Terra - Vision & Mission

Terra has a clear vision and mission statement guiding decision making, underpinned by some key values.

A group of teachers in the early childhood centre put this display together at the entry of the school.

Notice the language of 'WE' - not about what is done to or for people. More about how we will be together, guiding the organisational culture of the school

 

Goals for ongoing development as an organisation

 Service philosophy of care

Professional Development - Kiwi Style with Team Grant MacEwan Child Care

The team at Grant MacEwan Child Care asked to have a professional development session about some of the things we started to talk about on Friday. We have had a dialogue about learning stories, narrative assessment and planning - were keen to keep the conversation going especially now I have spent some time in the centre.

Link here for Grant MacEwan Child Care team presentation

These are our notes and thinking from the discussion about the VORTEX. This thinking maps so well on to the processes in the centre and I was so excited to share our VORTEX concept from NZ with the teachers. The team were getting tired and they hung in there for the discussion. I have introduced the teachers to Google Drive and shared some photos of our beautiful centres back home.
Please send me 3 photos from your centre that I can share with this centre to show them the diversity of ECE in Aotearoa NZ.

Presentation - Kate Hayward - Assistant Director Research Base

Main points for me from presentation:

• Community and engagement (community development approach) - Parents know their children best. Need to work with parents in ways that share knowledge about the child, and they need to be able to share their knowledge through genuine dialogue.
• P.I.C.L - Parents engaged in their Childs learning
• Use video a lot to understand what children are doing 
• Community is really important if you want to make a difference in the lives of children. Resistance is good as at least you know people have a passionate point of view about something.
• There are 120 staff across the whole organisation - social services, health and education working together for families
• targeting of interventions can often be thought of to be a deficit model - challenge the thinking is a way of working (not a programme) - engagement with communities and working with each other.
• Parents make decisions and lead assessment conversations. How do you understand your community?
• Kate referred to our 5 questions - Do you know me? what do you know about your community? Do you hear me? Can I trust you? Is this place fair for me? Do you let me fly?
• Develop things here that parents have been leading the assessment of need. Parents tell the service what they think is important and distributing the power. 

Beliefs and values about working with parents?

• Negotiating this and owning what ours are.
• What you believe affects how you work with a family
• Meet - 'The Pen Green Loop' - there is some connection here to our 'Helical Vortex' concept - anyway - it is about how what happens in each of the settings impacts on the other through observations by both and having a shared dialogue - this is both formal and informal.

Settling children and families into the centre - strengthening connections.

• There is a two week setting period where the child is supported to transition into the centre - not only by parents - all significant adults/siblings can be involved in settling the child. I thought this was great as the teachers get to meet and observe the ways the child interacts with these 'significant others' and build on these observations to strengthen a relationship with the child incrementally over time (albeit 2 weeks). It is a way to create memories with children at the centre, levering off the emotional connections the child has with these important people. Stroke of genius I think and not putting the pressure on parents only, inclusive of a variety of people in the life of the child. The possibilities are endless - Uncle, Aunty, neighbour, grandparent, older sibling.....Imaging the insights you would get into the life of the child through observing and sharing time together.
• A way to get to know and understand the child
• After 6 weeks at the centre - the teachers share a video clip about the child's engagement at the centre
• For children attending longer, there can be several clips. There are PICL groups where parents are invited to come and watch video clips of their children (collectively watching clips of each others children). Parents are able to watch the clips together and share ideas. 
• For some families, they meet 1:1 as well - again this is formal or informal - the team at Pen Green work hard to make it manageable.

Main frameworks - shared language to discuss learning:

• Notice, recognising and responding
• Wellbeing - Leavers levels of involvement 
• Schema