiences and resources that children use at home eg in physical play
⦁ educators respect families’ wishes for the religious or cultural aspects of eating, drinking and food handling
⦁ educators liaise with families to establish hygiene and dental care practices that will work at home and in the service
⦁ families are consulted to ensure each child’s needs in relationship to nappy changing and/or toileting are met
⦁ educators work with families to develop a consistent approach to toileting that reflects family routines
⦁ sleep routines and settling techniques match home routines where possible
⦁ information about local schools and school readiness is provided to families in an accessible format
⦁ educators, families and outside professionals meet to discuss support plan and appropriate practices

Describe why your centre is unique due to the geographical, cultural and community you are located in.

____________________________________________________________

Describe how you hear the voices, priorities and strengths of the children and families at the centre.

____________________________________________________________

Describe how you support families to build relationships with relevant community services and agencies that enhance children’s wellbeing, learning.

____________________________________________________________

Describe how you look for and build new community partnerships based on your family and children’s strengths.

____________________________________________________________

Case Study 1 – Role play parent interactions.
Karen the room leader says she and her educators, especially new educators, regularly act out and role play parent interactions to improve them. Karen says “not all educators feel comfortable talking to parents, especially when the educator is new, so that is why we act out and role play many different scenarios. These include:
⦁ Morning drop offs and afternoon collection of children, both easy transitions and difficult ones where the child is upset
⦁ what has happened through the day
⦁ taking parents to the curriculum and showing learning
⦁ talking about the family’s weekend adventures so we can use it for curriculum
⦁ encouraging parents to participate in the curriculum
⦁ difficult conversations (behaviour etc)
⦁ friendships their child is forming
⦁ activities to do at home with the children
⦁ staffing changes (educator away on leave or extended illness)
⦁ child’s illness
⦁ professional support services
⦁ sourcing community information (OT, doctors, professionals etc)
⦁ community events for children the busy parents might not know about.
This process has created a strong bond between parents, educators and the children. I tell my educators to always make the first move as some parents might be scared to talk to us, or don’t know what to talk about.”

No parent is going to take advice from educators they haven’t built trust and rapport with. That is why we need to practice, and role play our interactions to build our confidence, which in turn can assist parents.

Exceeding theme 3: Practice is shaped by meaningful engagement with families and community

Difficult conversations regarding children are easier when we have a great relationship with parents.

Case Study – three positives to one concern
At a centre, there were many children with difficult behaviours consistent with autism. Educators were frazzled, exhausted and ready to resign. The Nominated Supervisor and educators reflected and made a huge effort to start working with the families. After consistent relationship building which included talking to the parents about three positives the educators were having with the child and one area of concern, the families were then ready to take advice and seek further professional assistance.

Case Study – Parents opening up and requesting help
Not all parents are ready to hear advice from us, but as the relationship builds between educators and parents they will slowly ask for advice. A parent told the educator how unwell she had become. She described how her son would push toy dump trucks up and down her hallway from 4am each morning waking the whole household. The educator saw this opportunity to lead the parent to the specialists by telling her the specialist may have many strategies to help them to get the child to sleep through the night, so she could get a good sleep. The parent took the advice and sought the assistance from the specialist. Both the family and centre have a plan to assist the child and the mother and other family members are getting better sleep.

The key to supporting families is strong relationships and having community information ready and accessible for parents when they need it.
Remember to have information for parents to access without them needing to ask.

Exceeding theme 1: Practice is embedded and Exceeding theme 3: Family and community engagement

In your curriculum you should be able to identify learning stories like the one above to show how this element is embedded.

Case Study – What happens if an educator doesn’t do something that is required in the NQS element?

The Koala room identified that conversation between educators and parents was basic. Educators were saying “they had a great day”. Upon further investigation and reflection educators said they didn’t always feel comfortable talking to the parents and didn’t know all parents’ names. The Room Leader with the help of the Educational Leader created a lesson plan for the educators to better know their parents which in turn will assist educators to obtain parent’s views, their expertise, culture, values and beliefs to help make better decisions about children’s learning and wellbeing.

Exceeding theme 2: Practice is informed by critical reflection

The EYLF/MTOP says ‘Critical reflection involves closely examining all aspects of events and experiences from different perspectives. Educators often frame their reflective practice within a set of overarching questions, developing more specific questions for particular areas of enquiry.’

Exceeding theme 2: Practice is informed by critical reflection
The EYLF/MTOP says ‘Critical reflection involves closely examining all aspects of events and experiences from different perspectives. Educators often frame their reflective practice within a set of overarching questions, developing more specific questions for particular areas of enquiry.’

Look at the points below and see how many you incorporate at your centre, then hold a discussion about what you do well and where you could improve.

• We invite and encourage families and children to visit and become familiar with the centre before they start
• We encourage families to talk with educators about the values and expectations they hold in relation to their child’s time at the service before, during and after the enrolment process
• We encourage families to share information about other child-related services accessed by the family (i.e. speech therapist, doctors etc)
• We encourage families to stay with their child for as long as they choose during the settling-in period and on an ongoing basis
• We encourage families to contact the service, and their child’s educator/s during the day if they wish
• We assist families to develop and maintain a routine for saying goodbye to their child
• We offer comfort and reassurance in a way that is suited to the child during separation from their family
• We share honest information with families about how their child is settling into the service, and how the service identifies the individual education and care requirements of each child and their family
• We describe to families how the settling-in process is tailored to meet their child’s need
• We gather information from families to support continuity of care between home and the service
• We learn about the family’s expertise, culture, values and beliefs and priorities for their child’s learning and wellbeing
• We consistently support families to participate in the service, make meaningful contributions to the child’s room and centre.

List all the good things you do as a service when you enrol new children.

___________________________________________________

List the things you may need to improve.

___________________________________________________

Here is an example of a well written note and learning document for a parent, with the parent’s response at the end. This was displayed on Dubbo Early Learning Centre’s Nursery 2’s closed Facebook page.

Home visits

Some centres implement home visits as a part of their enrolment process and to build relationships with parents and children.

Each visit takes 45-60 minutes and is carried out by two educators who have a set list of questions to ask. This ensures they find out about the child’s family, routines, favourite songs and activities. Some of the benefits include:

• Helps new children settle on their first day because they have had an opportunity to meet and play in their own familiar space which makes transition from home to the centre much easier.
• Improves relationships with parents
• Educators get to know parents outside the service which allows parents to explain home routines and gives educators an opportunity to collect a wealth of information about their family
• Educators engage with children in their own home which gives educators greater insight into the family and in turn makes it easier to create curriculum for the children

We discuss home visits more under Element 6.2.1. Try them. They work very well and will get you exceeding.

Exceeding theme 2: Practice is informed by critical reflection. The NQS Guide wants all educators to demonstrate self-awareness and be purposeful in the consideration of different perspectives that influence their pedagogy and the practice across the service. Critically reflect by looking through parents’ eyes. The element 6.1.1 says ‘Families are supported from enrolment to be involved in the service and contribute to service decisions.’

Think of yourself as a parent and look through their eyes. How would your enrolment process be for them?  Imagine the parent returning to work. How would it feel? Do you do enough for the parent to know how their child is? Does the parent know their child has friends? Keep asking other educators what their view would be if they were a parent. Remember, critical reflection is seeing from another perspective to see if your practice needs changing.

____________________________________________________________

Think of yourself as a relief educator that is in your room for a short time, perhaps for lunch covers. Is your enrolment process the best for them? Do they know the children’s names, likes, dislikes etc?

____________________________________________________

After this critical reflection what practice have you changed? This is what you need to show your assessor to get exceeding.

____________________________________________________

Exceeding theme 1: Practice is embedded in service operations – Let’s look at the last part of the element 6.1.1 Families are supported from enrolment to be involved in the service and contribute to service decisions.’ To do this we need the skills to build relationships through conversations. Below is a great ‘Greeting Parents Procedure’ that will build trust and in turn get families involved in the centre to ensure they are making decisions.

When a parent walks into the room in the morning educators must:

⦁ Make eye contact and say “Hi __________ (parent’s name)” and then “Hi__________ child’s name” by physically getting down and looking in the child’s eyes, then giving the child a big hug and welcome.

⦁ Start an informal conversation and ask things like:
(a) how the parent and child are
(b) whether the child had a good sleep
(c) is there anything we need to know eg medication that needs to be administered
(d) who will be collecting the child in the afternoon
(e) what they’ve been doing during the week (to get curriculum ideas)

Script
Educator: “How are you Nadine and Jackson? It’s good to see you today.”
Nadine (parent): “Hi Rachel – say hi Jackson.”
Educator: “Did Jackson have a good sleep?”
Nadine: “Yes, he slept all the way through.”
Educator: “That’s great Jackson. You will have lots of energy to have fun with your friends and learn lots of exciting things. Now Nadine, (use the parent’s name as many times as you can) is there anything we need to know like giving Jackson medication?”
Nadine: “No, all good.”
Educator: “What exciting things have you been doing on the weekend or over the week?”
Nadine: “Nan is visiting us from Townsville.”
Educator: “Wow Townsville is a long way away. We better explore this more today with our program.”
Educator: “Who will be picking up Jackson today?”
Nadine: “Daddy will.”
Educator: (look at Jackson and say) “That’s great Daddy will pick you up today. I’ll look after you and keep you safe until Daddy comes and picks you up. Give mum a big hug and say goodbye and we’ll put your bag in the locker and go and play.”
Nadine: “Thanks Rachel. Have a good day Jackson. I love you.”
Note: I will look after you and keep you safe until Daddy comes and picks you up. These words come from Dr Robyn Dolby’s research, and it works very well

The checklist below covers the basics of meeting the NQS Element. You need to be doing all of this or you may receive a working towards rating for this element. The most important part of the checklist is to ensure ALL EDUCATORS can do and show great practice plus they understand the element and can describe to other people and make them understand why you do things to meet the outcome of the element

In the case studies below, we look at examples of how educators have extended children’s knowledge about the environment and sustainable practices in ways that build on their interests and community connections.

Case Study – What is ‘drought’? (Tara)
To extend on from Lila’s interest in how the drought has affected our farmers the children learnt about what a drought means for their local community. Miss Tehanna provided access to the Smartboard (L/O 5.5) to watch a news report by Studio 10 about how the drought has impacted local farmers. We heard how local farmer Jason who is located on a property 100km west of Dubbo has been struggling with the drought.

Jason explained that he has invested $300,000 in his crop this year, but unfortunately has had 100% failure in crop growth. Jason explained that since there has been no rain, his crop was unable to grow, and he struggles to bring in income for his family to pay bills or buy food.

After we watched the report Miss Tara assessed the children’s knowledge by asking if they now had a better understanding of what a drought is and how it affects people, animals, plants and land (L/O 2.4).

Tom S. told us a drought is when “it doesn’t rain.” Damien added an important element of what makes up a drought saying, “it doesn’t rain for a really long time.” Damien also demonstrated understanding and knowledge of natural environments telling us “the water in the rivers comes from rain.” (L/O 2.4) Miss Tara replied, “that’s right Damien. If we remember our visit to NSW Water earlier in the year they told us how they measure how much water is in the dams and release the water when it’s needed.”

Oliver observed from the Studio 10 report that “the ground looks like sand because the rain’s not coming,” with Laura adding “it’s only sand and dead grass.” Thomas M. took note about how the lack of rain also affects livestock stating, “the animals die because they can’t have a drink.” Leo displayed a firm understanding of how the drought impacts financially upon the farming industry telling us “the farmer makes money from crops, but if there’s no rain there’s no crops and farmers get no money.” Miss Tara considered the nature of Leo’s connectedness to the land asking “can you tell me about your farm Leo and how the drought has impacted upon Pa-gee’s farm?” Leo told us “one of Pa-gee’s paddocks is dry, but Pa-gee is lucky he has lots of rain water tanks and there is lots of water in them. He has cows and sheep. They get lots of water to drink. The cow’s paddocks are dry, but the cows eat grass and hay. The sheep eat grain and lupins too.” Miss Tara thanked Leo for sharing all his amazing information and knowledge about farming saying “Leo thank you so much for telling us about Pa-gee’s farm. You know so much about farming! You have taught me so much.”

Next Miss Tara asked the children for their ideas on how we could help the farmers. Sophie M. suggested “give them water” and Sienna suggested “we can give them some hay and they can give it to their horses.” Miss Tara told the children that some of the ways we could help the farmers is through sustainability and saving water. Miss Tara explained that having a bath instead of a shower can help save lots of wasted water and asked the pre-schoolers if tonight they could do some “research” and when they have a shower keep the plug in the bath and see how quickly a bath fills up from the shower water.
Miss Tara asked the children for their ideas on how we can save water or some of the ways sustainability is embedded into daily routines here or at home. (L/O 2.4) Matthew said “we could use a pipe from the washing machine to the garden.” Thommo suggested that “if we don’t drink our water we can tip it on the plants.” Sienna extended on this idea saying, “or you can tip it on the grass.” Damien told us “we can turn the tap off. We turn the tap off at my home.” Stella L. followed on from Damien’s idea stating, “and we shouldn’t use the bubblers to get water for the sandpit.”

Miss Tehanna suggested “maybe we can write a list of rules for the bubblers?” Stella L. showed enthusiasm at this idea. Miss Tara asked for ideas on what the rules should be. Bronte suggested “bubbler is only for drinking water.” Lucinda suggested “don’t put sand in the bubblers so we don’t have to use lots of water to wash it all out,” and Stella L said, “don’t wash things up in the bubbler.” Miss Tara assisted Lucinda, Bronte and Stella L. in making a list of the Bubbler Rules by writing the 3 rules out for the girls to copy. Lucinda, Stella L and Bronte each wrote their rule onto the page and were excited to put blue tack on and place it outside above the bubblers.

Looking at the core of the exceeding theme for this element shows how Tara skilfully meets exceeding practice.

“All educators reflect upon the best ways to use the local community and families to identify ways to teach children about caring for the environment. This in turn sees children gain an interest in the environment and take their learning to implement with their peers, families and community.”

Case Study – Bees in the playground
Adrian and Nathaniel were curious about a bee they saw in the playground, so Cherie provided a range of resources that enabled Adrian, Nathaniel, and their friends Logan, Eva, Pippa, Issy B, Ivy and Chelsea to express meaning using visual arts (LO 5.3) and show their respect for the natural environment and the interdependence between people, plants, animals and the land.

The children painted cardboard with blue and green then stuck on insects. The insects were drawn by the children and transferred to clear contact. The children stuck their insect onto the painted background. As the children chose their insect, Cherie told them a bit about that insect.

Pippa chose a bee. Cherie told her bees transfer pollen to fertilise flowers. Bees pollinate over 80% of all flowering plants. One in three bites of food that we eat is derived from plants pollinated by bees. After this spiel Cherie asked, “What do bees eat?” Pippa replied, “Eat flowers.” Cherie explained to the children the bee is one of the most important animals in the world by helping provide fruit and vegetables.

Cherie’s teaching showed the children how to become an advocate for a sustainable future and promote children’s understanding about their responsibility to care for the environment.

Next Cherie told the children about ladybird beetles. They mostly eat other small bugs, so they are carnivores. They are beneficial predators of plant pests. Ladybugs love to eat scale insects, mites, aphids and whiteflies. Cherie said “What do lady beetles eat?” Pippa responded “insects and flies.”

Cherie spoke a little about butterflies. They taste with their feet and live on a liquid diet. Adult butterflies have large often brightly coloured wings. Eva added “butterflies fly, and we can catch them.” Eva used feedback from Cherie to assist her own learning LO 4.4.

Cockroaches are pests worldwide. They lived on earth at the same time as dinosaurs. Cockroaches will eat anything from dead skin cells, garbage, people’s food and even faeces. Certain species of wasps eat cockroaches. When Cherie questioned what cockroaches eat, Chelsea replied “poo and food.” Cherie praised her for her answer.

Like cockroaches, ants are as old as dinosaurs. Most ants are either red or black in colour and like other insects have six legs. Cherie said, “What do ants eat?” Logan excitedly exclaimed “people food.” Cherie planned for time where Nathaniel and his friends could reflect on their learning and where they could see similarities and connections between existing and new learning. Cherie further questioned asking what colour ants usually are. Logan said “they’re red black.” Adrian added “they live with dinosaurs.”

There are over 100,000 species of flies. Flies like to eat manure and old garbage. They spread diseases. Cherie questioned what flies eat. Ivy replied “they eat my food. They fly like butterflies.”

The children started to learn some facts about insects and how they interact within the environment. Cherie exposed the children to new words like carnivore and predator. She explained the new words from a child’s perspective.

Excursion to Bunnings – Charlee
To extend upon the children’s interest in the insects we find in our garden, the important role they play and to build a connection between the early childhood setting and the local community (LO2.1), Charlee planned an excursion to our local Bunnings to buy some plants for our room and back yard to attract insects and birds.

After morning tea, the children put their shoes, vests and hats on then held onto the rope. ‘Do we know where we are going today?’ Charlee asked. ‘Shop!’ Ellie replied excitedly. ‘Yes we are Ellie! I want you all to help pick some plants for our room and yard’ Charlee explained. Toddler 2 then walked carefully to Bunnings and started to look for the items Mel had asked us to get for the centre. ‘Which colour should we get?’ Charlee asked as we came to the rakes.

Eva sought Chelsea’s involvement in making the decision (LO2.1). ‘Pink one’ Chelsea said laughing and Eva nodded quickly. Charlee and Emma then asked the children what type of plants they would like to have. ‘Spiky ones’ Kade replied. Molly and Charlee found some pointy succulents to match Kade’s suggestion.

We continued to look around at all the plants Bunnings had while checking our list to see which ones would attract insects and birds. Then Miss Jade pointed out some blueberries. ‘What about some berries to plant with our strawberries?’ Jade suggested. ‘Yeah and the children can help us look after them’ Charlee continued. The children nodded their heads as Charlee grabbed a pot of blueberries.

This experience will help the educators provide the children with a range of natural materials from our environment (LO2.4) and also help the children to further understand multiple plants (LO2.4) we may find in our yards or gardens. Toddler 2 will embed sustainability into our daily routine and practices (LO2.4) through the care and nurturing of these plants and our gardens. Educators will allow the children to do most of the watering and caring to help them understand the impact of humans on our natural environment (LO2.4).

Case Study – Australian natives – (Kerrie)

Today Miss Kerrie drew attention to the relationship of the children’s local environment in their learning (LO 4:3) by providing native floral resources for the children to explore.

Toby, Zoe and Madeline engaged in their own learning (LO 4:3) by pulling apart the paperback, grevillea flowers and a salt bush.

Miss Kerrie talked to the children in a way that promoted learning about the paperback and how to take care of it in the environment (LO 2:4) by remarking, “Zoe, this tree is special as it has many uses to the human population.” Zoe was feeling the texture of the bark and looked at Miss Kerrie as Miss Kerrie responded, “The Aboriginals used the bark to carry their babies, to wrap food in before it was cooked and to make shelter for their families. They also used the flowers, which have a honey taste, for tea which is good for colds. That’s clever isn’t it?”” Zoe clapped her hands.

Madeline was curious about the environment, (LO – 4:1) taking a piece of salt bush and putting it in her mouth. Miss Kerrie remarked, “Do you like the taste. It isn’t that salty. Farmers plant this bush when the cattle have little to eat.” Del communicated non-verbally (LO 5:1) by smiling and taking another leaf off the bush to taste. Madeline then used the creative arts to express ideas and to make meaning (LO 5:3) by putting glue onto the bark and picking some salt bush and placing it on the bark. Miss Kerrie supported Madeline’s effort (LO 1:2) by asking, “Madeline what an artistic way to use the plants and flowers. Are you going to do anymore?” Madeline giggled before returning to her art work.

Toby used his sensory capability of touch (LO 3:2) to respond to the resources. Toby would feel the bark with his hands before putting them on his cheek. Miss Kerrie recognised and valued Toby’s involvement in learning (LO 4:1) by responding “Is it soft? Would you like to try another plant?” Toby communicated verbally (LO – 5:1) saying “No.” Miss Kerrie responded, “That’s ok Toby. The paperbark is really an unusual feel from most other tree barks. It’s a special tree in our local environment and that’s why we have to look after it.” Toby kept exploring pieces of the bark.

The checklist below covers the basics of meeting the NQS Element. You need to be doing all of this or you may receive a working towards rating for this element. The most important part of the checklist is to ensure ALL EDUCATORS can do and show great practice plus they understand the element and can describe to other people and make them understand why you do things to meet the outcome of the element

The NQS wants us to design and create learning environments with resources that support ‘play based learning’ to encourage children to explore, solve problems, create and construct. Our job as an educator is to provide challenges for children by choosing equipment and materials that can be used in multiple ways, and allowing the indoor and outdoor learning environment to be regularly rearranged or adjusted with the help of children.

Practice is shaped by meaningful engagement with families and community

The case study below shows us how to solve two problems. Firstly, the room has a group of busy boys that come four and five days a week. These boys get bored and don’t always like being in the room or centre. This has resulted in the room having ‘on the spot excursions’ to get them out and about before difficult behaviours occur. Secondly, see how the educator Rhiannon has skillfully weaved in the new exceeding theme 3 Engagement with families and communities. The service’s use and organisation of space and resources:

Case Study – Busy boys…
This morning Archie noticed that the Preschool children were not in their room. “Where did preschool go Miss Rhiannon?” asked Archie. “Preschool went on an excursion to a big school,” explained Miss Rhiannon. “Can we go on an excursion?” asked everyone excitedly at the same time. “Of course we can,” replied Miss Rhiannon. The children shared happiness and satisfaction as they put their vests on and found a place on the rope ready to leave. During our excursion we walked around the Business Park, having conversations about all the businesses and what we could see. As we walked past the smash repairers Patrick noticed there was an ambulance. “Look there’s an ambulance,” said Patrick. Miss Kerry explained, “the ambulance is over there so it can be fixed fast and work again.” “Yeah, the ambulance helps us get better when we’re sick,” replied Ava, exploring the connection between people in the community (LO 2.3).
The children noticed that there was some rubbish on the ground during our walk. “Why is there lots of rubbish on the ground? That’s not good for the animals,” said Ella. Miss Rhiannon discussed the ways the life and health of living things are interconnected (LO 2.4) as she explained, “that’s right Ella. If we put rubbish on the ground it will make the animals sick because they will eat it and it will make the grass sick as well and it won’t grow, and that’s why we have to put our rubbish in the bin.” This concept of where our rubbish goes will be explored further in the coming days.

The checklist below covers the basics of meeting the NQS Element. You need to be doing all of this or you may receive a working towards rating for this element. The most important part of the checklist is to ensure ALL EDUCATORS can do and show great practice plus they understand the element and can describe to other people and make them understand why you do things to meet the outcome of the element

Case Study – Children maintaining safety and cleanliness

When you first look at this element it seems boring  – no more than a series of checklists to ensure the environment is safe and clean – but when you think outside the square and reflect on how you can involve the children in helping meet the element it can become exciting.

For example, a centre obtained a large part of a tree which was recently cut down by the local council and placed in their yard. As the months went on and natural decay occurred the bark started to peel from the log revealing very spiky nodules. These nodules cut children while they played on the log. Something needed to be done about it. Above is a child cutting off the spiky nodules under the guidance of the educator.

All cleaning should be completed with the children. One complaint I hear a lot is educators stating they don’t have enough time to do things. I say they’re not getting the children to help with what’s needed. The examples below are all from babies’ rooms, so please be inspired to get your children of all ages to help clean their learning environment and equipment.

During afternoon tea, Toby began to clean his high chair with his washer before hopping out. Once everyone was finished eating, Cody (educator) asked Toby if he would like to help clean. Toby quickly walked over to grab a cloth. Toby showed his capabilities and independence cleaning, while Cody maintained high expectations by encouraging him to help. Toby made sure there were no stains or crumbs left and persisted until the tables were clean. Thanks for the help Toby.

The checklist below covers the basics of meeting the NQS Element. You need to be doing all of this or you may receive a working towards rating for this element. The most important part of the checklist is to ensure ALL EDUCATORS can do and show great practice plus they understand the element and can describe to other people and make them understand why you do things to meet the outcome of the element.

Friday means cleaning day so we used the opportunity to get the kids involved with the jobs.

Skirting boards and chairs were all scrubbed. The children enjoyed the activity and it helps them to feel like they belong when they’re given real responsibility. It also teaches them to care for their environment.

Washing Up

After morning tea the children washed their own plates, showing us just how much they enjoy taking responsibility and using the kinds of equipment they see grown-ups using all the time. They even waited patiently to have their turn. Olivia enjoyed the activity so much she got extra plates off the trolley to wash. Perhaps we could use her in the kitchen.

Children working in the kitchen with Chef Cade.

Looking at the core of the exceeding theme for this element shows how educators skilfully meet exceeding practice.

Exceeding theme 3: Families and community connection

We can have a safe, clean and well maintained environment, but how do we give it that extra sparkle to ensure children are really attracted to it and want to play and learn in it? One way is to look outside early childhood settings at other places. The best places to start are museums and art galleries. For example, the Museum of Modern Art in Brisbane has had children’s exhibitions like Art Lab: Nature where children can ‘discover how artists and designers are inspired by the natural world in a new multisensory installation.’ Children are encouraged to ‘create a nature-inspired design, draw and arrange natural materials, and explore our nature discovery boxes.’

Don’t panic about budgets or think you need to create exactly what the museum has. I don’t. I want you to look at different ways others have enhanced their environment. It might be a little thing that inspires a change that you won’t find in any other early childhood centre. That’s what it’s all about. Being different, new and interesting gets exceeding. Being the same as everybody else gets you meeting.

Try looking up interesting artists like Yayoi Kusama Sandy Skoglund, Jee Young Lee, Ernesto Neto, Olafur Eliasson, Peter Kogler  Sebastian Masuda, Chiharu Shiota, Angela Glajcar, Trever Nicolas, Soo Sunny Park, Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam,Choi Jeong Hwa, Richard Wentworth, Gabriel Dawe to see how they could enhance your learning environment.