CRITERION 3
THE SERVICE DEMONSTRATES COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINED EXCELLENT PRACTICE THROUGH CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AND COMPREHENSIVE FORWARD PLANNING.
Guliyali Preschool is committed to striving for the best for children and families and places great importance on collaborative partnerships and relationships within the sector, and on sharing processes, practices, attitudes and ideals that are central to continuous quality improvement and excellence. To ensure that we maintain and enhance our culture of forward planning for continuous improvement we have developed a strong workplace culture of professional inquiry and critical reflection. We are not afraid to ask question of ourselves and to critically reflect on our methods. Our creative and collaborative mindset allows us to query the default settings and to explore possibilities. This is evident in the innovative ideas we put into action and in our commitment to developing and implementing future-focused programs. Using the self assessment process to guide observation, planning and evaluation has assisted the Guliyai Preschool team to embrace change and demonstrate our commitment to sustained excellence.
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OUTCOME
- Our educators continuously reflect on the pedagogy they employ and on the programs the deliver in order to evaluate whether they are meeting the needs of the context and the children they care for. Our educators have taken account of our children's current capabilities, dispositions and learning preferences; identified areas of interest and points of need and gone about surcing and organing programs that are innovative and responsive to those needs. In organising for our children to participate in karate sessions and to work with pet therapy dogs and Aboriginal language programs, our educators actively promote our children's learning through the provision of programs that encourage meaningful, challenging interactions and foster high-level thinking skills. These sessions are meaningful, enjoyable and engaging. Children have benefitted greatly from the sessions, as evident in their displays of curiosity and expressions of creativity, and in the relationships they have developed as they participate.
- Parents talked to educators about the benefits they have experienced from theses programs. Some have told us that karate has had a transformative effect on their children, increasing their confidence and assisting with emotional regulation.
- The Aboriginal languages program celebrates the benefits of diversity and teaches our children about the importance of understanding and honouring indigenous cultures. The language program takes the idea of being aware of other cultures to the next level and aims to lead our children down a pathway to increased cultural competence - the ability to understand communicate with and effectively interact with people across cultures. Children also benefit from exposure to different vocabulary and develop broader literacy skills through their participation in the program. It is also hoped of course that the program might result in Aboriginal children gaining the knowledge and confidence to support them to develop into bilingual speakers.
- The Aboriginal languages program benefits the local and wider communities in terms of generating and reinforcing respect for diversity and apppreciating the experiences, values and beliefs of indigenous families and communities. Once again, the languages program adds an additional layer of depth to the children's learning in terms of promoting the revival and preservation of some of the oldest languages in the world.
OUTCOME
- Our educators continuously reflect on the pedagogy they employ and on the programs the deliver in order to evaluate whether they are meeting the needs of the context and the children they care for. Our educators have taken account of our children's current capabilities, dispositions and learning preferences; identified areas of interest and points of need and gone about surcing and organing programs that are innovative and responsive to those needs. In organising for our children to participate in karate sessions and to work with pet therapy dogs and Aboriginal language programs, our educators actively promote our children's learning through the provision of programs that encourage meaningful, challenging interactions and foster high-level thinking skills. These sessions are meaningful, enjoyable and engaging. Children have benefitted greatly from the sessions, as evident in their displays of curiosity and expressions of creativity, and in the relationships they have developed as they participate.
- Parents talked to educators about the benefits they have experienced from theses programs. Some have told us that karate has had a transformative effect on their children, increasing their confidence and assisting with emotional regulation.
- The Aboriginal languages program celebrates the benefits of diversity and teaches our children about the importance of understanding and honouring indigenous cultures. The language program takes the idea of being aware of other cultures to the next level and aims to lead our children down a pathway to increased cultural competence - the ability to understand communicate with and effectively interact with people across cultures. Children also benefit from exposure to different vocabulary and develop broader literacy skills through their participation in the program. It is also hoped of course that the program might result in Aboriginal children gaining the knowledge and confidence to support them to develop into bilingual speakers.
- The Aboriginal languages program benefits the local and wider communities in terms of generating and reinforcing respect for diversity and apppreciating the experiences, values and beliefs of indigenous families and communities. Once again, the languages program adds an additional layer of depth to the children's learning in terms of promoting the revival and preservation of some of the oldest languages in the world.
MENTORING
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OUTCOME:
- The exchange of ideas and information that comes from having regular interaction and professional conversations with a network of Early Learning services, such as the Narnia Christian Preschool, directly influences and provides enriched learning environments and experiences for children at Guliyali Preschool. - Guliyali educators are recognised and requested to be advisors and mentors to early childhood educators in both government and non-government services. Educators are encouraged to develop and practice a culture of continuous improvement and risk-taking based on a cycle of conversations, observations, constructive feedback, and planning and implementing strategies that aim to directly make a difference to early childhood practices in line with the priorities identified in the services Quality Improvement Plan. This reflective practice ensures that the procedures of all educators even that of the mentee are continually being evaluated and modified to ensure best practice is being implemented. - As a result of the Guliyali Preschool educators mentoring and working with educators from other Early Childhood settings such as Narnia Christian Preschool, a community of Early Learning services are collaborating to improve all services for children across communities. |
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Guliyali Preschool has embraced the responsibility of maintaining excellence and has actively pursued opportunities for further improvement. We have a clear vision of how we will sustain our exceptional practice and leadership and in how we will continue to improve outcomes for children and families over an extended period. Our plans for the next chapter in Guliyali's Excellence journey include extending on our established relationships and programs with secondary and tertiary educational sectors to ensure our influence continues to reach beyond our service into the wider community.
Meet 'Yow Yow'
The Guliyali Preschool team are dedicated to increasing family and community engagement and through implementing Positive Behaviour for Learning programs at our service, we have been able to introduce safe and supportive learning environments. Our commitment to strengthening this program and ensuring that the BWLC PBL message is extended into the community is reflected in our new school plan as we embrace a PBL mascot. Preschool children will enjoy visits from the mascot for being Respectful, Safe and Engaged at preschool. The mascot will feature in social stories and short animations jointly created with and staring our Guliyali children displaying positive behaviours to reinforce site-specific school-wide expectations. This future commitment will introduce our children to the concept of mascots ensuring they are familiar with the larger than life characters when they enter any of BWLC kindergarten classrooms. The introduction of our mascot will be inline with the unveiling at a whole school assembly and be aligned to Guliyali Preschool 2021 QIP and the 2021 Woy Woy Public School Strategic Directions.
EXPLORATORY & INVESTIGATIVE PLAYGROUND
As part of our long term commitment to sustaining excellence and comprehensive forward planning, Guliyali Preschool is excited to work collaboratively with the community to extend more 'risky' play opportunities into our outdoor spaces. The voices of our current children and their families along with the voices of future families and our P&C have been recognised in this process to ensure the planned upgraded of the risky play areas and items to be added to the outdoors reflects the culture of the local community. By providing children with opportunities to explore and engage in risky play environment they will be able to manage future risks independently and to develop an understanding of safety. Ensuring that these new spaces consider the needs of our Early Intervention and Support Class students will ensure an inclusive space for all. Guliyali Preschool will seek support through a Clubs Grant, the school P&C and school budget allocations. OUTCOME:
- The ongoing upgrading and addition of engaging infrastructure in the exploratory playground results in a strengthening of children’s agency. We listen to the collective voice of our children and provide further opportunities for exploratory play and risk taking that enhances development of the holistic self. - We collaborate with stakeholders to design physical environments that will provide our children with genuine opportunities to experiment, explore, predict and take managed risk. The new additions to our planned physical environment will reflect the unique geographical cultural and community context of our service. It will invite, welcome, reflect on and draw on the voices, priorities and strengths of our children and families, and will demonstrate how we work creatively with the limitations of the physical setting. - The contribution of children, staff, families and community will ensure the new spaces are truly representative of many voices. |
BUILDING & SUSTAINING PROFESSIONAL PARTNERSHIPS
SECONDARY CAMPUS CHILD STUDIES STUDENTS
We are currently negotiating a plan to build on the preexisting partnership we have with Brisbane Water Secondary College – Woy Woy Campus by working with their Child Studies Curriculum students to support their career development as the work towards pursue careers in the Early Childhood sector.
Guliyali Preschool will be accessible and provide a practicum location for interested students pursuing Early Childhood employment for future support of children and families in Early Learning settings.
OURIMBAH UNIVERSITY SUSTAINABILITY COURSE INVOLVEMENT
Woy Woy Public School has worked with The University of Newcastle's Ourimbah campus for a number of years, hosting visits from students and lecturers for the Sustainability subject from the Environmental Studies course. The university brings its students to WWPS to show them examples of best practice for environmental education. Students get tom see sustainable practices in action as they wrk shoulder-to-shoulder with our own students as they participate in lessons from the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program. We intend to further strengthen the partnership between the school and the university and to offer their students another fresh perspective on sustainability by adding a visit to the preschool to their itinerary.
OUTCOMES:
- Guliyali Preschool has shown itself to be a leader in terms of embedding sustainable practices into daily learning routines. Establishing a relationship with the University of Newcastle gives us an opportunity to showcase what we have achieved in promoting ideas about sustainability and actively involving our children in sustainable practices. Our children will deepen their interest in and knowledge of environmentally friendly practices as they work with university students, sharing their enthusiasm for the environment.
- Connecting with a professional community from the tertiary education sector and the knowledge that is shared between educators and students from both settings should support future generations of children and university student graduates to champion the concept of sustainability. Students in the sustainability course will benefit from seeing a continuum of sustainable practices in operation, from the earliest years of learning in the Guliyali Preschool through to the middle and upper primary years at WWPS. We expect that the university students will benefit greatly and learn a lot from their interactions with our children!
IMPACT:
Guliyali Preschool will continue to be recognised as a leader in providing professional development to future educators, not only in the Early Childhood sector but also in the tertiary education sector, resulting in improved outcomes for both preschool children and university students.