Glen Education Caulfield Primary 

Embedding cultural safety – Creating environments where children feel respected, valued, and safe to be themselves

By Glen Education Caulfield Primary 

According to UNICEF, children from all background and abilities have the right to feel safe, respected, valued, heard and loved (Noble et al, 2025). 

In Glen Caulfield Primary Kindergarten, the education team always upholds all the core rights of children and provides a caring, safe and inclusive environment to our kindergarten children.  

Respecting cultural and language identity 

As our children come from multi-cultural backgrounds, we always value and embed cultural safety into our English - Japanese bilingual program. Cultural safety means feeling secure in a way that respects and supports an individual’s unique cultural identity in which ensuring their culture is recognised, valued, and understood (Commission for Children and Young People, 2024). 

At Glen Caulfield Primary Kindergarten, our program reflects how we respect cultural and language identity not just in the two main languages – English & Japanese but also in children’s home language. For example, developing awareness of cultural identity happens before the children begin kindergarten. Our Getting to Know You form enables families to tell us about their culture through their languages, celebrations, important people in their lives and goals for their children. This information helps our team to learn about our families and begin to shape the environment in response to the diversity of cultures.  

Cultural safety in our environment 

Once children have started at kindergarten, we endeavour to develop a strong sense of belonging and connection by helping children recognise themselves in our environment. For example, we display family photos where children can easily access them, giving children the chance to share their families with their friends—what a wonderful opportunity to see how every family is unique and special! We also source books, play activities, puzzles, and music that reflect our various cultural backgrounds, ensuring that all children can see aspects of their identity represented in our space. Our birthday chart proudly displays each child’s special day, and we celebrate together with a wooden birthday cake, which brings joy and a sense of community to the group.

Furthermore, educators make intentional efforts to learn key words and phrases in children’s home languages to build security, strengthen relationships, and affirm cultural identity. Through these practices, we create an environment that is culturally responsive, inclusive, and respectful, allowing every child to feel safe, valued, and confident in their identity. 

We encourage children and families to communicate in the home language they feel most comfortable with, recognising the richness and value that each language brings to our community. Whenever possible, we provide educators who share these languages to support authentic communication and build strong, meaningful connections. For example, our Japanese, Chinese, and Indian families enrich our setting with their beautiful languages and cultural perspectives, and we celebrate these as an important part of our learning environment. 

Cultural Safety through Cultural Celebrations 

At Glen Caulfield Primary Kindergarten, we place a strong emphasis on cultural safety by celebrating and valuing the diverse identities within our community. We have a particular focus on Japanese cultural identity, which we honour through experiences such as Children’s Day celebrations, cooking classes featuring onigiri, sushi and mochi, exploring Japanese taiko drumming, and even participating in a Ninja session. Alongside this, we embrace and learn from many other cultures, including Harmony Day, Diwali, Chinese New Year, Reconciliation Day and ANZAC Day. We also celebrate Hanukkah, sourcing books from the library to help children understand its traditions and meaning. Families are invited to share their language and culture through storytelling, songs, cooking, and art experiences, enriching the curriculum and fostering respect, connection, and belonging for all children. 

Embedding First Nations Perspectives 

 At Glen Caulfield Primary Kindergarten, educators are deeply committed to embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in meaningful and respectful ways. Each day, we begin with an Acknowledgement of Country in Japanese, connecting our cultural focus with recognition of the Traditional Custodians of the land. We also incorporate the Yorta Yorta lullaby Inanay to support daily transitions, offering children the opportunity to experience and value Indigenous language and music as part of their everyday learning. 

Beyond daily practices, we intentionally embed First Nations perspectives through stories, songs, play, books, and puzzles, ensuring that these resources are used respectfully and with purpose rather than tokenistically. For example, during Reconciliation Week we read Sorry Sorry and took time to engage in meaningful discussions, encouraging children to step into others’ shoes and reflect on empathy, fairness, and perspectives different from their own. 

To further our learning and strengthen cultural understanding, we have participated in rich incursions involving dance, music, and storytelling, led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators and performers. We are also actively liaising with the Early Years Unit of the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association (VAEAI) to ensure our practices are guided by authentic voices and grounded in respect. 

As we reflect on the importance of inclusion and respect in our community, we leave you with these thoughts on cultural safety: 

“True safety is being free to be yourself.” 

“Cultural safety is not about treating everyone the same, but about respecting and supporting people in ways that honour their identity and experiences.”