Glen Education Aspendale North

Working in Partnership with Children and Families 

Glen Aspendale North Kindergarten Educators

Quality Area 1: Educational program and practice

At Glen Aspendale North Kindergarten, we create our educational program with the intention to maximise opportunities to enhance children’s learning and development based on the interests the children have highlighted to us throughout the day, week or term. Our team discuss and plan using these interests and align them with the Early Years Learning Framework to ensure children are offered as many learning opportunities as possible to extend ideas and spark passions. 

This term for example, we had children showing emerging interest in outer space and have created a dramatic play area where the children can dress as astronauts and explore planets, stars and moons. Our program is completely child centred and child led, therefore providing children with experiences that build on their own interests, knowledge, culture and abilities. By doing this, we encourage children’s autonomy, agency, and independence through an engaging and play based educational program. 

The children have also been discussing fruits and vegetables and what it means to each child to eat healthily. With this idea, the children suggested we begin healthy cooking experiences during our sessions, kicking it off with making smoothies. Children had the choice of what they wanted in their smoothie, chopped their own fruits, and scooped in their berries and yoghurt. It was a big hit! 

Our team understands that each child is on their own learning journey, and this means that our practices and programs allow for all children’s needs and varying abilities. We find importance in collaboration with parents and families and appreciate their input when it comes to the development of their children, and we use this communication to help plan a program that reflects our best quality teaching practices. 

The Glen ANK teaching team confidently make curriculum decisions throughout the day, week or month to ensure each child’s learning and development is maximised, and to ensure each child’s learning and development is facilitated and extended. We value that each child has a strong image and we see every child as competent and capable (focussing on every child’s strength). From here we have and continue to focus on the child’s “voice” and through many robust discussions, we aim to provide more opportunities for children to explore risk and challenge themselves. We are there to support children to climb trees, build blocks above their shoulders, make cubby houses from a variety of materials, spin the swings and to set up obstacle courses and climbing equipment to test their balance. Through this we encourage conversations to discuss risks and look at ways to encourage children to guide their own learning journey, independently self-assess risks and to develop to their full potential.   

- Maddison Ades, Early Childhood Teacher

Quality Area 2: Children's Health and Safety 

At Glen ANK we all practice our duty of care by safeguarding and promoting children’s health and safety, minimise risks and protect children from harm, injury and infection. One example of how we achieve this is in April 2023 the teaching team at Glen ANK attended the child safe standards training and as a team reflected upon how we can evaluate our practices and procedures to ensure we’re meeting our legal obligations to provide safe environments for the children. 

We uphold our commitment to the safety of children by taking steps to mitigate risks to children. This involves daily yard risk assessments, following SunSmart policies, supervision plans and identifying any hazards that could potentially harm children. Every term we practice emergency evacuation drills with the children and guided the children during the process of our emergency evacuation. Educators discussed with children why we perform emergency evacuations. What do children need to listen out for in case of an emergency? What can they do to help keep themselves safe? We shared the evacuation points for when there is an emergency.  

 - Zahra Said Gabriel Abdullahi, Early Childhood Teacher 

Quality Area 3: Physical Environment 

The physical environment of the kindergarten supports educators to invite children into our learning spaces and engage them in play. 

An example of this is as follows: 

It had been noted in our planning princess and fairies were in many of the children’s discussions over the last week of term 1. 

On one of our daily routine yard checks, we noticed the outside water trough needed to be emptied as it was full of rainwater. One of the children who helped, decided the trough needed refurbishing and came up with the idea it should be turned into a “princess or fairy land”. Together we found an array of different items to use. We had tree stumps, plants, materials, cylinders, princesses of course, blocks and a trolley close at hand with even more additions the children could choose from to add if they wished. It became a very popular and exciting place to visit for all. 

This magical Princess land became an area to explore and enjoy initially in solitude but then enjoyed with peers. It was lovely watching the child in question join in the experience independently and confidently as they explored the resources they had helped to select. They used their own creative flair and ideas to add to the ‘princess land’. They confidently told their version of her princess story to the friend on the other side of the trough. They worked opposite each other to bring their stories to light.

Together the children spent over half an hour exploring what they had created, sharing their ideas and adding new pieces and taking other pieces away. They talked and laughed together enjoying each other's company. It was so lovely to witness and watch as the child grew more confident. They became more vocal, comfortable and engaging with their friend. As we watched on from a distance, it brought smiles to our faces to see their confidence, co-operation, curiosity and creativity grow with every shared addition to their adventure. 

The outcome from this experience was the child continued to join their peers in other experiences voluntarily for the remainder of the day.  It was a magical day and so lovely to witness it all as it evolved. 

- Sharyn Burgess, Early Childhood Educator

Quality Area 4: Staffing Arrangements & Quality Area7: Governance and Leadership 

This year I joined Glen Education and the wonderful team at Glen ANK. I was fortunate to be referred to join the team at Glen ANK by an experienced and dedicated Educator, Sharyn Burgess. Sharyn has many years of experience in Early Childhood and she could not speak more highly of the commitment the Educators have to providing a high-quality program at this service and their connection to the families and the community. 

I found the interview, induction and policy and procedures reviews a smooth process. My questions were answered promptly, and I felt supported by the management staff, particularly Bek who was always available, no matter how trivial my query. 

Once at the service Kate and Maddi guided me through the service induction, Emergency Action plans, Children’s Medical Action Plans, Staff sign in requirements and general Housekeeping. All the staff were extremely welcoming, introducing me to the families and children and the specific needs of them all. Again, all my questions and queries were answered promptly and without judgement, I immediately felt welcomed into the Glen ANK family. 

Kate and Maddi are clear in their expectations and I feel my input and ideas are encouraged. Our staff team is not hierarchical, we are equal and work together to make decisions, are comfortable and confident to critically reflect our own and each other’s practices to work together to reach common goals in a respectful and ethical way.  The entire teaching team utilises each other’s skills, knowledge and experiences every day to guide their educational practices and further, demonstrate a willingness to share information or ask for assistance from others and acknowledge the strengths and skills of others. As a team we recognise that for continual growth we are always learning and looking at ways to improve our current practices.  The positive and supportive introduction I received enabled a smooth transition into the service. 

- Michelle Barry, Early Childhood Educator

Quality Area 5: Relationships with children

In our practice at Glen ANK, we aim to uphold the national quality standard five, relationships with children, to an exceeding level. In our program we have established a culture of respect for children, families and educators.  Through our learning with children, we extend this shared understanding of respect to include our kindergarten space, the land on which we play and our community. We provide opportunities to have shared discussions with children and educators about what respect is, how we can be respectful to one another, as well as discussing respect for our land and resources. We ensure to model respect ourselves to the children, families and our resources, displaying the Auslan sign for respect to the children.  Children are supported to share their understanding of respect and to contribute their own thoughts on what makes their kindergarten a safe and welcoming space for everyone.  This build positive educator and child interactions, promoting a sense of security and confidence with the educators, as there is mutual respect between everyone attending the centre. "When families and services collaborate and build respectful relationships, children have the opportunity to develop a positive sense of self and experience respectful relationships" - ACECQA, 2020, p.252.

Our kindergarten encourages a play-based learning approach, allowing for children to collaborate with their peers and educators through conversations and shared play interactions, permitting them to scaffold their knowledge in many areas of interest in the environment. The children have the opportunity to form connections and relationships with educators. One example of this includes the children deciding to go on a treasure hunt, which developed through their interest of playing a game called giants treasure, where they were able to interact with educators to collaborate and work together.  children posed questions such as:  "what we might use to create a treasure chest?", "what we could use for the treasure?", and "How can we make our maps?".

Educators supported children to develop their own solutions to these questions and to collaborate to extend on each other's thinking and ideas. 

We believe in using a strength-based approach, which ensures the children feel supported and their achievements are celebrated, guiding children or redirecting behaviours to ensure learning is taking place while positive and respectful child and educator relationships remain. We encourage the strength-based approach through focusing on children's interests and what the children can do, providing age-appropriate activities for the children to ensure the outcome is achievable. Educators can therefore acquire the knowledge of the children's interests and skills through closely attending and engaging in play with all of the children attending the centre, providing familiar experiences such as play dough, craft materials, building blocks, puzzles, sandpit equipment as the entry into more complex play and collaboration. 

- Holly Farr, Early Childhood Educator

Quality Area 6: Collaborative partnerships with families and communities

The Glen ANK team (enrolments, management and teaching team) engage collaboratively and respectfully with families from enrolment and orientation to learn about their expertise, culture, values and beliefs and priorities for their child’s learning and wellbeing. We use a strength based  organisational approach to consistently support families to participate in the service; make meaningful contributions to service decisions; and share in decision-making about their individual child’s learning and wellbeing. Supportive, respectful relationships with families are seen as fundamental, with strong communication commencing with the enrolment team gathering information, then passing these details on to the teaching team to build on. We welcome families into our daily programs to share knowledge, skills and interests. 

Further, the Glen ANK team builds and maintains community partnerships that support and promote parenting and family wellbeing and proactively and respectfully engage with families to support their parenting and family wellbeing, circumstances and priorities. We are currently working alongside Central Bayside Community Health Services in the Achievement Program that helps to create a healthier environment for working and learning. The program focusses on health areas like healthy eating, physical activity, and mental health and wellbeing. Through this program we have already received our tick for being a ‘sun smart service’. We also continue to focus on ‘Healthy Eating’ and ‘Dental Health’ by working with community health to build capacity of teachers and to engage families. Each year we welcome the Ben and Molly Healthy Eating puppet show and support family engagement through free 4-year-old onsite dental health checks. This year we also welcomed Patterson Lakes Swim School and a ‘new innovative pilot’ program on water safety.   

We continue to establish and maintain ongoing collaborative partnerships with the community and link with community and support agencies to enhance children’s learning, wellbeing and participation. These partnerships are well thought out and reflect the needs of our ever changing community. We have strong links with our local communities, for example: Aspendale Primary; St Louis De Monforts; Yarrabah; Bunnings; IGA; Mitre 10; Bakers Delight; Sounds Like This – our weekly music session; Kingston Council; Edithvale Fire Brigade; Mordialloc College; Woolworth’s, Aspendale Garden’s Community Centre. 

- Kate Warren Smith, Early Childhood Teacher