Information about our service - henleykgn.sa.edu.au QIP.d… · Web viewWe have a daily health...

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Quality Improvement Plan 2017

Henley Community KindergartenPlay, explore and discover together.

Henley Kindergarten 2017

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Service name Service approval numberHenley Community Kindergarten SE 00010466

Primary contact at serviceTrudi Walton

Physical location of service and postal address Physical location contact detailsStreet: 8 white Street

Suburb: Henley Beach

State/territory: SA

Postcode: 5022

Telephone: 83562300

Mobile:

Fax: 83550142

Email: [email protected]

Approved Provider Nominated SupervisorPrimary contact: Trudi Walton

Telephone: 8356 2300

Mobile: 0439800023

Fax: 8355 0142


Name: Trudi Walton

Telephone: 83562300

Mobile: 0439800023

Fax: 83550142



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Information about our service Located next to Henley High School Oval (Western side)

Street parking available on Cluse street and White street

School Holidays as per South Australian Term dates

Land owned by Charles Sturt Council, DEDC building on Council Land

How are the children grouped at our service?

We run two groups at Henley Kindergarten:

Turtles - attending Mondays and Tuesdays and alternate Fridays (odd weeks) and,

Dolphins - attending Wednesdays and Thursdays and alternate Fridays (even weeks).

The children are assigned groups according to the needs of the families.

Nominated supervisor: Trudi Walton

Operating Hours

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Opening time 08.30 08.30 08.30 08.30 08.30

Closing time 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 12.30


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Centre Context

Henley Community Kindergarten is a part of the Western Adelaide Shores Partnership which comprises of 17 sites – 7 preschools, 8 primary schools and 2 high schools. We serve approximately 6000students, 400 teachers and 200 support staff and the associated local communities.

Our mission is to support the development of excellence in learning and wellbeing in all children, students, young people and educators in the Western Adelaide Shores Partnership sites - to work together as an educational community, sharing responsibilities and working collaboratively.

Our vision is to work together to build powerful and engaged learners from birth through to successful post school pathways.

At Henley Kindergarten we work with children and their families to maximise attendance at preschool and to gain optimum benefit from education. Ensuring regular attendance at preschool and school is a shared responsibility between parents/caregivers, preschools and schools. Research shows that success in learning is directly proportional to regular attendance and participation in education programs. Our attendance is at approximately 92% which is above the 2014 state average (89.9%) indicating that our community value this early learning for their children. This is further supported by the 2012 AEDI results where teachers reported that 98.6% of children in the Charles Sturt Council have experienced early childhood education and care the year before formal schooling.

The character of the community in which our children live, including the economic climate and accessibility of appropriate services, has significant influence on children’s development therefore ensuring that a majority of children in our community do well on each of the 5 AEDI developmental domains. Henley Community Kindergarten has been operational for 60 years providing quality education for the year prior to school.

Currently we have 66 children enrolled with 33 attending each session.


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Henley Community KindergartenPhilosophy Statement

‘Because children grow up, we think a child’s purpose is to grow up. But a child’s purpose is to be a child.’(Tom Stoppard 2002)

Children have a right to a childhood where they can dig in the dirt, jump in puddles, explore, create and quite simply – to just BE.

We believe that learning and development is a holistic process and that children’s emotional, social and spiritual* development are

integral in physical and intellectual growth and the ability to develop the skills necessary for life long learning.

We value the knowledge and experience of families as their child’s first educators.

We believe that children, families and educators all need to feel a sense of belonging both within their immediate environment and

the wider community and that this is crucial in forming relationships. The nature of being in a group provides opportunities for

mutually beneficial interactions and teaches us about cooperation and being positive contributors to our kindergarten community.

Our kindergarten welcomes all families and shares their lives, skills and interests supporting and encouraging them to take an

active role in their child’s education and learning experiences.

We aim to provide a child friendly, home-like environment with quality resources that are primarily open-ended and made from

natural materials where possible.


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Educators programme for generous periods of time for uninterrupted play both indoors and outdoors every day. ‘Play expands

children’s thinking and enhances their desire to know and learn promoting positive dispositions towards lifelong learning’ (EYLF

2009). We provide opportunities for children to develop deep connections with nature through interactive and adventurous free

play in natural outdoor environments.

‘Nature play allows children to experience nature and can have physical, cognitive, and emotional benefits such as risk taking,

discovery, exploration, imagination, sensory, physical, team work and cooperation. Increasing urbanisation and smaller backyards

have significantly reduced children’s daily contact with the natural environment and their connection with it’.

www.natural resources.sa.gov.au

We promote the right of every child to a high quality childhood which includes trusting children as capable and competent self-risk

assessors. We endeavour to provide a safe yet challenging environment that promotes independent choice and a sense of

freedom. We believe that accidents will happen and young children will come home with bumps and scratches as they learn from

their mistakes. Adults support children in undertaking self-chosen risks in a supervised environment to develop their self-esteem

and self-confidence.

We believe in taking responsibility for the sustainability of our world and we support the children to develop the ability to make

choices and decisions to influence events and to have an impact on one’s own world.

*Spiritual refers to a range of human experiences including a sense of awe and wonder, and an exploration of being and knowing.

Staff members are enthusiastic, knowledgeable, collaborative, and committed to ensuring our everyday practice reflects this educational philosophy.


http://www.natural/

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Henley Community Kindergarten

2016 Quality Improvement Plan

Strengths Summary

How do we stimulate, engage and enhance children’s learning and development at Henley Kindy?

Our curriculum draws upon the Early Years Learning Framework and the individual needs of the children and families. Through our carefully developed, secure, respectful, reciprocal relationships with children they feel supported and empowered to explore, wonder and question and we draw on these questions/curiosities to deepen and enrich our children’s learning.

Through our enrolment process we begin to foster a collaborative approach to planning for learning by asking families to share information about their child and about how they might become involved in our learning program. As relationships develop with families, further opportunities arise.

We use a variety of strategies to ensure each child’s interests and knowledge are at the foundation of our program eg information collected on enrolment , meetings with parents (formal interviews and informal conversations), observations, individual learning plans, focus children observations, and daily conversations with both the children and their families and between educators.

The rhythm of the day is carefully designed to provide time for uninterrupted play to maximise the children’s learning and engagement. This allows time to follow children’s interests and learning throughout the day and provides opportunities to extend and deepen this learning. We offer 2 full days (and a half a day fortnightly) to support this. Careful planning allows for periods of uninterrupted play, seamless transitions and routines where the children are actively engaged. For example our lunch routine is a relaxed, happy, social experience for educators and children alike.

Children’s portfolios containing evidence of their learning are accessible to the children and their families at all times. All educators at Henley kindy have a strengths based approach to learning

Children with additional needs are identified as soon as possible – through the enrolment process, conversations with parents, observations and screening tools. Pre referral discussions are held with the appropriate people and referrals are made. A majority of our referrals are around speech and our experienced educators draw on their knowledge of language acquisition and visual strategies to support children while this process is happening.


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Educators at Henley Kindy are experienced and knowledgeable about what they do, how and when they use intentional teaching, how they set up the environment, the stages of development appropriate for each child and when to enter or exit play. They are reflective practitioners who meet as smaller teams fortnightly and as a whole staff team on the opposite fortnight to reflect on children, their conversations and learning.

Children’s Health and safety is actively promoted at Henley Kindy

We have a range of physical spaces available for children to engage in quiet activities eg couches, swinging pods, a tepee, mats with pillows and beanbags and books inside or out, quiet relaxation music.

We have embedded clean hygiene behaviour eg coughing and sneezing into your elbow and regular, effective hand washing into our program and we have a cleaning schedule that helps to prevent cross infection. We follow departmental recommendations in regards to infectious diseases and we notify parents by email and or note and via our noticeboard. The nominated supervisor or responsible person is to be notified by staff in the case of an infectious disease and to take action.

This preschool promotes safe, healthy eating habits in line with the Right Bite Healthy Food and Drink Supply Strategy for South Australian Schools and Preschools and the DECD wellbeing strategy. Children bring bottles of water to kindy and are reminded throughout the day to have a drink and supported to refill them from our drink fountain when they run out.

If you spent time at our kindy you would see that for a large proportion of the day the children have the choice of indoor or outdoor play. You would see educators enjoying physical activity with the children, and targeted resources to support gross motor development. You would see parents sharing their skills eg through soccer and tennis clinics, teachers doing yoga and dance with the children, partnerships with the team at the Premiers Be Active Challenge and other local groups.

Rosters and child educator ratios ensure adequate supervision and the safety of the children. Children at Henley kindy are actively involved in assessing risks that may occur in our environment as a result of our natural play spaces eg rocks and sticks. Invacuation and evacuation drills are carried out and reviewed each term in week 5.

We have an effective medication policy which is shared with staff at staff meetings and in our policy folder, and is shared with families through newsletters, emails and as individual needs arise. Our medication plans with photos are displayed in the kitchen to ensure visibility to staff and to protect the privacy of individuals. Medical information is made available to new employees and


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volunteers through the induction process and is located in our staff handbook and in our roll folder. We have a daily health requirement white board to communicate children’s changing daily health needs. Highly effective relationships between staff and families and between staff, facilitate communication and teamwork which ensure success in regards to children’s health concerns eg managing toileting issues.

How does our physical environment provide rich and diverse experiences?

Our kindy garden engages children’s curiosity, to explore and engage eg learning about the cycle of life, growing food, harvesting, sharing and preparing the food we grow.

Our mud kitchen and redeveloped rear yard support our commitment to sustainability and natural play spaces being made from natural recycled materials. It incorporates busy and quiet spaces where children can create, imagine and explore. We have resources and materials that can be moved to enrich the children’s play and we have many nooks and crannies using natural materials.

We have chickens that live at kindy which create endless opportunities for learning eg interdependence between land, people, plants and animals, and caring for and respecting things in our environment.

As a part of our year plan and commitment to sustainability we collect bottles and cans to raise money to help children in communities in other countries to buy animals and support the development of infrastructure to promote self-sufficiency.

Why does it work so well at Henley Kindy?

‘This kindy is beautiful – you can feel it as soon as you walk through the door’ – a comment we hear regularly. At Henley Kindy we have a stable team who have developed positive working relationships, working together, embracing each other’s unique skills and contributions, supporting each other with tasks and offering assistance. Our team all share a strengths based approach to learning and treat children with dignity and respect. Communication with each other is paramount to our success. Our whole staff team meet at least 3 times a term to plan our big picture items which will run across both groups eg sustainability, physical activity and dance, our kindy chickens and hatching eggs with Henny Penny. Staff are also grouped into smaller teams and aligned with either the dolphin or turtle group to strengthen communication and we have a communication book which we use to share across both groups. Staff meetings allow communication between both teams and programming meetings support information sharing within in each team. We have a staff reading folder and a notice board to share information.


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What about the children at Henley Kindy?

At Henley Kindy you will see children exploring their own interests, experimenting, taking calculated risks in their own learning and having fun with peers and educators. You will see interactions with each child that are warm and responsive and that build trust and that this is supported by our statement of philosophy.

Individual children are planned for according to their strengths interests and needs which is evident in our program, through our observational notes and our referral process, negotiated education plans (where applicable) and ultimately the child’s individual learning plan.

We gather our information from families at the time of enrolment both written and verbal. We engage support staff where necessary to support children with additional needs.

Our Behaviour Support Policy guides our interactions with children. This guides us in the steps to take when inappropriate behaviour persists beyond positive encouragement. All staff strive to protect the relationship with, and dignity of the child, and restorative practices are paramount. Support services, staff and families all work together to share information and develop consistent plans where necessary.

What do collaborative partnerships look like at Henley Kindy?

Collaboration with families begins as soon as the enrolment process begins. Individual family’s needs are considered through our Priority of Access Policy. Families can choose which group (turtles or dolphins) they would like their child to be in as it is no longer prescribed by the site. At our meet and greet and pre entry sessions families are encouraged to share knowledge, skills and interests making the program relevant to their child and to initiate a shared learning experience. Emails are sent out to parent’s before week 1 term 1 to support families in a smooth transition from home to kindy and to open the lines of communication. Families are invited to stay with their child or to collect them early if it is in the best needs of the child.

We work in partnership with our Governing Council, embracing their unique skills and talents to strengthen relationships, children’s learning and to continually develop our environment. We value our relationship with Child and Youth Health in supporting families and children, and have scheduled appointments each term. We have worked hard to build relationships with local schools to support transition and to share resources and skills. Our children have many opportunities to visit Henley High, we embrace our involvement with Nick Warren and the Be Active team and the Little Athletics Association. This has provided opportunities for families and children to come together and be active in a fun and sustainable way - and has supported staff to further develop their


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knowledge around gross motor skills. Through our strong relationships and our open door policy we are able to get to know parents and to support/encourage them to share their skills. This has resulted in the running of tennis, football and soccer clinics, visits from the police and fire department and we have recently begun an involvement in the local community garden.

As evident by our year plan there are opportunities each term for families to come together and share in their child’s learning and to further build our sense of community. We have a community noticeboard which offers information about local services and about what is going on at kindy with the goal of supporting families.

Leadership and service management

At Henley Kindy we embrace a collaborative team approach where individual values and strengths are recognized. This ensures a quality learning environment and opportunities for staff, children and families to be continually supported and to challenge us all to strive for best practice.

Required information under the National Regulation is displayed near the staff photos. We use the DECD induction checklist combined with a staff hand book to support all staff to carry out their work safely and effectively. Staff rosters are displayed in the kitchen and by the sign in book – which is where staff sign in and out each day and where absences are recorded. We have a central list of staff and criminal history requirements and another with each staff member’s relevant certificates and training requirements ensuring that our staff are deemed to be ‘fit and proper’. Our statement of philosophy is available in our parent hand book, our staff hand book, on our website and displayed on site. This document aligns our priorities and values and is currently a priority in our QIP to be sure it reflects our current community.


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Quality Improvement Plan 2017Improvement Priority 1: Quality Area 1 -Education Program and Practice

Standard/Element

What outcome/goal do we seek?

Strategies/Actions Success measures When/Progress

1.2 Improving the learning dispositions of learners and educators in STEM.

Evolving site organisation to embrace a trans disciplinary approach to stem learning.

Improving site links with the community through STEM learning.

Building capacity of leaders and educators to integrate learning design and assessment and improve pedagogical practice (results plus expectation C).

Undertake and analyse data collected from observing 5 educators at our site using RRR Active learning Environment scale.

Develop a common understanding of what current practice looks like (using RRR as a self-reflection tool) and what does ‘quality’ practice look like and how do we get there – what do we want to change?

Work with STEM PIP team to access necessary skills and knowledge to build strong STEM dispositions and pedagogical approaches through inquiry and play based environments.

Sharing our STEM journey/learning with families through a continually evolving STEM display, newsletters and observations of learning demonstrating this cross curricular approach to learning which will be a part of their child’s education as they move through their levels of schooling.

- RRR active learning environment observations repeated towards the end of the year to show fewer occasions of missed opportunities and no opportunity.

- Increased educator capacity and confidence in articulating, planning, assessing and delivering STEM learning at our site.

- Increased student engagement and more opportunities to observe children being powerful engaged learners.

-Families feeling confident and excited by the possibilities of STEM teaching and lesrning.

2017


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Two educators will attend the 4.5 professional learning days in 2017 and feedback regularly to staff through staff meetings and additional designated times where deeper engagement is required.

Share our STEM Play Enquiry Project within and across partnerships by hosting on site visits and generating and sharing STEM learning and pedagogy.

Improvement Priority 2: Quality Area 1 -Education Program and Practice

Standard/Element



1.1.5 In line with Results Plus Expectation A: We will embed mathematical knowledge and systems at whole site level to track and monitor every learner’s growth.

Commit to whole team attending the early year’s closure day on the 1st May to support all educators to continually develop their ability to notice when play has mathematical properties and to extend mathematical learning through engagement.

Continue to collect observations and twice a year - chart them under each indicator to ensure all areas are covered through intentional and child initiated opportunities and that all children are engaging in the experiences offered also facilitating

- Increased quantity and quality of numeracy observations.

- Staff and children talking about the mathematical concepts, processes in play.

-Staff are confident that all areas have been covered and that all children have had opportunities to engage in mathematical experiences at kindy.

Term 2 - 4


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In line with Results Plus Expectation B: The preschool indicators will become part of our cycle of planning and assessment for learning in numeracy and literacy.

identification of possible children at risk (Results Plus expectation D).

More targeted planning of learning experiences and possible outcomes to facilitate all staff in noticing and recording children’s learning.

Use the observations collected to form a part of our planning – what next for that child?

Educators to be a part of a professional learning community which builds capacity together in literacy and numeracy.

-Clearly documented literacy and numeracy outcomes in planning.

- All staff clear on possible learning outcomes and are confident in making observations.

-Each child’s progress in numeracy and literacy will be documented

Improvement Priority 3: Quality Areas 2 & 5 - Children’s Health and Safety & Relationships with Children.

Standard/Element



2.1, 2.2, 5.1, 5.2

Embedding DECD Wellbeing for Learning and Life Framework at our site.

Unpack the new framework to gain understanding.

Look at possibility of mapping it onto NQS and EYLF so that it becomes something that strengthens what we already do rather than adding on another thing – embedding it.

Staff have a clear understanding of the framework and how it value adds to the high quality care they already provide.

2017


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Improvement Priority 4: Quality Area 3 – Physical Environment

Standard/Element



3.3 The development of a sustainability plan which is used to guide curriculum decisions, infrastructure changes, budget considerations, behaviours/norms/culture and priority actions.

Enlist the Support of NRM education.

Complete an audit on current practices.

Gather ideas from all stakeholders about their values and about what should be included in our plan.

Send home information to support and stimulate this thinking.

Enlist the support of an outside agency (???) to present to parents.

Contact Simon H to discuss the next step in our yard development.

Use second SFD to bring it all together.

Draft the plan and share. Incorporate feedback and share again.

We have a plan which staff, children, families and governing council can use as a reference point that supports our commitment to a more sustainable future.

We will have a clear direction in regards to new developments in the yard and will be able to direct funds accordingly.

Sustainable practices are embedded at our site.

Our budget will be closely aligned to this plan as to ensure the best / most sustainable use of our funds.

Started 2016 – mid 2017


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