KidsMatter Early Childhood Connecting with the Early Childhood ...

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Supporting the National Quality FrameworkKidsMatter Early ChildhoodAustralian Early Childhood Mental Health InitiativeCreating a sense of communityDeveloping children’s social and emotional skillsWorking with parents and carersHelping children who are experiencing mental health difficultiesEarly Years Learning FrameworkBelonging, Being and BecomingLearning OutcomesChildren have a strong sense of identityChildren are connected with and contribute to their worldChildren have a strong sense of wellbeingChildren are confident and involved learnersChildren are effective communicatorsNational Quality StandardsEducational program and practiceChildren’s health and safetyPhysical environmentStaffing arrangementsRelationships with childrenCollaborative partnerships with families and communitiesLeadership and service management4KidsMatter Early Childhood Connecting with the Early Childhood Education and Care National Quality Framework
Case studyCreating a sense of community with KMECWhen an early childhood education and care service participates in KidsMatter Early Childhood(KMEC), they review their practice and plan for the future under the four components that havebeen identified to benefit children’s mental health.In creating a sense of community under the KMEC framework, Smithdown Child Care Centrereviewed the four Target Areas of Belonging and connectedness, Positive relationships, Inclusionand Collaboration. The service staff identified what they already did well under each Target Area,and areas where they would like to do more.For example, Smithdown Child Care Centre already invited new families to visit the service andattend an interview before they started, but during a planning session it was decided to try tobegin even earlier, before families placed their name on the waiting list. They began inviting familiesto visit with the child and talk about their needs and the needs of the child, before placing theirname on the waiting list. This gave the family the opportunity to view the environment, see otherchildren ‘in action’ and ask questions. While on the waiting list, families would also be invited tocentre functions.Smithdown Child Care Centre was happy with its transition process. Once a family had a place, aninterview would occur. The child would also come along to give educators an opportunity to observethe child in the setting and decide how to best manage the transition. Where possible, this wouldoccur over several days so the family and child could become orientated within the centre beforestarting. During the transition into the early childhood service, shorter days would be encouraged innegotiation with families and a special item from home welcomed, to assist the child in feeling safe.There are several copies of a centre book with photos that families can borrow to share together.The Director of Smithdown Child Care Centre wanted to extend this even further. An educatorwould be dedicated to each child and they would take responsibility for communicating the child’sprogress to the family. Shifts would need to be changed to ensure the designated educator wasthere to greet the new child and family at the start of their enrolment. This would also help tomaintain and build on their current practice, where information between families and educatorswas exchanged daily. Photos were taken and sent home to make connections.The new strategies were implementedwith new families and reviewed to seehow effective they were in terms of theimpact they had on the service’s senseof community.In reflecting on their practice in theseareas, the educators identified that theywere also addressing many of the elementsof the EYLF and National Quality Standard,particularly those related to children’sfeelings of belonging and relationshipswith families.KidsMatter Early Childhood Connecting with the Early Childhood Education and Care National Quality Framework 5
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