CRITERION 2:THE SERVICE DEMONSTRATES LEADERSHIP THAT CONTRIBUTES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMMUNITY, A LOCAL AREA, OR THE WIDER EDUCATION AND CARE SECTOR
As an inspiring leader in the early childhood sector, Guliyali Preschool ensures our positive impact reaches beyond those who access our service. As a member of the Brisbane Waters Learning Community (BWLC), the leader of the Tuggerah Preschool Professional Group, a member of the Preschool Pedagogical Leadership Advisory Group, Principals Network, and representatives on the Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG), Guliyali Preschool takes an active leadership role in the community and wider education and care sectors. We continually strive to share our knowledge and experiences by presenting at conferences, workshops and hosting tours of our service. We endeavour to identify best practice and share with the wider education and care sector. Distributed leadership helps to build a culture of trust and shared responsibility allowing more reflective dialogue to take place resulting in enhanced practice. This dedication to inspire and support others to improve quality early childhood education is what makes leadership at Guliyali Preschool excellent.
The success of Young Black & Ready for School Program is highlighted during the Strong Successful Start to School online course.
Supporting Staff's Professional Development is what make Guliyali Preschool Great
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UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND PROFESSIONAL PARTNERSHIP At Guliyali Preschool we are committed to ensuring that every child has the right to participate in positive and successful learning experiences. We do this by continuously improving the teaching and learning programs we deliver through innovation and inquiry-driven research, reflection and critique, in partnership with our communities. In our pursuit of exemplary practice at Guliyal Preschool, we have teamed with The University of New England (UNE) as professional partners in their researched based program, establishing Social Workers in Schools (SWIS). The Guliyali Preschool leadership team work with SWIS interns to identify and implement a range of targeted early intervention measures to deliver emotional and professional support to identified families and children. Through this partnership specific support has been given to children and their families with identified social, emotional and/or behavioural issues. The SWIS students work with families and community agencies providing theory-based interventions and implementing evidence-based practices. This partnership has impacted positively on children, educators and families by providing them with emotional and professional interventions and support. The long term aim of this research partnership is for the UNE to advocate for and to lobby government agencies to introduce and strengthen social work support in schools, therby improving early intervention strategies so that children and school communities are able to reach their full potential. OUTCOME: -As can be seen in the social story to the right, children at our service have directly benefited from the work of our SWIS students. The child in question needed an accessible suite of resources to encourage and remind him about the sorts of behaviours that are appropriate if one is to engage in pro-social play. The social story developed by our SWIS has been very effective in helping him to acquire and demonstrate behaviours that have helped him to improve the relationships he has with his peers. -The partnership has not only had positive results for children but has also benefited families. As well as providing their children with the emotional support they need, the SWIS has been on hand to advise educators of external agencies that families can acccess for support and targeted interventions. BEST START Demonstrating the ability to support other school leaders and educators to deliver high quality literacy and numeracy programs (in line with the NSW DoE Literacy and Numeracy Strategy 2017-2020) is what makes the leadership team at Guliyali Preschool excellent. The Guliyali Preschool leadership team and preschool educator successfully conducted the trial of the revised Best Start Kindergarten Assessment to provide feedback that assisted the Literacy Advisors at state office with finalising the revised Best Start Assessment ready for use in 2018 by Early Action for Success Schools and all schools in 2019. OUTCOME: - Participation in this pilot program saw Guliyali Preschool share successful strategies for improving children's early learning in literacy and numeracy beyond our immediate learning community. It enabled us to review our practices to ensure they are effective in our diverse school setting, trial and refine classroom practices. - Our participation in discussion groups with communities of schools across the state has facilitated opportunities for continuous improvement for our educators and for educators from different early services. IMPACT: Our commitment to demonstrating leadership that contributes to the development of a community, a local area, or the wider education and care sector can be seen in the recognition given to our Guliyali Preschool Educators by the NSW DET Best Start Kindergarten Advisors. Being involved in pilots programs such as the 2019 Best Start Trial are examples of how Guliyali Preschool strives for continuous improvement and are targeted as partners in national initiatives. Guliyali Preschool is recognised as practicing exemplary transition to school practices and the impact of this can be seen in the way in which our preschool,educators work with Kindergarten teachers at WWPS to build the capacity to understand the learning that children have been engaged in prior to school. In doing so, both parties develop a deep understanding of the need to implement pedagogy that leverages strengths of the whole child in their first year of kindergarten. The impact of our expertise can be seen in the restructure of Woy Woy Public School’s K-2 environments, and the manner in which those teachers have embraced play-based learning, reflecting the EYLF where "... all children experience learning that is engaging and builds success for life." (The Early Years Learning Framework For Australia). CRITICAL REFLECTIONS & WHOLE SCHOOL PLANNING In addition to daily professional reflection focusing on the planning cycle, educators use informal and formal approaches to undertake school-wide review processes. Guliyali Preschool educators conduct authentic and rigorous assessments of its practices and use the analysis to inform our school’s improvement journey. Performing a situational analysis is a key component of the School Excellence cycle and is an essential step in the development of a Strategic Improvement Plan (SIP) that effectively prioritises our school's identified areas for growth. Guliyali Preschool educators collect qualitative and quantitative data, collate evidence, collaborate widely and engage with research. Through a process of ‘looking inward’, ‘looking outward’ and ‘looking forward’, a situational analysis answers the questions: ‘Where are we now?’ ‘Where do we want to be?' 'How good can we be?' We engage in all three processes concurrently to notice, assess and comprehensively document children’s progress. We follow this same philosophy when we review preschool programs and through reflective practice we ensure the preschool adapts to the changing needs of students, families and the community. This outlines the complexity and holistic vision of reflective practice for continual improvement and ensures our reflection is consistent with our beliefs, philosophy and vision. OUTCOME: - Guliyali Preschool educators use their skills critical reflection to make valuable contributions to evaluating and planning school improvement measures that take account of the needs of all learners from preschool through to Year 6. They are active participants in the situational analysis cuurently being conducted to inform the Strategic Improvement Plan (SIP) for 2021 through to 2024. By involving themselves in this process, our preschool educators aim to ensure that their children have a voice and authentic representation in a P - 6 SIP that drives continuous improvement, and is responsive to the changing needs of students, families and the wider community. IMPACT: Guliyali Preschool takes an active leadership role in the community and wider education and care sector. Through the administration and operation of online early childhood network forums, educators support and encourage critical reflection. Guliyali educators conduct preschool tours and contribute content to professional and community publications. Guliyali Preschool educators contributed to the development and subsequent refinement of the NSW Best Start Assessments. Our educators support the needs of families in the local community through their involvement in the Deadly Awards, NAIDOC week celebrations and the Young Black & Ready for School programs run within the BWLC each year. Our participation in these programs is evidence of the positive impact our service is having not just for the children and families who access the service, but for those who attend different services. Guliyali Preschool contributes to online mentoring networks and has presented in the Early Years Learning State-Wide staffroom, shining the spotlight on 'Age-appropriate' pedagogies. This presentation promoted the importance of Early Childhood Education and has encouraged schools state-wide to investigate play-based learning options in their schools. IMPACT: Our commitment to leadership that contributes to the development of the wider education and care sector, can be seen in our Guliyali Preschool educators presenting online interactive sessions at the DoE Strong and Successful Start to School professional learning sessions. By contributing to the development of transition strategies to support programs targeting vulnerable children, we have been able to improve experiences for children and their families so that they can successfully transition into Kindergarten. |
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