Glen Education Edithvale

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

By Glen Education Edithvale Team

At Glen Education Edithvale Kindergarten, creating an environment where children feel safe, respected and valued is a focus area our teaching team implement within our day-to-day practices and is something that we are continually developing and working on within our program. 

At Glen Edithvale kindergarten we love to celebrate and acknowledge different cultures and celebrations not only from Australia but from around the world. In our room we have created a display and have added children and staff photos and used them to place on a map to showcase where we come from around the world. This poster is a great display and resource used to foster an inclusive environment and give children a sense of belonging in the service by recognising and celebrating their backgrounds and cultural identity.  

At Glen Edithvale we also like to hold regular group discussions and communicate to children the importance of showing respect, acting in a safe manner and showing kindness.

These 3 areas are our ‘kindergarten promises’ that all children and staff are to role model and follow. Our team at Glen Edithvale Kindergarten encourage children to use these values and have discussions around the different ways we are able to show respect and kindness towards one another and how to be safe and keep others safe whilst at kinder. Implementing these expectations into our day to day program gives children the confidence and support to voice their feelings, opinions and thoughts to ensure they feel safe, valued and respected during their time at Glen Edithvale. 

This year we also recognised Harmony Week at Glen Edithvale. We celebrated by dressing up in the colour orange and participating in some harmony week themed activities which included songs, dancing and creating a large artwork where all children contributed their own unique drawings and pictures. Celebrating Harmony Week works to promote an inclusive environment where everyone belongs and is respected and valued through celebrating diversity.