ELC News
Building a community within the School – ELC and Year 5 Buddies
Lyn Pewtress, ELC Coordinator
Children learn about themselves and construct their own identity within the context of their families and communities (DEEWR, 2009, p. 20).
A school community is more than just a location; when we talk about a ‘sense of community’ at Kilvington, we are referring to the quality of the relationships and connections that bind our students together.
As early childhood educators, creating a ‘sense of community’ is an important part of what we do. It is integral to the core themes of belonging and identity that run through the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and Victorian Early Years’ Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF). For young children, a sense of community plays an important role in the development of their feelings of security and belonging.
Children thrive in an environment of mutually supportive and caring relationships. For this reason, we have established a ‘Buddy Program’ with the 4-year-old and Year 5 students.
This particularly assists the ELC students when they move onto the Junior School and have a special friend to connect with. In the program, the children meet with their buddy at least once a term in collaborative activities designed by the teachers.
Here is a sample of feedback we received from our 4-year-olds after their initial meeting with their buddies:
Aanya – It was good because I gave them some food (in the home corner).
Charlotte – Good, because I love them now!
Chloe Low – I liked it. I liked drawing with the big girls.
Liam K – It was fun. I think we should play with them again on Friday.
Mia – I liked playing straws with a girl from Year 5.
Samuel – I like buddies. I like playing with my buddy because he speaks Chinese.
Thea – I felt happy when they were here.
Thomas - I liked playing with my buddies. I liked the cars, reading books and doing some arts and crafts.
Olivia - We did some games.
Maggie - We did some drawing and played some magnets.
Emerson - I liked to do dot drawing with my buddy.
Harvey - I liked doing Lego and drawing with my buddy. His name was Riley.
Daniel - My buddy’s name was Archie and we did Lego.
