Glen Education Murrumbeena 

Consistent Learning Environments

By Glen Murrumbeena Educational Team

The environment at Glen Murrumbeena Kindergarten helps to create a sense of belonging for children and their families. They are greeted as they arrive at our service and children often have important news to share with the educators. They may bring along a favourite toy to show the educators and their kinder friends during group time.

A sense of belonging is enhanced by familiarity with the Glen Murrumbeena  Kindergarten, that the favourite toys will always be there, and normal routines will guide them throughout the day.

Having the same permanent educators also helps with a sense of belonging because children have comfort in knowing who will be there to support them. This is especially important for children who have social or separation anxiety. 

We started the group project to create a 'Belonging Tree' for all children to feel a sense of belonging within their environment. Children were eager to add their family pictures on the tree and there was lot of excitement in showing others and telling them who is in their photo. Children felt part of the collective group, which added to their overall feelings of belonging together. Children learn about themselves and construct their own identity within the context of their families and communities. 

Our kindergarten offers many opportunities for curiosity, risk taking, creative thinking and problem solving. This was demonstrated in an outdoor play when a group of children decided to create a river system in the sandpit. The children involved in this experience, demonstrated creative thinking and problem-solving skills by finding an alternative method of water play and worked together as a team. 

Our service provides a link between home and the kindergarten in many ways.  Children have been involved in cooking experiences - they tell the educators about the things they make at home with their family and recognise similarities in the cooking procedures. Cultural diversity of families is included in many parts of the curriculum, from Acknowledgment of Country,  to learning key words and numbers in a variety of different languages. 

We recognise that children learn in many ways and therefore, sensory experiences are included in many areas of the curriculum. We celebrated Autumn, for example, by using colourful leaves in many art/craft activities and hid some toy insects and natural materials underneath them. The children enjoyed feeling the different textures, hearing the crinkling sound as they squashed the dry leaves in their hands and had fun searching for the things hidden among them.