Making the KU Difference
Through sustainability
Amy Barthet
Early Childhood Teacher, KU John J Carroll Preschool
Amy, the teacher at KU John J Carroll Preschool was nominated for this award because she“ brought the bush” into KU John J Carroll Preschool, situated in Surry Hills, an inner city suburb of Sydney. What started as a dramatic play experience morphed into a collaborative project between staff, children and families, and culminated in well-researched and planned bush walks.
The project challenged thinking and practices around children’ s ability to take on managed risks, find physical strength, be involved in planning, and having resilience and self-belief – qualities that will sustain them in eventual independence.
Excursions provide opportunities for children to enjoy
authentic, concrete learning encounters that support their developing interests and understandings of the world. Well planned and implemented diverse learning experiences and outings that promote opportunities for children to engage with and participate in the wider community life, are integral to an early childhood educational program.
Amy’ s planned outdoor experiences offered opportunities for inner city children to explore, discover and learn, make connections with nature and understand the sustainability cycle in the bush.
This excursion brought to life principles of the Early Years Learning Framework of‘ learning through worthwhile and challenging experiences and interactions that foster high-level thinking skill’( EYLF, 2009).
This dramatic play and real life bush experience offered a wonderful opportunity to reflect and apply the learning experience and knowledge gained into different areas within the curriculum.
Sustainability in practice: Creative reusing
At KU Rushcutters Bay, the“ Reuse Bag” initiative encourages children and their families to be looking for“ stuff” that they are no longer using at home. They bring it in as resources for collage and construction. Educators offer some suggestions but encourage the children to be as creative as possible, welcoming all contributions. The excitement comes from never knowing what will come in next, sorting it out and deciding how they want to use it.
Children also collect sticks, leaves and flowers from the garden. These provide a multitude of possibilities.
Instead of using glue to create end-products to take home, the children create“ assemblages” that are photographed then the materials dismantled to be used over and over again.
117th Annual Report 2012 11