GEKA Caulfield South

Feeling Connected to the Community

Lorraine Peters, Early Childhood Teacher,

 

At the start of the kindergarten year families and children can be daunted and apprehensive. Will their child settle, make new friends, and most importantly be happy in their new environment?

 

At GEKA Caulfield South Kindergarten the priority is to help children have a feeling of belonging and to make them feel secure in their new environment. This begins at orientation. A photo is taken of the child and the family member. This photo is then placed in a special individual frame. These special photos are then placed at a level for the children to view, to touch and use at any time. 

We are trying to encourage a connection between home and kindergarten, to again reinforce a sense of security and belonging.  Children have already been observed showing their photo to friends and staff explaining who is in their picture. Many children have taken their photo to play areas whilst engaged in drawing, home corner, mat times and snack times. This generally happens throughout the year. The family is part of our program at all times.

 

Several of our children in the group this year are non English speaking. Sometimes these children may become so anxious and upset they become physically ill. To ease this extreme anxiety, we ask the parent to stay with the child at the kindergarten. Once again this is to create a sense of being secure in our environment.   

 

After only a few sessions this year, one of our children has begun to settle and  engage in activities in the program and is interacting non verbally with staff with more confidence. Often this takes time and patience. We thank the families who have given their time to stay with their child to help make the transition into this very new environment easier.

A final comment about our beautiful kindergarten. We believe, as do visitors, families and other professionals who visit our kindergarten, that it has a special calmness, an aura, and has a special positivity about it. This then filters through to the children making it a happy place to be.

Teaching philosophy: "if a child is not stressed they will learn. This is always my goal for each year".

Welcome to all our families, We hope you enjoy your year at our kindergarten as much as we enjoy connecting with you and your children.