Curiosity 

Messy Footprints

What we can probably all appreciate is that working alongside and being with others is not always neat and tidy, especially when working with children - it can be messy. But in the messiness there is beauty and beauty can be seen in everything if found within the eye of the beholder.  We witnessed plenty of beauty in 2021 at Curiosity.

At the beginning of the year Pastor Reid encouraged us to keep our eyes open for messy footprints.  Moments in our days where we could see that the brokenness of humanity was being restored because of the grace given to us through Jesus Christ. Grace to extend forgiveness.  Grace to extend love beyond measure.  Grace to be with others when life is simply hard. To walk with and alongside each other when life got messy was a gift extended daily.  How grateful we are that in another year of great uncertainty, beauty triumphed!

Assessment & Rating 

Curiosity participated in it's first Assessment and Rating process with the Education Standard's Board in April.  After two intensive days of observations, a 'Meeting" rate was awarded with areas of exceeding recognised.  Curiosity continues to work on it's Quality Improvement Plan with a focus on refining our approach to providing rich and child led inquiries and increasing our capacity and knowledge in supporting children with 'special rights' through our inclusion practices.  Our Service worked closely with GOWRIE, our Inclusion Agency, to secure funding to provide support for our three learning teams offering extensive strategies for children's inclusion and learning.

Building Team Culture & Networking

Curiosity is a Service that is open to critical reflection through building relationships with Services and Providers.  Our team met with four Lutheran Early Learning Centres for conversation around Service improvement, engaged in professional learning through Reggio Emilia Australia, Early Childhood Australia and Australia Independent School's Association.  Conversation with five surrounding ELC's in the northern suburbs began exploration around creating a cluster network of Services to learn from each other's journey to commence in 2022.

Two of our staff members graduated with a Diploma in Children's Services, demonstrating our commitment to supporting the further development of our staff.  

Our team attended the School's retreat in July, offering time and space for the team to continue building upon their culture and explore the Lutheran Christian Studies framework.

Curiosity 'Living & Learning at Home' 

The state lockdown in late 2021 offered our team the time to explore our online learning platform.  With 95% of our children learning 'from home', our team created a repertoire of stories, songs and learning inquiries for the children to explore at home.  With the understanding that families were working from home, the platform required the children to access this learning in a safe way that protected their online presence.  The engagement during this period of online learning was an encouragement to the community and allowed us to refine our thinking around providing online learning and parent engagement.

Connecting with our Community

Despite the restrictions of COVID, our community embraced every opportunity we could to connect.

Our connection with the school continued to grow with the building of relationships with our Year 5/6 buddies that have supported the transition of our pre-school children to the school environment and special events with our neighbouring village residents.

The beginning of the year saw our Welcome Party well attended with our Curiosity Team becoming further experts in face painting.  

With the belief that parents are the child's first teacher, two staff members became qualified facilitators in the attachment theory program 'Circle of Security' to support the relational growth in our families.  10 families attended this 8 work program, offering a network of support for families desiring rich interactions with their child.  

With the appointment of a Learning Support Teacher that works alongside the ELC and Foundation team, our transition program was extended to support children with their transition to OSHC and further opportunities within the school environment.  

Our Service has continued to offer support to Lutheran Care and Backpacks SA for kids providing finances, food, clothing and play items for families and their children in need.

2021 finished with a community event that celebrated the graduation of our preschool children through song, telling stories and sharing in a community picnic.

In our second year of serving our Good Shepherd Community, we count the many blessings that come with offering our best to the children and their families.