Glen Education Fern Street 

A Safe, Connected and Confident Start to the year

By Glen Fern Street Educational Team 

Dear Glen Fern Street Kindergarten Families, 

Welcome to another exciting year in our Fern Street Kindergarten program. We are delighted to share our key curriculum focuses for the year ahead such as sustainability, community, fostering active learners and most importantly, creating a safe and secure learning environment grounded in respectful relationships. 

A strong focus for us is empowering our children to understand their needs and recognise what safe and respectful relationships look and feel like. Throughout Term 1, we began this journey by exploring emotions. By building children’s emotional vocabulary, we support them to confidently communicate their feelings, seek help when needed and develop self-regulation skills. These are important foundations in helping children advocate for themselves and feel safe in their interactions with others. 

At the beginning of the year, we also prioritised strong team communication. Our educators carefully reviewed each child’s enrolment and “getting to know you” information to ensure a deep understanding of their individual needs including medical requirements, sensitivities, family backgrounds and expectations. Ongoing team discussions ensure consistency in our practices and reinforce the importance of active supervision, helping us maintain a safe and supportive environment for every child. 

We are committed to creating an inclusive and culturally responsive space where our children feel a true sense of belonging. By valuing diversity and embedding cultural perspectives into everyday experiences, our children learn to respect differences and build positive, safe relationships. Our home corner reflects this, with cultural dress-ups, foods and multilingual books that encourage children to see themselves and others represented and respected. 

We understand that transitions can be challenging, especially at the start of the year. To support children experiencing separation anxiety, we provide both flexible routines and clear, visual daily schedules. This helps our children understand what to expect, builds trust and supports them to feel secure and confident in the new environment. 

As part of our commitment to safety and wellbeing, we have also practised emergency procedures such as evacuation, lockdown, and lockout drills. Our children were actively involved in choosing a “secret code” for lockdown situations, giving them a sense of agency and helping them feel informed, prepared, and safe. 

Family partnerships are central to supporting our children’s wellbeing. By working together, we strengthen children’s ability to express their needs and feel secure across both home and kindergarten environments. Every conversation, whether brief or in-depth, helps us better understand our children and support their development as confident, capable learners. 

This term, our children have also begun attending tennis lessons every Tuesday and Thursday at Black Rock Sports Club. Through careful planning, risk assessments and meaningful preparation, our children learned about road safety, awareness, and expectations in the community. These experiences not only build confidence but also support children in understanding how to keep themselves and others safe in different environments. 

We are incredibly proud of how our children are settling in, building relationships and growing in confidence. We look forward to a wonderful year of learning, connection and growth together.