Young minds are like sponges. They soak up learning intuitively. That means that early education centres have a fantastic opportunity to promote positive attitudes to diversity and inclusivity.
ACECQA describe the aim of Quality Area 6 of the National Quality Standard as being to recognise that collaborative relationships with families are fundamental to achieving quality outcomes for children.
Centre Directors & Educators will see many trends in the Early Learning sector come and go, whether based around environments, teaching styles or learning approaches.
Let’s look at some current trends in the field currently particularly surround the learning environment.
A mix of teaching styles helps to ensure the needs of all children are met.
It also offers flexibility, providing variety and interest to both educators and children. A combination of intentional teaching and play-based learning offers the perfect balance to develop young minds.
Felt resources are a great way to encourage engagement and re-invent familiar songs or stories with children in the care and education environment. They provide a visual component which can assist maintaining children’s interest and often extends the learning and play.
The early learning industry is a competitive one and its important to make your service stand out to prospective families who tour your facility quickly.
Here are 3 things you can do in your Service to stand out amongst others.
Purchasing resources that provide multipurpose uses is not only cost effect but greatly benefit the service. Resources that can be used with adult directed, intentional teaching or alternatively by children in free open play benefit the program and create great flexibility. When looking to purchase new resources for your early learning service consider the multipurpose opportunities of the equipment you are buying – this will help you drive your budget further.
Buying resources and equipment is not only showing support for our fellow Australians. It comes with so many other benefits!
Many Australians already recognise the importance of buying locally however with the current world climate there is no better time to be supporting Australian owned business.
Making purchases for your new or existing early learning service can be a costly and sometimes time-consuming process and it is vitally important that when making these decisions you ensure they are worthwhile and align with the Early Years Learning Framework.
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Nicky has worked in the Early Learning industry for more than 25 years in a variety of roles from Educator through to Centre Director, Area Manager, Advisory & Development Coordinator, Program Manager and Quality Advisor. Currently, Nicky is the Managing Director of a group of community-based Preschools in NSW. In this role, she has recently project managed the construction, fitout and opening of a new community Preschool for her organisation and it is through this process that she partnered with Step4 for the fitout of the new Preschool.
After spending part of her teenage years living in a remote part of the Kimberley in Western Australia, Nicky’s appreciation for the indigenous history of Australia began. Through her career, she has worked with and assisted Educators and Directors in their journey of understanding this important aspect of learning and history and how to ensure that their approach is collaborative, respectful and appropriate.
Nicky has recently completed a Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Education as a specialisation subject for an ongoing Masters of Education. The extension of her own understanding of Indigenous perspectives was something that she wanted to support and this has assisted her in identifying ways that she can further support Educators across all levels and experience in reflecting on and extending their own knowledge.
Prue commenced her career as an early childhood educator before progressing to a centre Directors role. She later became an Area Manager supporting children, services and families throughout Sydney..
Prue has been working with STEP4 for almost 4 years now supporting services with their ongoing needs and requirements for resources, furniture and equipment as well as contributing her industry knowledge and design concepts to new centre startups. She loves the creative process of working with service owners, managers and educators to enable their vision come to life and create engaging and bespoke learning environments where children’s curiosity and engagement can be fostered. She loves sharing her passion and ideas and working collaboratively with industry leaders, educators and owners.
