Rattler Issue 132 | November 2020

Rattler COMMUNITY EARLY LEARNING AUSTRALIA JOURNAL

ISSUE 132 | NOVEMBER 2020

LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY How community, friendship and belonging are helping a fire affected community

¬ How educators have coped during COVID ¬ Improving organisational culture ¬ Politeness vs effective communication ¬ How to help children with sensory processing difficulties ¬ Finding & keeping talent + more

Growing a mentally healthy generation.

Be You builds on what you’re already doing

Taking steps to look after mental health in your school or early learning service can put you and your team in a better position to support your wellbeing and the mental health of the children and young people in your learning community.

Be You is a national initiative that equips educators to support the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people from birth to 18 years, providing an end-to-end approach for early learning services, primary schools and secondary schools across Australia.

Be You offers professional learning resources for educators, such as online events, interactive sessions with other educators and mental health experts, fact sheets and accredited professional learning at no cost.

When your school registers as a learning community you are provided with planning and implementation tools to assist you work towards a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing.

Now’s the time to use Be You to support your school or early learning service to develop a positive, inclusive, and resilient learning community.

Register at beyou.edu.au/register-now

With delivery partners

Funded by

FROM YOUR CEO As 2020 draws to a close, I’m thrilled to bring you our final digital edition of Rattler magazine for the year. With insightful articles including how to improve organisational culture, how to find and keep talent, and a deep dive into the topics of sensory processing difficulties and manners, your entire team will find something to inspire them.

This edition starts with a moving story about Cobargo Preschool and how community, friendship and belonging are helping the fire affected town of Cobargo and the families and staff at the preschool on their long road to recovery. This story is particularly close to my heart. I spent time with Director Christine McKnight shortly after Cobargo was devastated by fire and we worked through where to begin with supporting the emotional and mental wellbeing of children, staff and families, and the operational challenges related to the damage caused to the preschool.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our members for their incredible resilience and commitment during the past year. Our early education and care sector has played a vital role in supporting Australian families in what has been one of the most challenging years in modern history. Each and every one of you has had to dig deep to find the strength to work through numerous changes to funding and to navigate the ever shifting sands of Coronavirus related rules and regulations, many of which have not been entirely clear for our sector.

Through our 1800 support line, Amplify blog and social media, we have connected with our members on a daily basis throughout the pandemic. Our aim from the very beginning has been to be a source of truth for you and your team, turning complex information into clear guidance. We are happy to hear that this has been of great help to so many of you.

During the peak we had a 161% increase in web traffic and 300% increase in member logins. Our COVID related Amplify articles were read by over 155,000 people and members have had access to 13 new tools and policies, 40+ member news updates and seven Broadside reports. Our new calendar of webinar training has been incredibly well received, and we have delivered close to 100 training sessions to over 1,100 participants so far this year.

Our advocacy position has shone a light on the financial challenges for small and community providers, and through our relationships with government and partnerships with other peak bodies, we successfully advocated for vital sector funding to ensure viability.

Other key areas of focus for our advocacy have been shaped by listening to issues impacting you through our 1800 support line — CELA created one of Australia’s only ECEC COVID hotlines answering over 4,000 calls and emails for COVID support and advice during the pandemic peak. We have conducted ongoing pulse check surveys to identify key pressure points and advocacy for wellbeing funding.

In addition we provided training sessions to support educator wellbeing, undertook research into emerging skills shortages and solutions and made pre budget submission. We called for government to address workforce shortages, vulnerability, viability, regional disadvantage and investment in quality.

We have been recognised as sector experts through our engagement by the NSW Department of Education, Early Childhood Education Directorate, who contracted CELA to provide Fee Free Preschool Sector Support, Risk Assessment training and Assessment and Rating training via livestream through the Sector Development Program.

2020 also saw the first ever Mobile Early Education online conference attended by 223 educators from across NSW. Please remember that our highly experienced sector specialists are only a phone call or email away.

We look forward to continuing to advocate for quality early education across Australia in 2021 and thank you for your commitment and contribution to CELA. We are here to support you throughout the rest of this year and into 2021 as we rise to the challenges of the pandemic. Don’t forget to look out for your printed compendium in early December, bringing together the best Rattler and Amplify articles from this year.

Michele Carnegie Chief Executive Officer Community Early Learning Australia

WHEN YOU’RE WITH US

you’re always supported Your connection with CELA provides you with the vital professional support you need in order to navigate the ECEC environment during COVID and beyond. ​ ​By calling our 1800 member support number, you will speak with an early education specialist who can provide guidance around regulatory and funding changes, practice and service delivery. Our suite of member resources will help you find solutions and alleviate the challenges you face on a daily basis. ​ CELA is a not for profit, member-funded peak body for early education and care.

We exist to support you, and we wouldn’t exist without you.​

We’re here for you

We know times have been tough, we’d love to have a chat to see how you’re going.​ Please call us on 1800 157 818 and speak to one of our early education specialists.

1800 157 818 | MEMBERSHIP@CELA.ORG.AU | WWW.CELA.ORG.AU

PUBLISHER Community Early Learning Australia EDITORIAL TEAM Michele Carnegie, Wendy Lindgren, Tracey Long, Kerrie Maguire, Louise Black, Nathalie Dupavillon, Lisa Cloumassis Community Early Learning Australia CONTRIBUTORS Tracey Long, Carolin Wenzel, Keeta Williams, Robbie Warren, Claire Joyce, Megan O’Connell, Renne Irving-Lee, Dr Amanda Ferguson, Sarah Moore.

ADVERTISING AND PRODUCTION Traceylong@cela.org.au CONTRIBUTIONS We welcome your stories. Copyright is held jointly by the publisher and the author.

COPYING Email for permission to republish any part of this magazine. CELA thanks the children and educators who gave their permission to be photographed.

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE Become a member at www.cela.org.au/membership-packages or email info@cela.org.au Membership includes an annual subscription to Rattler magazine plus access to invaluable sector resources, discounts on events, training and consultancy plus a monthly webinar and access to our expert advisory team.

Buy a subscription to Rattler at www.cela.org.au/shop/items/rattler DISCLAIMER

THIS ISSUE RATTLER | ISSUE 132 | NOVEMBER 2020

WHAT'S ON

2

Early education sector conferences and events

MEET THE MEMBER – COBARGO PRESCHOOL

4

Tracey Long shares how community, friendship and belonging are helping a fire affected community on their long road to recovery.

IMPROVING ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE 8 Keeta Williams interviews organisational psychologist Dr Amanda Ferguson and leadership coach Sarah Moore to find out why employee engagement is important for creating a positive culture and shares strategies to help leaders inspire positive change in an early education and care environment.

THE KEYS TO EXCEED – FORREST OUT OF SCHOOL HOURS CARE

10

In this three part series, Carolin Wenzel takes a deep dive with a range of services who have achieved Exceeding ratings in all seven Quality Areas.

STUDIES REVEAL HOW EDUCATORS HAVE COPED DURING COVID-19 14 Emerging research is revealing the significant impacts COVID-19 is having on early educator wellbeing.

By Megan O’Connell

The opinions expressed in Rattler are those of the authors and not necessarily those of CELA.

EARLY EDUCATION RESEARCH FROM AUSTRALIA AND AROUND THE WORLD 16 Insights from Megan O’Connell, CELA’s research and policy advisor.

DO WE WANT POLITE CHILDREN OR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATORS? 20 Children’s book author and former teacher Renee Irving-Lee believes that it is not our job to force children to robotically recite “magic” words to get what they want, but rather to understand their developmental capacity and support them to build effective communication skills.

SENSORY PROCESSING DIFFICULTIES 22 Claire Joyce, Paediatric Occupational Therapist, shares how we can identify sensory processing difficulties and how early educators can help children facing these difficulties.

FINDING & KEEPING TALENT 26 Recruiting good quality employees is essential in early childhood education, but comes with challenges, which have only been exacerbated by COVID. Keeta Williams shares insights into how to attract and keep the best talent, with input from education recruitment agency ANZUK.

HOW EDUCATORS CAN SUPPORT CHILDREN’S RIGHTS 28 Investigating educators’ conceptualisation and enactment of preschool children’s rights in early childhood education settings - report of a recent research study by Robbie Warren, Charles Sturt University.

CONTACT CELA 1800 157 818 info@cela.org.au www.cela.org.au Building 21, 142 Addison Road Marrickville NSW 2204 ABN 81 174 903 921

@communityearlylearningaustralia @CELAust

@communityearlylearning

SELF-PACED ONLINE CHILD PROTECTION TRAINING ⊲ CHCPRT001 Identity and Respond to Children and Young People at Risk ⊲ Expert facilitator support ⊲ Study online in your own time ⊲ NESA registered PD www.cela.org.au/child-protection-training-self-paced

©2020 Community Early Learning Australia

RATTLER ISSUE 132 | NOVEMBER 2020 | 1

WHAT'S ON EARLY EDUCATION

GENEVA CENTRE FOR AUTISM INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL SYMPOSIUM 11-13 NOVEMBER | ONLINE

Since 1986, Geneva Centre for Autism has been hosting this international conference on autism, bringing together professionals, educators, parents and researchers from around the world, and focusing on the leading research and clinical practices in the field of autism.

autism.net/events_/t22424/ s24240-international-virtualsymposium

CHILD & ADOLESCENT MENTAL HEALTH CONFERENCE 25-27 NOVEMBER | SURFERS PARADISE OR ONLINE IF COVID RESTRICTIONS IMPACT ATTENDANCE A forum for professionals to connect, gain insight from industry experts and develop a greater understanding of mental health in children and adolescents from 3-19 years of age.

camh.com.au

NATIONAL DISABILITY & INCLUSION CONFERENCE

15-16 MARCH 2021 | BRISBANE The 2020 Disability & Inclusion Conference is presented by The Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL) in partnership with the Department of Education, Queensland.

Featuring experts and leading practitioners in the field of disability and inclusion, the Conference will focus on the ways in which educators can ensure that all students access and engage in learning.

Find out more and submit a paper:

acel.org.au/ACEL/ACELWEB/ Events/2020/Disability_and_ Inclusion_Conference/About

EVIDENCE AND IMPLEMENTATION SUMMIT 30-31 MARCH 2021 | SYDNEY For policy makers, practitioners, organisational leaders, researchers, implementation scientists and funders.

The focus is on the intersection of research, policy and practice.

eisummit.org

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PLAY-BASED LEARNING AND FUNCTIONAL PLAY 25-26 FEBRUARY 2021 | SYDNEY This conference aims to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of play-based learning and functional play.

EARLY YEARS CONFERENCE 27-28 MAY 2021 | CAIRNS

The Early Years Conference is a bi-annual conference that promotes the wellbeing of children and families by advancing collaboration and evidence-based practice, and provides a platform to reflect multiple perspectives to improve early childhood development.

earlyyearsconference.com.au

AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF FAMILY STUDIES CONFERENCE 15-18 JUNE 2021 | MELBOURNE After this year, with the dual crises of the pandemic and the bushfires, the conference will reflect on the social and economic impacts on families.

What have we learnt about the challenges and the opportunities to support families with better policy and service systems in a rapidly changing world?

aifs.gov.au/aifs-2021-conference

DEAKIN STEM EDUCATION CONFERENCE 21-22 JUNE 2021 | GEELONG

EARLY CHILDHOOD AUSTRALIA NATIONAL CONFERENCE 21-24 APRIL 2021 | BRISBANE In 2021 ECA will celebrate young children as citizens with rights. Throughout this conference they will explore how we can respect and support those rights.

ecaconference.com.au

Find out more and submit a paper:

waset.org/play-based-learningand-functional-play-conference-infebruary-2022-in-sydney

RATTLER ISSUE 132 | NOVEMBER 2020 | 2

The Deakin STEM Education Conference 2021 will provide a forum for schools and educators to share their innovations and join the discussion about how to use STEM education and entrepreneurship to develop the next generation of creative and innovative thinkers.

eventbrite.com.au/e/deakin-stemeducation-conference-2021tickets-101012089880

WHAT'S ON COMMUNITY

OUTDOOR CLASSROOM DAY

NATIONAL RECYCLING WEEK

Outdoor Classroom Day is a global movement to inspire and celebrate outdoor play and learning, at home and at school. On Outdoor Classroom Day itself, which has two dates each year, teachers celebrate with a special day outdoors for their class.

Founded by Planet Ark, National Recycling Week aims to promote recycling initiatives and give people the tools to minimise waste. Local councils, businesses and community groups are encouraged to join in throughout the week.

5 NOVEMBER

outdoorclassroomday.com.au

WORLD KINDNESS DAY 13 NOVEMBER The purpose of World Kindness Day is to look beyond ourselves, beyond our culture, our race, our religion; and realise we are citizens of the world.

worldkindnessaustralia.org

9-15 NOVEMBER

recyclingnearyou.com.au/education

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES 3 DECEMBER

The International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) aims to increase public awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability and celebrate their achievements and contributions.

idpwd.com.au

WORLD CHILDREN’S DAY 20 NOVEMBER World Children's Day is observed as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children.

un.org/en/observances/worldchildrens-day

INTERNATIONAL MOTHER LANGUAGE DAY 21 FEBRUARY 2021 International Mother Language Day is a day of multilingualism and multiculturalism. It is a chance to promote the preservation and protection of all languages.

un.org/en/observances/motherlanguage-day

NAIDOC WEEK 8-15 NOVEMBER NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and is a great opportunity to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

SOCIAL INCLUSION WEEK 21-29 NOVEMBER Social Inclusion Week aims to help all Australians feel included and valued, giving everyone the opportunity to participate fully in society.

socialinclusionweek.com.au

naidoc.org.au

RATTLER ISSUE 132 | NOVEMBER 2020 | 3

M EET THE ME MB E R COBARGO P RESCHOOL

How community, friendship and belonging are helping a fire affected community on their long road to recovery

BY TRACEY LONG, CELA COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

n the early hours of January 1 2020, a bushfire engulfed the NSW Bega Valley town of Cobargo. The fire was so massive and swept through so quickly that locals were totally unprepared for it.

I

Half of the families lost homes. Others lost properties or animals. The preschool community was deeply saddened by the loss of life in the area. It had a devastating effect on the community.

Everyone suffered from the trauma.

Director Christine McKnight shares the important steps she took to ensure the preschool was ready to welcome children for the start of term 1, and how the community is still working towards recovery and healing.

Drought meant that residents had no water stores to protect their property, the town water supply wasn’t working due to electricity being taken out by the firestorm, and there were no fire trucks available. The main street was quickly ravaged, with many buildings destroyed.

Thankfully for the town’s children, the preschool building was saved by two brave neighbours who managed to stop the approaching flames using only sticks and debris. Without their intervention, the building would have burnt to the ground. As it was, part of the playground was destroyed and the ash and smoke enveloped the building, coating books and resources with soot.

All the preschool families and staff were impacted to some extent by the fires. Everyone evacuated at least once, some up to four times over January.

The preschool playground in the aftermath of the fire

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MANY HELPING HANDS “When we came back to school in the first term of 2020, we had a group of children who had been severely impacted,” recalls Christine. “It affected people differently, but everyone came back feeling distressed and traumatised. All of our team was affected, but as a group and as a preschool community we had to pull together and get through it.”

Christine says that the first days after the fire were completely overwhelming, but that CELA helped her to navigate through those early days.

“My first main help came from CELA CEO Michele Carnegie,” shares Christine. “I was not finding it easy to negotiate how to interact with The Department of Education. It felt like the task ahead of me was enormous and I didn’t know where to start. I was sitting at home and Michele called me and I sat there and cried. She offered to make the calls for me and help me to navigate my next steps. She was an emotional and practical strength and gave us so much advice and support.

She was the person who helped me to get by most in those early days.”

Michele also provided a link to a counsellor from Relationships Australia, who met with the educators at Cobargo Preschool on a weekly basis. Her main role was to work with the staff so that they were in a position to work with the children. Lifeline was also engaged to help, and Christine organised for a psychologist to work with families free of charge.

“One of the things we realised early on is that people were not really ready to talk or face what had happened,” says Christine. “They were in survival mode.

Lots of people in the community are only now getting to the stage where they can take that help.”

While the building survived, the preschool’s playground, fencing and equipment was badly damaged.

Thankfully, Christine managed to have the insurance claim processed quickly and a parent who owns a landscape business sprung into action to restore the damaged area. The result was an

The new preschool playground brought hope and gratitude to all involved

even more inspiring outdoor space for the children, which brought gratitude and hope to all involved.

It wasn’t long before people from across Australia were reaching out to Christine to offer help and donations.

A lady from Victoria made rag dolls for every child, the Country Women’s Association in QLD sent 40 quilts to share with families and a retired educator from Wollongong donated her life’s collection of books.

“While it doesn’t make up for families not being able to afford to rebuild, it’s a lovely reflection on how individuals can make a positive impact no matter how far away they are,” says Christine.

One of the most moving offers of help was from a preschooler from Wollongong.

Christine tells the story of how a three year old boy saw the fires on the news, and after asking his mum what was happening, she explained that many families had lost their houses and possessions. The boy went off to his room and came back with his backpack filled with toys. He told his mum he wanted to send them to a child who had lost their home.

RATTLER ISSUE 132 | NOVEMBER 2020 | 5

“One of the children from our preschool received the toys. We made a beautiful connection with their family and the child who received the pack has since sent a little thank you present back to the boy who gifted his toys. That’s our future — people who care about each other.”

LETTING CHILDREN TALK IN THEIR OWN TIME One of the things that the team had to address when they first came back together was how they would approach the topic of the disaster with the children. They decided that they would let the children bring it up when they were ready, and in their own way.

“We gave them the security of starting back at preschoool," recalls Christine.

"They just wanted quiet and calm days and didn’t want to talk about anything that had happened at that stage. You could see them walk through the door and just physically relax."

“After a little while one of the children said ‘oh look there's a fire’ and it transformed the play and they decided that the water from the sprinkler I was holding was fire. That game went on for ages and that led them to start talking more about what had happened to them.”

children and also our families. These have been put on hold. We are instead looking at ways now to engage with the community and come together to share some creative projects whilst still being mindful of COVID restrictions.”

Parents and children are working on an art project to create a mural in the playground that celebrates the regrowth of local bush and illustrates the magic and beauty still to be found in regeneration. The children also worked with one of the mums, who is a builder, to make habitat boxes for native animals. These boxes have been installed on properties of two of the preschool’s families. Next on the agenda will be to plant some trees in the local area to support regrowth while the children are learning about the native animals and how to care for the environment.

Preschool children on a recent outing went to install the hand made habitat boxes on the fire damaged property of a preschool family. Trees were also planted to support the animals.

Installing hand made habitat boxes

A number of weeks later, the preschool received a visit from the RFS who were delivering teddy bears.

Christine could see that the children were a bit wary of the people in uniform to start with, but it wasn't long before they sat down and played with them. Christine shares that when the visitors were about to leave, a fire fighter asked if he should put the lights and siren on. The children went really quiet as a group and then they just started to nod.

"I suggested that we try to drown the siren out by making as much noise as possible," says Christine. "Afterwards we sat in a circle and a child said ‘our house got burnt in the fire’."

Over subsequent weeks, Christine read the book ‘Birdie and the Fire’ by request numerous times a day, and it became a vital resource for recovery and growth.

STILL ON A PATH TOWARDS HEALING Christine says that while the help,

donations and gestures have been very welcome, there is still a long way to go until the town and local community get back on their feet. A lot of families are only just starting to return to their properties, while some are still living in caravans, tents and cars.

“Most important for us was providing children with somewhere to come where they could escape from the sadness and trauma. This is security. I keep an eye on the children and make sure the families know how we can help them if they need us.”

COVID has been an unfortunate additional challenge for children who were already traumatised by the fires.

They have had to try and comprehend the added fear of this unknown threat.

It has made it very difficult for Christine and her team to follow through some of the proposed recovery plans.

“We were given grants and support to initiate trauma recovery processes such as art and music therapy for our

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THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY, FRIENDSHIP AND BELONGING Christine says that the team have slowed down their programming in response to the children’s needs, interests and moods.

“The trauma is still real. People are still living it daily, the aftermath hasn’t happened yet. We take each day at a time and try to reduce unnecessary stress and minimise expectations. In our early discussions we agreed that to be kind and to be accepting was paramount.

“We have learnt that dealing with trauma is unpredictable, ongoing and uncertain. Community, friendship and a sense of belonging are vital.

The children see preschool as a kind of refuge where they can just play, be with their friends, explore, learn and be happy. That is the way preschool should be. The experience has reminded us to look at our children, to listen to what they need and let them guide our program.”

Have you heard?

Guild Insurance can now also manage your workers compensation insurance.

CELA has been proudly working with Guild Insurance to provide protection for our member centres for many years. But did you know that Guild can also manage your workers compensation insurance?

their tailored Early Learning workers compensation product not only provides best value to centres like yours, but is a product that recognises the unique requirements of our profession.

Across New South Wales, Guild protects over 1,000 childcare centres and their workers, right now. And it’s through this experience, we trust that

Getting a quote is easy, simply visit our website guildne.ws/workers or contact Guild on 1800 810 213 to speak to a dedicated account manager.

Guild Insurance provides your business and staff with: Dedicated case manager that handles your claims from start to finish with direct contact details.

Highly competitive premiums with an additional 5% saving for bundling your business insurance*.

Lodge a claim anytime with our 24/7 online lodgement system.

Pay by the month at no extra cost.

1800 810 213 guildinsurance.com.au

Better through experience.

Insurance issued by Guild Insurance Ltd, ABN 55 004 538 863, AFSL 233791. Guild Insurance supports your association through the payment of referral fees. This information contains general advice only and does not take into account what you currently have, want and need for your personal circumstances. It is important for you to consider these matters and read the policy and/or the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) before you make a decision about an insurance product. Subject to underwriting approval. Terms and Conditions apply (including exclusions and limitations).

You can get a copy of the PDS by calling 1800 810 213. EAR79101RATTLER Early Learning - CELA 112019 ISSUE 132 Ad | NOVEMBER 2020 | 7

IMPROVING ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE WRITTEN BY KEETA WILLIAMS WITH INSIGHTS FROM ORGANISATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST DR AMANDA FERGUSON AND LEADERSHIP COACH SARAH MOORE.

We look at why employee engagement is important for creating a positive culture and share strategies to help leaders inspire positive change in an early education and care environment.

Early childhood education services with positive organisational cultures have educators who enjoy their jobs and don't want to leave. A happy team should be a goal for all services, as it benefits individual members, the service as a whole, children, and families.

Organisational culture refers to beliefs and values that are commonly shared by team members, and the workplace practices that are perceived as normal and acceptable. Cultures usually develop over time and influence the behaviour of new members who join the team.

Services may benefit from cultural change if they experience: ⊲ high turnover of staff and families ⊲ negative feedback from staff and families ⊲ conflict or bullying ⊲ exhausted educators ⊲ a low NQS rating ⊲ low employee engagement.

Cultural change can be a challenging and daunting task. A culture may be ingrained and coworkers may be resistant to change. However, success is possible and has long-term benefits for everyone involved.

UNDERSTANDING EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

THE BENEFITS OF ENGAGED EDUCATORS

Employee engagement is a term that includes employee satisfaction, commitment and intention to stay.

Sarah Moore is a leadership coach and host of some of Community Early Learning Australia's popular leadership Masterclasses. She explains the benefits of positive employee engagement:

"Engagement is often called passion," says Dr Amanda Ferguson, an organisational psychologist in Sydney. "Organisations have strived for increased engagement since the 1990s.

It is now well known and accepted as the main predictor of business profit."

Community-based early learning services benefit from happy and passionate teams, even if they are not driven by profit. However, leaders must understand what their educators really want. Dr Ferguson explains that the things that engage corporate workers may actually disengage workers in human-focused contexts like early childhood education.

"My PhD research found that the factors that stimulated corporate workers into positive engagement and organisational profits included bonuses, perks and promotions.

Whereas medical workers were more engaged by things like making a difference, saving lives and feeling good about themselves."

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"When leaders create environments where employees feel a sense of safety, mattering and belonging, they are able to bring the best of themselves to work.

They are more open, receptive, creative and open to influence.

"Engaged employees are healthier, happier and more productive. This is even more pertinent now with COVID-19 as many employees are feeling high levels of uncertainty.

The longer this pandemic goes on, the more uncertainty people will experience and this will directly impact the engagement, health and wellbeing of employees."

MEASURING HAPPINESS Accurately assessing organisational culture and measuring employee engagement can be difficult. Personal perceptions can hide the truth and employees may not speak openly about their feelings.

Dr Ferguson suggests that a good way to gauge culture is for organisations to survey employees. She suggests that accuracy is more likely if surveys are independently conducted and participants are kept anonymous because employees may be concerned their opinions will be linked to their performance appraisals. "Assessment tools and processes must be academically rigorous or researchbased if the results are to be trusted," she says.

A STORY OF SUCCESS Four years ago, Tara Kelly started as Director of Rose Cottage Childcare in Leichhardt. She planned to change the culture of her workplace, and she succeeded. She is incredibly proud of where they stand now as a service and a team.

In her first few weeks, she realised there was a lack of professionalism.

The team had "cliques" and needed support in working together cohesively.

"I aimed to create a more professional and connected team of educators who held similar values and goals when it came to early childhood education," says Kelly. "Trust, honesty and communication needed to be at the centre of this, but it was challenging to make this happen when the educators were used to one way of doing things and not used to this difference in leadership style."

Kelly admits that changing the culture took time and dedication. She put in extra hours and her team spent time outside of work together. They had many conversations and meetings.

They reached out for support and engaged in professional development.

The process of cultural change saw some educators leave and new ones arrive. Finally, a time came when every educator on the team was there for the right reason.

"There is no short or easy answer, it does take time but if you care and want to make the changes, there is always a way," says Kelly.

STRATEGIES FOR CREATING A POSITIVE CULTURE Value relationships A cohesive team depends on positive relationships, so invest time in talking with your coworkers. Cultural change is achieved "one conversation at a time", says Sarah Moore. "When we put relationships before tasks and help people feel seen, heard and that their contributions matter and are important, the culture in services can change rapidly."

Connect through education Remember why you chose this career.

Bond as a team through your passion for early childhood education. While educators will have different personal philosophies, it is important to discuss these and develop a shared philosophy about how children learn best. Stay motivated by inspiring each other professionally.

Plan as a team While change may be instigated by an individual, success will come from working as a team. "Look to taking the time with one another to really reflect, research, discuss and plan where to go from there. Then reflect and begin again! This is a huge part of who we are as early childhood professionals," says Tara Kelly.

Celebrate differences

Be emotionally aware Reflect on your emotions before you arrive at work each day. "It is easy to forget that our emotional state can influence those around us," says Moore.

"In preschools and childcare centres, if individuals and teams are positive and engaged in their work, the children they are working with will be too."

Influence others If you are surrounded by coworkers who are resistant to new ideas, focus on yourself. Increase your own employee engagement. Strengthen relationships with all coworkers, even those who act differently to you.

"We cannot change other people’s behaviour, but we can influence it," says Moore.

FIVE IDEAS TO BOOST TEAM MORALE Sarah Moore shares five fun ideas to quickly boost team morale:

1. Show you care 2. Lead the way Show people the roadmap so they know what is expected of them.

3. Put relationships before tasks Help people to feel the role they play in your service is important and highly valued.

Remember the importance of diversity in early childhood education. Reflect on your own personal culture and celebrate the cultures of others in your team. Children benefit and learn from a diverse team of educators who can work together to achieve common goals.

4. Look for things to celebrate

Be a role model

Our brains love appreciation and when we feel authentic appreciation we literally light up neurologically and release neurochemistry that makes us feel positive and happy.

Demonstrate positive behaviour, especially if you are in a leadership position. New and less experienced team members will adopt behaviours from their coworkers. Evaluate your own practices before expecting others to change.

Create boundaries Policies and procedures should be refined and clearly communicated, so everyone understands what is expected of them. Leaders should reward good employee performance and confidently address underperformance when it occurs.

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Honour the incremental steps along the way to your goals, failures or successes.

5. Appreciation, appreciation, appreciation

IE PART ONE / THREE PART SER

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THE KEYS TO EXCEED Forrest Out of School Hours Care RATTLER ISSUE 132 | NOVEMBER 2020 | 10

In this three part series, Rattler takes a deep dive with a range of services who have achieved Exceeding ratings in all seven Quality Areas to share with you how they reached this high standard. In our March edition we shared the story of Narooma Preschool, in July we wrote about St Luke’s Preschool in Dapto, NSW. In this edition we put a spotlight on Forrest Out of School Hours Care in the ACT.

BY CAROLIN WENZEL Quality Rating: Excellent nly three Out Of School Hours Care (OOSHC) services in the country currently hold the Excellent rating and Forrest OOSHC is one of them – a first for Canberra. It was recognised for its collaborative partnerships with professional, community and research organisations; practice and environments that enhance children’s learning and growth; positive workplace culture and organisational values, sustained commitment to professional development and support of educators.

O

Forrest OOSHC was also recognised for its application of Playwork principles and practices that actively support children’s rights. For example, since 2017, educators who apply to work at the service have been interviewed by a panel of children who are given agency to develop their own questions, take notes and have input into the decision making in the selection of new educators.

called ‘Beyond The Fence’ which saw children going out of the school grounds to an adjacent nature strip to climb trees, build dens, cubbies and forts. The Educational Leader at FOOSHC, Kylie Keane, then embarked on her first overseas study tour to the UK where she discovered Playwork which she felt aligned perfectly with My Time Our Place. Since then she has led the team on a journey of discovery as they strive to adopt a Playwork approach.

“Though we will never be able to truly embody Playwork due to being an education and care setting in which children are not free to leave as they wish, we strive to embed Playwork and its guiding principles as much as possible,” says Director Ali Sewter.

“Play is led by the child; it’s freely chosen and intrinsically motivated.

The role of Educators is to protect the play-cycle; we have a system of Dynamic Risk Benefit Assessment which empowers the children to take control and have agency.”

Parent and P&C Vice President Tui Davidson describes the service this way: “Children are encouraged to enjoy their play, uninterrupted by adults. They enjoy a large space and make their own games and play worlds. Educators hang back and observe – as the children make, do, invent, have a fun time and make new friends. It’s a very organic process.”

The service has existed in the grounds of Forrest Primary School in different forms since 1974 when it began as an Adventure Playground by the ACT Education Department. This meaningful partnership with The ACT Education Directorate continues today providing quality outcomes for children.

In 2014 educators reflected on how to meet children’s needs for more challenging play and started a program

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EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM AND PRACTICE

“We program for the possibilities of play, and we protect the play-cycle,” explains Director Ali Sewter. “If we see particular interests of children we extend them.

For example, one child had loved fishing with his grandad, and had been missing him when he moved to Darwin.

An educator observed him making fishing traps for when his grandad returned. He was trying to get twigs to bend to make a trap. The educator found reeds and grasses and boiled it and left it out for him to discover and utilise.”

The educators at FOOSHC do all they can to support a child’s right to be heard – Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Children’s voice is facilitated by inviting children to put their suggestions and feedback into a comments box, these are then posted on sheets on a wall, which also invites them to write up what they liked and didn’t like that day or week. Educators always respond – they read all the suggestions, reflect on them, discuss them. For example, one of the requests one day was for an excursion to the lake to paddleboard.

The educators’ response was, “What a great idea, Yes we’re working on it and currently we are doing a site visit and writing a risk benefit assessment” Children are invited to contribute to writing the risk benefit assessment.

and upcycling from families and the wider community such as the resource centre The Green Shed.

Ali shares the story of how the children wanted to grow their own strawberries for the afternoon tea platter. They now have fifty productive strawberry plants, and they are obsessed with watching the flowers turn into fruit. The children continue to photograph the growth of the strawberries with the plan to create a time lapse to demonstrate the growth cycle.

4 2

CHILDREN’S HEALTH AND SAFETY

and move between the play spaces as they like.

FOOSHC has a number of play spaces that offer children the opportunity to engage in risk taking and that allows for all of the Play Types to be observed.

The educators and children alike can be seen engaging in Dynamic Risk Benefit Assessments from checking the structural integrity of a fort through to how high they might be able to climb or how fast they hurtle down the grass hill on various pieces of Loose Parts.

“The children’s favourite thing to do is to hang material as a hammock.

Educators noticed some materials were not suitable for them to use as they had too much give, so they bought stronger cloth as well as carabiner fasteners and climbing ropes,” says Ali Sewter.

They have a ‘Wellness trolley’ which includes a huge mirror, sunscreen, fresh water, cups, spare clothing, towels, books, drawing, puzzles. It also has a UV measuring device that the children know how to check and they then take the initiative when they require sun safety equipment. They write up the level on the mirror and update it throughout the day as the level changes.

The Loose Parts, whilst free to move between all spaces, are generally used in one main play space. It is within this space that children have true ownership. It is here that children make use of the service tools to build and construct more permanent cubbies and places to retreat to or just as regularly spend their time deconstructing and demolishing.

FOOSHC recognises the importance of health and wellbeing within the service and has created two specific roles for educators - Patrick Brennan is the WHS Officer and Rachel Cooper is the Medical Officer, both of whom received extensive training for their roles and receive non-contact hours each week to perform their roles.

3

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

FOOSHC offers an all weather program in which children are free to choose

A significant facet of adopting a Playwork approach was the introduction of Loose Parts.

Kylie, the Educational Leader, takes each of the educators working in this space through intensive training on the facilitation of Loose Parts, understanding of the Playwork Principles and the Dynamic Risk Benefit Assessment Cycle. FOOSHC has found the introduction of Loose Parts not only more engaging and meaningful than any store bought resource for the children; it has also embedded a much more sustainable approach from reusing and repurposing things from within the service to this space as well as externally sourcing

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STAFFING ARRANGEMENTS

FOOSHC has up to 150 children a day and 40 educators.

Not only does FOOSHC regularly roster above required ratios, they also have their Educational Leader out of ratio, yet on the floor guiding and mentoring the team. As part of the daily structure two educators are rostered on as ‘Mobile’, meaning they move with the flow of the children supporting other educators and are also responsible for first aid meaning a much quicker response.

In 2017 they adopted two leadership values; 1. The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.

This empowered individuals to be able to act without hierarchy or prejudice and to effect change and take ownership of our practice to assist us to strive towards a collective vision.

2. Everything we do is always in the best interest of the child This is a springboard for critical reflection and underpins every day practices.

5

RELATIONSHIPS WITH CHILDREN

The FOOSHC Educators build relationships based on trust and mutual respect.

“Because we give the children a lot of opportunities to have their own opinions and exercise their influence we really hear what they want, so

we’re able to support their interests and needs,” says Kylie.

That trust extends to creating a children’s panel to interview prospective staff.

“They ask fantastic questions, like ‘Who was your favourite person growing up and why?” shares Ali. “They can read people really well. Twice they said no, they didn’t recommend we hire a candidate, so we respected their advice and didn’t employ them.

It’s the children who spend most of the time with the educators, so they should have a say in who gets hired.”

6

COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS WITH FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES

At FOOSHC they celebrate and acknowledge as many cultures, family structures and beliefs as they can- they embrace diversity and acknowledge differences and understand a strong need for connection and belonging.

Ali shares that pre-COVID, parents and grandparents often came in during the holidays and sometimes lead activities like showing children how to hand-knit, or shared their carpentry skills. The centre holds family barbeques and information evenings throughout the year on topics such as risk and play.

7

GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP

FOOSHC is run by a P&C committee who also oversee the operation of the service as the Approved Provider. They employ Ali Sewter as Director and Nominated Supervisor for the day to day running of the service.

care services.” says Ali. “Our children deserve the highest quality care and the best childhood.”

The biggest challenges FOOSHC faces is recruitment of qualified staff (many are University students so there is a high turn-over) and keeping up with State and Federal regulations and requirements. The ACT government currently requires all P&C run services to ‘go to tender’ – which means they are competing against larger providers to keep running the service.

Ali is supported by two Assistant Directors and an Educational Leader.

The committee acknowledges the importance of professional development and supports the Maintaining the ACT Out of School House entire team with ongoing coaching Care Network is more important than and mentoring throughout their ever and FOOSHC may play a stronger employment. This includes a detailed advocacy role. induction process and 12 internal professional development sessions Mural with artist Natalie Bateman and her son Marrlawgay across the year as well as opportunity to attend external training.

An example of exceptional practice is the Community of Practice network of ACT P&C run OOSHC services which was initiated by FOOSHC. Through this organisation FOOSHC have created a powerful sounding board and means to share ideas and resources and to join forces when advocacy is required.

ASSESSMENT PROCESS AND FUTURE ASPIRATIONS “We really embraced the new Quality Standards as it makes our sector a more professional entity and brings recognition to our roles in education and

KEY LESSONS Ì Begin with a strong philosophy of play-based early learning and embrace the National Quality Framework and Standards. Ì Embed your commitment to a key principal – such as children’s rights, sustainability, inclusive practice, across all 7 quality areas. Ì Create a culture of reflective practice, learn together and implement improvements. Ì Provide a supportive infrastructure and guidelines for educators. Ì Review and improve your physical space to enhance children’s experience in line with your philosophy. Ì Build relationships with children and their families, involve families in programs and events. Ì Make use of guidelines and policies that already exist, and seek support and development opportunities from peak bodies. Ì Investigate and secure relevant grants to implement your improvements. Ì Work with your governing board or committee, facilitate their learning and development in the professional standards of providing quality early childhood education and care.

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STUDIES REVEAL HOW EDUCATORS HAVE COPED DURING COVID-19

BY MEGAN O’CONNELL, CELA RESEARCH AND POLICY MANAGER

2020 has been a year like no other, with children, families and services facing a wide range of challenges due to the pandemic. In most states, early childhood education and care centres have remained open throughout the pandemic, while primary and secondary schools closed, in part due to union pressure over member health[1]. It is within this context that emerging research is revealing the significant impacts COVID-19 is having on early educator wellbeing.

Early childhood education and care has been recognised as an essential service that is critical to enabling parents in other essential industries to keep working. Yet, our sector was one of the first to have JobKeeper withdrawn. Many additional requirements have increased educator workload during COVID-19 including stringent hygiene and cleaning requirements, lack of clear guidelines, increased government regulation, and the effects of social distancing.

Whilst much attention has been paid to the impact of remote learning on children and teachers in a school setting, little attention has been paid to how the early childhood education

sector is faring in wider commentary.

Two surveys — from Monash University and the Front Project — provide insights into how early educators have fared.

These surveys confirm on a nationwide scale what you have told us about the additional stress caused by COVID-19, but also the innovations you have created to ensure you continue to provide quality learning environments for children and continue to build relationships with families.

It is important that we acknowledge and share the findings of these studies, to confirm the shared experience across the sector, to celebrate the continued commitment to supporting children and to emphasize the need for ongoing advocacy to provide resources to grow educator wellbeing.

ONGOING INEQUITY BETWEEN SCHOOLS AND EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION COVID-19 has brought into sharp focus the inequity between early childhood education and schools. Schools closing due to COVID-19 received their usual funding, whilst educators feared for the viability of early childhood education

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centres as enrolments fell.

From early on, early childhood educators feared they would lose work as children withdrew from care, and worried about the viability of their services and the health of their team members.

The Front Project survey reveals that nearly all early childhood educators surveyed (88%) think the current system is vulnerable, with one third of those surveyed worried about the insecurity of their employment.

The decision to keep early childhood education centres open in Australia, except during Victoria’s second wave, also created anxiety.

“Very annoyed that early childhood services were not held in the same regard as primary and secondary schools.”

Monash University study respondent

“It definitely created some anxiety, and anger and frustration regarding how we are not treated the same as school teachers.”

Monash University study respondent

Gloria Quinones, Senior Lecturer, Early Years Education at Monash University, and her study co-authors argue that the role of early childhood educators as frontline responders needs to be better acknowledged (source: The emotional toll of COVID-19 among early childhood educators).

The COVID-19 crisis has also exacerbated feelings of being undervalued with a 25% increase in the number of teachers and educators feeling their work is undervalued.

Around four in five early childhood professionals think there is a lack of respect and recognition for their role[2].

THE EMOTIONAL TOLL OF COVID-19 Survey results reveal the emotional toll COVID-19 has had on educators, with educators feeling overworked, stressed and anxious. Balancing the challenges of managing a service and keeping staff and children safe, and worrying about personal safety and the safety of their own children, has been a major stress for many centre directors.

“There were many tough days, many long and tiring days. And many tears shed by me. I had to try and continue to be strong for my staff and make some tough calls whilst balancing my own fears, anxiety and safety concerns for my own health, and the health of my children and family at home.”[3] Monash University study respondent Researchers have found that centre directors and educators prioritise

the safety and wellbeing of children, families and colleagues above their own emotional wellbeing[4].

CONCERNS ABOUT GROWING DISADVANTAGE AND LACK OF CAPACITY TO RESPOND Educators are concerned about the capacity of ECEC to help vulnerable children, with one in two educators believing vulnerable families are more at risk than before[5]. These children will need a higher level of assistance to support them in early learning, and to ensure a smooth transition to school.

Other educators raised concerns about needing to survive on skeleton staff if their staff get ill, or need to be tested for COVID-19. The capacity to provide a high quality early learning experience is compromised if services cannot find staff. For some communities, both families and services are experiencing high levels of vulnerability.

MANY EDUCATORS HAVE EXPERIENCED NEW GROWTH AND TRANSFORMATION Despite all these challenges, nearly three quarters of teachers and educators believe they have performed to a high standard during COVID-19.

Educators spoke of developing new skills and finding ways to reach out to families: Many educators spoke of learning from the challenges experienced in the crisis – including helping families to talk to children about the pandemic, working in smaller groups and more outdoor learning. The availability of

online learning has also opened up access to learning and development to a wider range of educators.

“I have had to develop online programs that are engaging and will inspire families to ‘come back’. The ability to do this has stretched and developed my existing skills and brought about new ones I wasn’t aware of. This has challenged me and also excited in me a new aspect of learning I had not thought possible. I am really enjoying this aspect and think it would be good to retain some of this for families who find it difficult to access programs[6].”

Teacher, community preschool, SA via The Front Project study

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE – LIVING WITH COVID-19 The spectre of COVID-19 is likely to affect families, communities and educators for some time to come, including the need for added vigilance over hygiene, and different ways of working to remain. Given this, we need to invest in new ways to support and grow educator wellbeing, including supporting educators to debrief, being mindful of the impact of new routines on workload and considering how to support educators to refresh and recharge.

In light of our COVID-19 response, CELA has refined its advocacy position in relation to workforce and service viability.

View our updated advocacy position www.cela.org.au/advocacy

REFERENCES: [1] Quinones,G Barnes, M. and Berger, E.. https://lens.monash.edu/@education/2020/08/05/1381001/the-emotional-toll-of-covid-19-among-early-childhoodeducators [2] https://www.thefrontproject.org.au/images/downloads/Early_learning_and_COVID19_experiences_of_teachers_and_educators.pdf [3] Quinones,G Barnes, M. and Berger, E.. https://lens.monash.edu/@education/2020/08/05/1381001/the-emotional-toll-of-covid-19-among-early-childhoodeducators [4] Quinones,G Barnes, M. and Berger, E.. https://lens.monash.edu/@education/2020/08/05/1381001/the-emotional-toll-of-covid-19-among-earlychildhood-educators [5] https://www.thefrontproject.org.au/images/downloads/Early_learning_and_COVID19_experiences_of_teachers_and_educators.pdf [6] https://www.thefrontproject.org.au/images/downloads/Early_learning_and_COVID19_experiences_of_teachers_and_educators.pdf

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EARLY EDUCATION RESEARCH FROM AUSTRALIA AND AROUND THE WORLD INSIGHTS FROM MEGAN O’CONNELL, CELA’S RESEARCH AND POLICY MANAGER

THE LONG TERM BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF COVID-19 STRESS ON KIDS’ FUTURE HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT A new Canadian article raises concerns that children are losing opportunities for learning and development, given the closures of schools and restriction of activities including social interaction.

The research raised concerns that stressors stemming from COVID-19 may leave a biological imprint on children. Our early life experiences can result in different genes being activated or disabled. Early stressors

can cause these epigenetic changes that link to adult stress, inflammation and chronic health.

These changes can flow through to future generations.

This article has parallels for our Australian experience, and points to the urgent need for children and families to be supported to engage in early childhood education and access the services they need to support them to cope in the

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current circumstances. It also reinforces the importance of additional support for children and families whose disadvantage and vulnerability increases due to COVID-19, in order to reduce the ongoing damage from stress. theconversation.com/the-longterm-biological-effects-of-covid-19stress-on-kids-future-health-anddevelopment-140533

OPTIMISING THE CHILD CARE SUBSIDY – FINANCIAL WELLBEING FOR AUSTRALIAN FAMILIES A new report by KPMG, commissioned

by The Front Project, provides further evidence of the economic benefits of lifting the level of Child Care Subsidy (CCS).

The report reveals that at least one in ten families across every income quintile who have children in early childhood education and care lose at least 70 percent of the money they make working an additional day in childcare fees.

Option Two KPMG contend that implementing ⊲ increasing child care subsidy to 95 Option Two will provide a productivity percent (means tested), and boost for Australia by enabling more families, especially women, to re-enter ⊲ raising full CCS to $80,000 the workforce or work additional days. ⊲ reducing CCS by $1 per $4000 This report confirms and adds to a family income weight of evidence, from organisations ⊲ capping at 30 percent minimum including the Grattan Institute, PWC, hourly CCS Thrive by Five and Chief Executive Women that now is the optimal time to Both options have a positive impact re-examine our subsidy system. on GDP by increasing the number

of days worked per week. Option One costs up to $5.44 billion with a KPMG model the impact of: possible economic return of over $7.4 Option One billion. Option Two costs $2.5 billion ⊲ increasing child care subsidy (CCS) per annum with a possible economic to 95 percent for all children; and return of over $4.2 billion.

assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/au/ pdf/2020/kpmg-child-care-subsidyreport.pdf

ONGOING QUALITY IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NATIONAL QUALITY FRAMEWORK: EXPLORING THE PERSPECTIVES OF EDUCATORS IN ‘WORKING TOWARDS’ SERVICES The research report is based on a small series of interviews with directors and educational leaders from three Working Towards rated services. The research casts light on how ratings are interpreted, and whether this influences behaviour and staff capacity to engage in service improvement.

The research found that in 2 of 3 services, directors thought their rating was unfair. The other service director (Service A) was disappointed but accepting of the rating. Staff in this service found the rating unfair but were amazed at their progress when they implemented changes.

I guess a new energy came through, that believed we were so much more capable than the label we had been given. (Anne, Service A) We started by creating a vision. We didn’t have a vision and philosophy, we didn’t have anything that tied us all together. So now we have a very clear vision. It’s called meaningful connections. We came up with that in a staff meeting. (Anne, Service A)

skills and relationships with the community, lacked capacity to engage in educational planning.

The interplay of educator capability and commitment, leadership and continuous professional development appeared critical to recognising that aspects of practice required improvement, and pursuing that improvement accordingly.

The article highlights the immense challenge and inequity which occurs where services that need to improve quality are less likely to possess the leadership and skilled staffing profile able to drive quality improvement.

Differences in leadership styles may Participants identified their staff as Service A was assisted by having have contributed to the acceptance either a facilitator of or hindrance to a large number of ECTs on staff, of the rating and desire to improve. quality improvement. compared to Service C that could not The director in Service A coached and attract a trained teacher. Workforce Educators’ motivation, passion developed staff and involved staff in availability and capacity and drive to improve individually planning as part of everyday practice, is a vital element in supporting service and collectively as a team helped as well as engaging in and supporting improvement, and a challenge in Service A improve. The realisation the upskilling of staff. areas where recruiting trained staff is and acceptance that the service’s In Service B the director had more of a difficult. provision of quality was not ranked as managerial approach, referring issues journals.sagepub.com/doi/ highly as they perceived and a desire of quality to an educational consultant abs/10.1177/1836939120936003 to lift outcomes for children, motivated to address due to fears that staff, action to drive quality improvement. who were chosen for their language You always need to be improving… that’s why I’ve gone back to school… to keep improving my skills. (Anne, Service A)

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EMPLOYERS’ PERSPECTIVES OF HOW WELL PREPARED EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER GRADUATES ARE TO WORK IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE SERVICES This report examines the viewpoints of 19 early childhood education employers in New South Wales to gain insights into how well prepared early childhood education graduate teachers are, particularly relating to strengths and areas for development.

The report shows the variance in teacher educator programs, ranging from all being birth to twelve in the Northern Territory to all birth to eight in Tasmania, and half of all courses in New South Wales being birth to five.

The authors highlight the low number of early childhood education units, around 22%, that can be in birth to twelve qualifications and cite concerns that these programs may not offer the depth of ECEC expertise needed.

On average employers rated graduates as a 6 out of ten, with a ten representing very well prepared. Nearly half of all employers found that ECTs who had articulated through the system –

transitioned from a Cert III or diploma to a degree - were better prepared. Age of graduates was also viewed as important, with mature aged graduates having greater emotional maturity, and work experience supporting teamwork skills.

Some employers did not employ graduates and instead sponsored staff to upskill.

Employers felt graduates had energy, enthusiasm and professionalism. Views on strengths and weaknesses were mixed - nearly half of employers note graduates have a good understanding of child development and pedagogy, whilst the same number highlight weaknesses in observation, planning and pedagogical documentation.

All employers cited a weakness in participants’ capacity to put theory into practice. Other areas of weakness related areas such as developing a personal teaching philosophy and understanding the regulatory environment.

Most employers recommended additional support for new graduates, including a professional network and mentoring.

An important reflection was employers’ desires to be part of constructing ITE programs: “How do we have more ongoing discussion between the institutions and the employers and really understand what you’re currently designing and its intent. What does that mean in a workplace, and how do we then make sure we’re bridging the gap?”

The research provides interesting reflections for educators hiring graduates around how to build their skills on the job, for example regarding observations, and ensuring graduates have a professional network.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/ abs/10.1177/1836939120935997

IDENTIFYING PREDICTORS OF RETENTION AND PROFESSIONAL WELLBEING OF THE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION WORKFORCE IN A TIME OF CHANGE This research examines staff retention and wellbeing in the context of workforce professionalisation. Researchers argue that staff turnover and stress could undermine policy goals to lift quality across the Australian early childhood education system. Although the quality improvement agenda has driven increased training and accountability, it has not increased remuneration for educators and teachers. Attrition rates remain very high, especially for educators who upskill. The research looks at the complex series of factors affecting attrition, with workplace culture being one key variable that can be addressed by centres.

Researchers surveyed educators to understand who is intending to exit their role. They found that around one in five educators intended to exit. Actual turnover in services that were tracked increased to one in three educators leaving per year, and nearly one in two

in remote areas. The increase is likely due to ‘forced’ exits – for example life events such as a partner being transferred. This is around double the attrition rate of schools.

Educators that are upgrading qualifications, and/or those who entered ECEC motivated by making a difference to children’s lives, are most likely to indicate they will exit. Researchers speculate that educators upskilling will seek higher paid positions, whilst potentially educators seeking to make a difference to children’s lives exit work when they become parents.

Key factors supporting decisions to stay include supportive workplaces, a career role and personal motivation.

Around half of all attrition is due to reasons that cannot be readily addressed, such as moving for a partner’s work, pregnancy and family responsibilities.

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Other reasons, such as moving to other low paid occupations, which are potentially driven by stress and work conditions, may be able to be addressed.

Researchers suggest that the long term solution to sustainability is rewarding educators adequately, but in the short term, building a supportive workplace culture is helpful to sustain educators. Given high staff turnover effects children’s learning and wellbeing and can reduce the quality of early childhood education, it is important centres address issues of workplace culture, whilst noting many educators may continue to leave until wages and conditions improve.

researchgate.net/ publication/341734550_Identifying_ predictors_of_retention_and_ professional_wellbeing_of_the_ early_childhood_education_ workforce_in_a_time_of_change

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NEW ONLINE LEARNING SESSIONS NESA REGISTERED PD | 2 HOUR WEBINAR We have developed 4 new interactive and thought-provoking online learning sessions to help you continue your professional learning.

LOOSE PARTS PLAY

INQUIRY BASED LEARNING

This session will explore the Theory of Loose Parts and enable educators to better appreciate the potential of loose parts to promote discovery and investigation.

This session will explore how educators can foster a joy of learning and a sense of awe and wonder in the children they work with.

WHEN: 10 NOVEMBER

WHEN: 10 NOVEMBER

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OOSH ACTIVE SUPERVISION

LDC ACTIVE SUPERVISION

This session will enable educators to be aware of their supervision techniques in their before, after and vacation care programs.

This session will enable educators to have a conscious understanding of what active supervision means in their daily practice.

WHEN: 17 NOVEMBER OR 10 DECEMBER

WHEN: 19 NOVEMBER OR 9 DECEMBER

booking.ccccnsw.org.au/sessions/course/0/1787

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www.cela.org.au/webinars CUSTOMISED TRAINING We are flexible to your needs and can deliver training through a combination of webinar, face-to-face and phone mentoring. Find out more: 1800 157 818 www.cela.org.au/customised-training RATTLER ISSUE 132 | NOVEMBER 2020 | 19

Do we want polite children or

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATORS?

BY RENNE IRVING-LEE hildren’s book author and former teacher Renne Irving-Lee believes that it is not our job to force children to robotically recite “magic” words to get what they want. She suggests that it is our job to understand their developmental capacity and support them to practice the life-long learning skills required for effective communication that fosters positive relationships with others.

C

As a society, we place a lot of expectations on children to be polite, use their manners and to always say “please” and ‘’thank-you”. Of course, we want to teach children to be respectful; but is enforcing a “please” and a “thank-you” at every transaction in their

daily life really the right way to teach manners? Do we expect the adults in our life to say “please” and “thank you” as much as we do children?

Behaving in a polite manner is not an innate skill that children are born with. Manners, social etiquette, and effective communication are all something that is learnt over time through role modelling, practicing authentic gratitude and forming good social habits.

As we know, children develop speech and language skills at vastly different rates. This will have a profound effect on their behaviour, social interactions, and how effectively they can use manners in daily communication.

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Young children’s egocentric view on the world also means that they are extremely focused on their own desires and have trouble understanding a situation from the point of view of someone else. Combined with a need for instant gratification, this can make the process of teaching manners exceedingly difficult for children who want what they want, when they want it!

As educators, I believe that it is not our job to force children to robotically recite “magic” words to get what they want.

I believe it is our job to understand their developmental capacity and support children to practice the life-long learning skills required for effective communication that fosters

positive relationships with others. This is a process that takes many years to develop through role modelling, focusing on authentic emotions and gratitude, and anticipating situations that require manners.

⊲ Amazing. That was very thoughtful of you. ⊲ I really appreciate you doing this for me. ⊲ What would I do without you? ⊲ I’m so grateful for your help.

ROLE MODELLING We can role model good manners for children - not just by the words that we say, but also in our tone of voice and intention. As adults we don’t say “please” and “thank-you” all of the time, and this is considered to be perfectly acceptable if we are warm, kind, and gracious in our communication style. I think we should be giving the same leeway to children.

By using a warm tone of voice and sincere gratitude, we can role model alternative phrases instead of “please”, when asking for something: ⊲ Would you mind passing me the red crayon? ⊲ Would you be so kind as to give me that pair of scissors? ⊲ I would really appreciate it, if you could pass me the pen.

⊲ This means a lot to me. ⊲ Wow. You made my day by doing this.

FOCUS ON AUTHENTIC EMOTIONS AND GRATITUDE There is a big difference in just saying “please” and “thank-you” to get what you want and genuinely asking for or receiving something with sincere gratitude and appreciation. For children to understand these complex executive functions, they first need to recognise their own underlying emotions and feelings associated with giving and receiving.

How do they feel when someone gives them something or talks politely to them?

How does it make them feel when someone thanks them sincerely for something?

⊲ I love the work you have done with that blue crayon; would you pass it to me when you are finished?

Once children recognise their own feelings, they can then start to understand the importance of making sure they treat others the same way they like to be treated.

Some alternative phrases instead of “thank you”, can include:

Authentic emotions can be supported through storytelling, role modelling,

⊲ May I have the blocks?

Love

May I

Would you Kind Thoughtful

Appreciate

Giving

Grateful GratitudeReceiving Means a lot Sincerity

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role-playing, daily conversation, and practicing gratitude. A good conversation starter around this topic would be to discuss the Indigenous Australian language and how there are no words for “please” and “thank you” as the expectation is that everyone shares everything all of the time.

ANTICIPATING SITUATIONS THAT REQUIRE MANNERS There are so many different social etiquettes to so many different situations, it’s no wonder children forget their manners sometimes! When we think about it, there are rules for asking for things, sneezing and coughing, interrupting conversations, entering a room, burping or passing gas, greeting others, sharing, eating, meeting new people, walking past others, saying goodbye – and the list goes on!

If we can anticipate situations beforehand where children are expected to use their manners, we can initiate a simple conversation, to serve as a reminder of what is expected. It can be something as simple as saying “We have a special guest coming in today. What do you think we should say to them when they leave? Why is this important?”. This gives the children the opportunity to remember their manners on their own first and also to practice gratitude in understanding why it is important.

Renne Irving-Lee is a former teacher, educational freelance writer and children’s book author. Her diverse background in education extends to teaching primary school-aged children, young adults, and children with special needs. Renee was awarded the Young Achiever of the Year Award by TAFE Queensland for her work as a dynamic, student-focused teacher who is highly respected for her skills, intellect and dedication. Renee was also inducted into the International Golden Key Honour Society while studying for her Bachelor of Education (Special Education) where she graduated with a Distinction.

SENSORY PROCESSING DIFFICULTIES – WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW EARLY EDUCATORS CAN HELP

BY CLAIRE JOYCE, PAEDIATRIC OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST

Sensory processing is the ability of the nervous system to continually and accurately register information from our environment through touch, smell, sound, vision, taste, movement, and gravity, and to modify it and create an appropriate response to the incoming sensory stimuli. Adequate sensory processing and regulation skills are necessary for children to adapt to the changing demands of their environment so they can maintain an optimal performance level to play and learn so they can reach their social, academic and functional potential.

affect their development during their childhood and their personal and professional life as an adult.

Children affected by sensory processing challenges present with difficulties in learning and academic performance, fine and gross motor coordination, muscle tone, behaviour, language development, distractibility, impulsivity, irritability, or anxiety.

Problems derived from sensory processing difficulties have been shown to be especially harmful to school-aged children, generating chronic stress, low self-esteem and depression, which can seriously

Research suggests sensory processing challenges may exist independently, comorbidly, or as part of a larger overarching diagnosis. Children with disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, and cognitive disorder, exhibit significantly more sensory processing issues than children without disabilities.

WHO IS AFFECTED BY SENSORY PROCESSING CHALLENGES? Sensory processing challenges can be difficult to formally diagnose however, it is estimated that 1 in 6 children have difficulties processing sensory information.

It is believed that sensory processing challenges are neurologically based

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problems stemming from the brain’s inability to integrate the sensory input it receives from the sensory systems and turn the input into effective responses. Evidence also supports that sensory processing difficulties may be linked to family genetics, pregnancy or birth complications, or to environmental factors such as limited exposure to sensory stimulation. At present however, there is no recognised definite cause of why children present with sensory processing issues.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A CHILD HAS SENSORY PROCESSING DIFFICULTIES? When sensory processing difficulties are present, major and minor sensory events can create changeable levels of stress and anxiety in children and influence the way they behave and respond to their environment.

Sensory processing difficulties will subsequently affect the way the child behaves, interacts, attends to a task, and how they regulate their emotions within their environment.

Vision

A CHILD CAN HAVE DIFFICULTIES PROCESSING INFORMATION FROM ANY ONE (OR MORE) OF THE EIGHT SENSES:

Interoceptive

Olfactory

⊲ Tactile (touch) ⊲ Auditory (hearing) ⊲ Gustatory (taste)

Vestibular

⊲ Olfactory (smell)

Sensory Systems

Gustatory

⊲ Vision ⊲ Interoception (registration) Proprioceptive

⊲ Vestibular (movement and balance)

Auditory

⊲ Proprioception (muscles and joints) Tactile

A child who presents with sensory processing difficulties will be over responsive or under responsive to the particular sensory input. Symptoms of poor sensory processing appear to evolve over time and vary considerably depending on the sensory system(s) involved.

Characteristics of sensory processing challenges may fluctuate within the day, from day to day, and across different demands. A child having difficulty modulating sensory information may be expressed as having:

1. INCREASED SENSORY RESPONSIVENESS (OVER SENSITIVE): ⊲ Over responsiveness to sights, sounds, smell, touch, and movement. ⊲ Overwhelmed by bright lights, busy environments, and close-range eye contact. ⊲ Adverse response to low-frequency sounds, such as the vacuum, blender, and public toilets flushing. ⊲ Hypersensitive to certain light-touch sensations, such as textures (the child will only wear certain, specific clothing). ⊲ Resisting self-help activities, such as face and hair washing, haircuts, and brushing teeth. ⊲ Insecure with some movement sensations, avoiding climbing and balance activities. ⊲ Walking stiffly due to sensitivity with changes in body position. ⊲ Refusing to eat certain foods because of appearance, texture, taste, and temperature. ⊲ Poor self-regulation skills with frequent “fight” (tantrums, crying, aggressive behaviours) and “flight” (running away, hiding) responses. ⊲ Difficulty transitioning between activities and settings and difficulty adjusting to change. ⊲ Increased anxiety with new situations, people, or demands.

2. DECREASED SENSORY RESPONSIVENESS (UNDER RESPONDING): ⊲ Decreased awareness or delayed response of visual and auditory surroundings. ⊲ Slow processing speed. ⊲ High pain tolerance. ⊲ Decreased perception of personal space, often too close. ⊲ May have low muscle tone. ⊲ Uses too much force without realizing it. ⊲ Lack of creativity and spontaneity in play activities. ⊲ Appearing clumsy, having poor endurance or poor balance.

3. SENSORY SEEKING BEHAVIOURS (SENSORY CRAVING): ⊲ Seeking of intense movement experiences (spinning, running, “crashing,” climbing, jumping, acceleration). ⊲ Seeking pressure through wrestling, being squished, pushing, and pulling. ⊲ Seeking touch sensations by mouthing objects, rubbing/pinching skin of caregiver, continually touching or holding objects. ⊲ Continual humming, vocalizations, or singing. ⊲ Difficulty calming down for seated activities, nap time, and sleep.

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SOME EXAMPLES OF ACTIVITIES THAT MAY BE LISTED IN A CHILD’S SENSORY DIET ARE:

GENERAL CALMING ACTIVITIES: ⊲ Deep pressure massage ⊲ Sitting on bean bags, large body pillows ⊲ Sandwiching, pillow press ⊲ Lap pads ⊲ Deep pressure or weighted vest ⊲ Bear hugs, neutral warmth ⊲ Slow rocking ⊲ Lotion rubs ⊲ Soft lighting ⊲ Soft, slow music ⊲ Joint compressions ⊲ Stretching ⊲ Chewing gummies or sucking ⊲ Fidget toys ⊲ Calm, rhythmic movement patterns ⊲ Physical relaxation exercises

GENERAL ALERTING ACTIVITIES: ⊲ ⊲ ⊲ ⊲ ⊲ ⊲ ⊲ ⊲ ⊲ ⊲ ⊲ ⊲ ⊲

Firm Massage Tickling Chewing gum, chewing crunchy foods Any push/ pull, run, skip, jump, heavy lifting Fast, irregular movement (swing, trampoline, therapy ball) Kick, bounce, throw a ball Strong tastes and odors (peppermint, perfumes) Bright lighting Loud music Cold water play Fidget toys Physical exercise Dancing

As a sensory diet is specific to every individual and their needs, a discussion with an Occupational Therapist is recommended to ensure the most effective sensory diet is implemented for the child. If you have any concerns regarding a child who you suspect is presenting with sensory processing difficulties contact your local GP, Paediatrician or Occupational Therapist.

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WHAT TO DO IF YOU THINK A CHILD HAS SENSORY PROCESSING DIFFICULTIES Quite often the behaviours children with sensory processing difficulties show are very visible and evident.

It is recommended to monitor and document a child’s behaviour to track and record their reactions to certain environments or sensory stimuli to identify their patterns and triggers and to have these to share these with the professionals involved.

Effective treatment for sensory processing challenges should be research-based and family-centred, and may involve a multidisciplinary team including: ⊲ Paediatricians ⊲ Developmental-behavioral paediatricians ⊲ Psychologists, including neuropsychologists ⊲ School evaluators ⊲ Occupational therapist ⊲ Treatment from a therapist(s) steeped in evidence-based practices increases the likelihood that strategies will be implemented effectively.

THE ROLE OF AN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST Occupational therapists (OTs) are qualified to identify and create individualised treatment plans and ‘sensory diets’ for children presenting with sensory processing difficulties. A sensory diet is based on the principle that individuals require a certain quality or quantity of sensory experience to be skillful, adaptive and organised within daily life and includes a plan of specific activities that support the child’s ability to remain in a functional state of alertness or arousal.

The Occupational Therapist will work with the child’s family and caregivers to incorporate opportunities for them to receive organising sensory input throughout their day, enabling them to better regulate and improve adaptive functioning in order to take part in the normal occupations of childhood, such as playing with friends, enjoying school, eating, dressing, sleeping, and learning.

Claire Joyce is an Occupational Therapist and the Director of Learn Through Play.

Since graduating in 2009 with a Bachelor of Applied Science (OT) degree Claire has worked in the area of Paediatrics. During this time she has developed extensive knowledge and skills in Occupational Therapy assessment, treatment, evaluation and business management.

REFERENCES: 1. Ayres A. Sensory Integration and learning disorders. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services: 1972.

2. Galiana-Simal, A., Vela-Romero, M., Romero-Vela, V., Oliver-Tercero, N., García-Olmo, V., Benito-Castellanos, P., Muñoz-Martinez, V. and Beato-Fernandez, L., 2020. Sensory processing disorder: Key points of a frequent alteration in neurodevelopmental disorders. Cogent Medicine, 7(1).

3. Kong, M. and Moreno, M., 2020. Sensory Processing In Children. [online] Jamanetwork.com. Available at: <https://jamanetwork.com/> [Accessed 23 September 2020].

4. Marco LJ, Hinkley LBN, Hill SS, Nagarajan SS. Sensory Processing in autism: a review of neurophysiological findings. Pediatr Res. 2012;69(5):48-54 5. Fernández-Andrés, M., Pastor-Cerezuela, G., Sanz-Cervera, P. and Tárraga-Mínguez, R., 2015. A comparative study of sensory processing in children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder in the home and classroom environments. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 38, pp.202-212.

6. Shimizu, V., Bueno, O. and Miranda, M., 2014. Sensory processing abilities of children with ADHD. Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy, 18(4), pp.343-352.

7. Pfeiffer, B., Daly, B., Nicholls, E. and Gullo, D., 2014. Assessing Sensory Processing Problems in Children With and Without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Physical & Occupational Therapy In Pediatrics, 35(1), pp.1-12.

8. Cheung, P. and Siu, A., 2009. A comparison of patterns of sensory processing in children with and without developmental disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 30(6), pp.1468-1480.

9. Engel-Yeger, B., Hardal-Nasser, R. and Gal, E., 2011. Sensory processing dysfunctions as expressed among children with different severities of intellectual developmental disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32(5), pp.1770-1775.

10. Critz, C., Blake, K. and Nogueira, E., 2015. Sensory Processing Challenges in Children. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 11(7), pp.710-716.

11. Critz, C., Blake, K. and Nogueira, E., 2015. Sensory Processing Challenges in Children. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 11(7), pp.712-716.

12. Bundy, A., Shia, S., Qi, L. and Miller, L., 2007. How Does Sensory Processing Dysfunction Affect Play?. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 61(2), pp.201-208.

13. Cheung, P. and Siu, A., 2009. A comparison of patterns of sensory processing in children with and without developmental disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 30(6), pp.1475-1480.

14. Gourley L, Wind C, Henniger E, Chinitz S., 2013. Sensory processing difficulties, behavioural problems, and parental stress in a clinical population of young children. J Child Fam Stud. 22 (7), pp 912-921.

15. Gourley L, Wind C, Henniger E, Chinitz S., 2013. Sensory processing difficulties, behavioural problems, and parental stress in a clinical population of young children. J Child Fam Stud. 22 (7), pp 920-921.

16. Critz, C., Blake, K. and Nogueira, E., 2015. Sensory processing challenges in Children. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 11(7), pp.710-716.

17. Miller LJ., 2014. Sensational kids: Hope and help for children with sensory processing disorder. New York: Penguin Group, pp. 23-40.

18. Shimizu, V., Bueno, O. and Miranda, M., 2014. Sensory processing abilities of children with ADHD.

Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy, 18(4), pp.347-351.

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FINDING AND KEEPING QUALITY ECEC PROFESSIONALS ...WITHIN A COVID CONTEXT

BY KEETA WILLIAMS, WITH INPUT FROM EDUCATION RECRUITMENT AGENCY ANZUK

ecruiting good quality employees is essential in early childhood education. Employees are usually a service's greatest expense and their most valuable asset. Educators and support staff make an incredible impact on children and families, workplace culture, and the service's reputation.

R

Through our latest pulse check survey, CELA members have indicated that workforce is currently one of their biggest concerns. COVID-19 has highlighted the challenge of finding reliable and consistent team members, particularly when it comes to casual staffing, and the value of keeping them. How can services overcome their challenges to find, attract and retain the highest quality graduates and professionals in early childhood education?

THE CURRENT OUTLOOK Richard Schaube is national early childhood manager at ANZUK, a recruitment agency for the education sector. He says "recruitment of staff is always important and right now in the early childhood sector it's even

more important because there's an increasing shortage of staff."

According to Richard, reasons for staff shortages are many and include the perceived risks of working in early childhood education, educators returning to their home countries, increased government benefits, and training organisations producing fewer graduates, Richards says: "There's always been a bit of a shortage in the early childhood space, but that shortage has increased off the back of the COVID-19 situation."

ATTRACTING THE BEST CANDIDATES When employees can be more selective, services need to be competitive and design roles that stand out from those at nearby services. Craig Griffiths, team leader for ANZUK in Sydney, identifies three job features that are commonly desired by candidates: travel distance, team culture and remuneration.

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As more childcare and early education centres are being built, educators have more choice within their local area. "They are choosing to be closer to home because this allows them more time to spend with family," says Griffiths.

Educators want to work at well-managed services with positive team cultures.

They want to work alongside other educators who are happy in their jobs.

"The proof in the pudding really for most services is longevity," says Griffiths. "If you've got a centre that's had really low staff turnover and they've been there a long time, then that speaks for itself."

Even when services can only offer award wage, candidates may be enticed by non-monetary incentives.

"When people are in a space where they absolutely love going to work, they're usually happy to sacrifice salary," says Griffiths.

Early childhood educators have voiced concerns about mental wellbeing and excessive paperwork. Services can show they are listening by increasing

leave entitlements and non-contact programming time.

Four-day working weeks, shorter days and flexible hours are desired by staff who are studying and or have their own children. Professional development and opportunities to progress within an organisation may appeal to junior candidates.

AN EDUCATOR'S PERSPECTIVE Giorgina Simeonakis is working in a diploma role while completing her early childhood education honours degree. As an employee, she says she is attracted to services with high staff appreciation, low staff turnover and directors who are on the floor, handson with the children, showing and sharing their passion and love for the early years.

"I always look for services that align with my teaching philosophy and morals. Somewhere I can be myself effortlessly and show my natural strengths. I also look for services that recognise love of learning and growing with the children."

FINDING THE BEST CANDIDATES The best candidates may already be known by a service, including casual educators, volunteers and students who have attended on work placement.

Building relationships with local universities and colleges is a good way to find graduates who are suitable for a position.

Network with other early childhood professionals at conferences, training days and online. Spread the news of your vacancy through word of mouth and ask people you know if they can recommend anyone.

fee. Schaube says the most important consideration when engaging with an agency is value: "You can pay a recruitment company all the money in the world and if they're providing you with staff that you can get yourself, you're not really getting value. You want the recruitment agency supplying you with the staff that you can't get yourself."

A DIRECTOR'S PERSPECTIVE Ruth Harper is co-coordinator at East West Childcare in Melbourne. Her service has excellent staff retention and is very selective of new educators who join their team. "It's about fit, and we're not very standard, so fit is super important," she says.

Her service has only advertised for staff once in the twenty years she has worked there. Harper prefers to hire educators she already knows: "the most recent people we've employed have been students, or people I've found through Facebook."

She looks for educators with an ability and willingness to: ⊲ reflect on practice and pedagogy ⊲ engage in ongoing professional conversations ⊲ have ideas challenged and to challenge others ⊲ trust and respect children.

THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS Advertisements A well-written job advertisement will attract quality applications and reduce time spent on the recruitment process.

Positions should be accurately described and feature appropriate language for the demographic being targeted.

"We come across so many centres that put ads up but they've made mistakes in there, they're missing key information, or the ad was too broad," says Griffiths.

Look for opportunities to promote staff who already work in your organisation.

Promotions encourage staff longevity.

They help people feel valued and optimistic about the future.

Interviews

Services can create and manage job advertisements themselves.

Alternatively, a recruitment agency can advertise and screen applications for a

Griffiths approaches interviews as relationship building. He starts with personal questions about hobbies and interests. "It sparks authentic

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conversation and you generally get a better gauge of someone," he says.

"They feel more comfortable, you feel more comfortable."

Conducting meaningful interviews that reveal a candidate's true character and abilities can be challenging. Griffiths recommends open-ended questions, asking for examples, and asking further questions about answers that are provided.

Promoting diversity Respect for diversity is a key concept in Early Years Learning Framework and children benefit from having educators with different backgrounds. Diversity is also valued in sectors other than early childhood, as it drives innovation and problem solving. "The benefits of having a diverse workforce is well-researched and well-referenced," says Schaube.

Services can promote diversity throughout the recruitment process.

Let candidates know your workplace is inclusive. Advertise in different places and share your advertisement with local organisations that help diverse populations, like a disability employment service provider. Be open-minded and consider candidates who don't fit the stereotype of an early childhood professional.

Retaining talent Recruiting exceptional employees is important, but so is retaining them. The National Quality Standard requires that "every effort is made for children to experience continuity of educators at the service." Low staff turnover reduces costs and provides children and families with a sense of security.

How can services keep their best employees? The early childhood education sector is known for high staff turnover, and during a staff shortage educators can be lured away to more attractive positions. Schaube's advice is: "invest in leadership. Most people leave leaders, not an organisation.”

"While having a great brand is great for attracting staff, being able to manage and lead people well is really number one in terms of retention of staff, and that includes the management of culture."

Investigating educators’ conceptualisation and enactment of preschool children’s rights in early childhood education settings RESEARCH STUDY REPORT BY ROBBIE WARREN, CHARLES STURT UNIVERSITY

In the March 2020 edition of Rattler, I shared an introduction to my current research study investigating educators’ conceptualisation and enactment of preschool children’s rights in early childhood education settings.

The two preschools and two Long Day Care (LDC) services that participated in this study, in both rural and urban environments, were selected for their exemplary practice, expression and demonstration of explicit rightsbased philosophical views.

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RIGHTS OF THE CHILD THIRTY YEARS ON… It is apt in this 30th Anniversary year of Australia’s ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations [UNCRC], 1989), that l share a key finding from my research.

Whereas past research has found that inclusion of children’s rights in a service philosophy does not necessarily mean that children’s rights are actualised (Cheeseman & Sumsion, 2016), nor that educator beliefs and pedagogical practices are always consistent (Davis & Degotardi, 2015; Salamon et al., 2014), the present study suggests more promising results.

The research data collected from 25 educators in visits, spread over several weeks, involved recorded interviews, focus discussions, photos, videos, and observational note taking, of educators in daily practice. An important finding of my study was a positive alignment between service philosophies and educator practices in relation to the respecting and upholding of preschool children’s rights. Certain conditions existed within these exceeding rated ECE services which enabled and promoted a solidarity amongst educators to be advocates and activists for children’s rights in their daily practice.

THE COHESIVE POWER OF A SERVICE PHILOSOPHY The foundation for this alignment between service philosophies and educator practices in relation to respecting and upholding children’s rights was laid by the service leaders.

The values, beliefs and knowledge of the leaders was strongly oriented to a rights-based philosophical view.

These values, beliefs and knowledges underpinned the curriculum, and ongoing critical dialogue related to children’s rights was an expectation in daily practice amongst educators.

In developing service philosophy documents the leaders sought the values, beliefs, and knowledge of educators. One Director stated “…we simply started with the image of the

"An important finding of my study was a positive alignment between service philosophies and educator practices in relation to the respecting and upholding of preschool children’s rights." child, and ‘what does that mean?’”

(Regional LDC). Such collaboration enabled educators to be stakeholders who contributed to making “…a strong and competent image of the child the cornerstone of their philosophies…”

(Giamminuti, 2017, p. 103). Wording in service philosophies reflected this strong and competent image of the child, with example phrases such as, “children’s rights and agency are important to us” (Urban LDC). Within philosophies, children were explicitly recognised “as unique, capable, active participants…” (Urban Preschool) and “valued individuals, within the context of their family and community who bring to the learning environment a unique set of cultures, languages, skills, ideas and attitudes” (Regional LDC).

Leadership values and collaborative discussions played a significant role in generating both a sense of ownership of the service philosophies and practice cohesion amongst educators.

This was apparent in Jane’s (Regional Long Day Care) view as she stated that “…our philosophy draws us all together and should be a common bind…”, whilst Chrissy (Urban Preschool) expressed “…I think we're all on the same page with..., you know, our philosophy…”.

The pedagogical practices cited in the philosophies were promoted and valued highly because the shared views created a sense of solidarity amongst educators in each service.

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In the participant interviews and focus discussions, educators engaged with and articulated philosophy content as they shared their common beliefs and values about the child. Educators, for example Dale, viewed the child as “A whole being with lots of ideas, imagination” (Regional LDC), while Dana expressed that “The child is the centre of everything that we do, and we do see them as capable” (Urban Preschool).

RELATIONSHIPS AND LIFE-LONG LEARNING Significantly, each service philosophy acknowledged relationships between educators and children, and educators and educators. In the view of Fleet (2002), interactions are crucial and “What happens between children is as important as what happens between adults…”(p. 20). Relationships between educators demonstrated a respect and valuing of the unique individual skills and beliefs that each educator brought to the services - practices reflective of our Early Childhood Australia Code of Ethics (Early Childhood Australia, 2016).

Furthermore, each service philosophy was treated as a living document.

Philosophies were fluid, evolving and adapting to the changing needs of the services, and new knowledge. Ongoing dialogue and reflexive practice within each setting was fuelled by continual

professional development. A high expectation for life-long learning was common to all service leaders and expressed by one Director as “I suppose my view of the child is very much as a human being that’s on their learning path…because I believe in continual learning for life, it’s just part of the continuum” (Urban LDC).

PHILOSOPHIES AS TOOLS FOR PRACTICE In my view, these philosophies are a tool, collectively shaped by the educators and the unique context of each service. In turn, the philosophies act as a guide to shape and manifest in educators’ daily practices to honour children’s rights. The educator practices I observed in the four exemplary ECE services were an accurate reflection of each service philosophy.

In summary, evidence of educational practices that respected and enacted children’s rights and lived everyday experiences was firstly built on each service leaders’ belief in the child as a right holder. Secondly, educators’ agency in the development of service philosophies was enabled by leadership valuing educators’ beliefs, knowledge, and skills, and supported by an expectation to uphold these practices and further one’s pedagogical knowledge. Thirdly, engagement in collaborative and sometimes challenging discussions about rights-based practice was part of a reflexive practice culture. Together these conditions can enable educators to demonstrate a lived underlying commitment to enacting the rightsbased practices expressed in their service philosophy.

Thank you to the Directors and educators of the four exemplary ECE services involved in my study. The important contribution your services made to my study will further our sector's understandings of educator practices in relation to children’s rights.

Robbie Warren is an educator with over 20 years of teaching experience in Early Childhood Education services, and currently works in a preschool service in regional NSW. After completing a teaching degree at Charles Sturt University, she undertook a Master of Education at the University of Wollongong.

Robbie has an interest in understanding how educators can be full advocates for children’s rights in their roles. This has inspired her to research the topic of children’s rights through her doctoral studies at Charles Sturt University.

Robbie’s study is nested within the Exemplary Early Childhood Educators at Work project, a three-year study funded by the Australian Research Council. She is investigating the conceptualisations and enactment of educator practices in respecting and upholding preschool children’s rights in exemplary Early Childhood Education services.

REFERENCES Cheeseman, S., & Sumsion, J. (2016). Narratives of infants’ encounters with curriculum: The benediction as invitation to participate. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 17(3), 275-288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1463949116660951 Davis, B., & Degotardi, S. (2015). Educators' understandings of, and support for, infant peer relationships in early childhood settings. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 13(1), 64-78. https://doi. org/10.1177/1476718X14538600 Early Childhood Australia. (2016). Code of ethics. Early Childhood Australia.

Fleet, A. (2002). Revisiting adult work in early childhood settings : shifting the frame. Australian Journal of Early Childhood, 27(1), 18-23.

Giamminuti, S. (2017). Educators' philosophies: Encountering and weaving images. In B. Gobby & R. Walker (Eds.), Powers of curriculum : sociological perspectives on education (pp. 87-118). Oxford University Press.

Salamon, A., Sumsion, J., Press, F., & Harrison, L. (2014). Implicit theories and naïve beliefs: Using the theory of practice architectures to deconstruct the practices of early childhood educators. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 14(4), 431-443. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718x14563857 United Nations [UNCRC]. (1989). Convention on the Rights of the Child. United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CRC.aspx

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Inclusive play environments are essential for children with physical disabilities and sensory processing issues, but they are important for all children. Every child is unique and has the right to play, learn and feel a sense of belonging.

Lisa Fruhstuck, speech pathologist and founder of inclusive play centre The Shine Shed, shares 6 simple ways that early childhood educators can promote inclusive play by rethinking indoor and outdoor environments.

In order to be inclusive, early childhood environments should: ⊲ provide a wide range of learning experiences ⊲ allow children to choose their own experiences ⊲ be adaptable, so all children can fully participate ⊲ encourage relationship building ⊲ be safe

QUIET CORNERS

MOVEMENT BREAKS

Quiet corners can be used by any child who needs time alone to unwind. All you need is a quiet, calm, low-light space in your classroom. Consider using a teepee or pop-up tent with some cushions and a sensory toy box with fidgets, squishy toys, and a massager.

Children may have an urge to move their bodies, especially on rainy days when everyone is stuck indoors. Lisa suggests providing opportunities for movement breaks by having a mini trampoline to bounce on, large cushions to crash on and a pod swing hanging in the room.

HEAVY OBJECTS

DEEP PRESSURE

Heavy work is craved by lots of kids and can have a calming effect. Encourage children to pack away heavy objects, including outdoor and indoor play equipment. Provide things to push, like bikes, weighted trolleys and wheelbarrows.

Place crash mats next to climbing frames so children can climb and jump.

Deep pressure is a technique used to calm anxious and highly aroused children. Some children like big hugs and rough play because it calms them down.

Lycra tunnels and body socks are great to use, but a nice blanket to roll the kids up in firmly can be just as fun and beneficial.

SENSORY SWINGS

MESSY PLAY

Swings can be calming or alerting for some children and they will have a preferred direction of movement. You can hang a swing in your classroom or from a tree using appropriate attachments.

Traditional sensory activities, like painting, playdough and messy play, may be beneficial for children who are sensitive and reluctant to touch.

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For futher information visit www.cela.org.au/child-protection-training-self-paced

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