Kindergarten
Forming an Essential Agreement is an important part of Term One, supporting children and teachers to develop shared expectations and values in a democratic and collaborative way. As a group, we discussed that our Essential Agreement is something we decide on together to help us all feel happy and safe at Kindergarten. It was explained that our final agreement must be something that everyone feels comfortable saying “yes” to. The children had thoughtful suggestions to offer such as “respect means you listen to people and help them”, “taking care of things means being gentle with them” and “we need to listen to what our bodies tell us”.
We organised all the suggestions, and recognised that they could be grouped into broader understandings about self, other, and place. We workshopped statements for the agreement, with children making specific language choices that they felt most aligned to e.g. “don’t put each other, put friends.” It was important that our Preshil motto of ‘Courage’ was represented in our agreement. The Kindergarten children chose to express this through a commitment to “give things a try.” As one child reflected: “if we don’t give things a try, we can never learn and learn it!”
Our Essential Agreement doesn’t exist as a stand-alone set of guidelines. It becomes embedded practice in the Kindergarten program. Educators will refer to the agreement frequently, drawing children’s attention to the way they are positively exemplifying it in their interactions with people, places, and experiences. The agreement also provides a shared framework between educators and children for reflecting on challenges and moments where restorative practice is needed. Each morning, after we warm up with our Morning Moves, we say the Essential Agreement together, and renew our commitment to respecting our shared values.
Our Kindergarten Essential Agreement
"We care for and respect our friends.
We care for ourselves.
We help each other.
We look after our things, this place, and nature.
We give things a try."
Poppy Woodhouse
& Courtney Booth
Kindergarten Teachers