KU Quarterly April 2018 | Page 3

of new families and children with a well-established formula. There were embedded rituals that the team had not realised were no longer serving the learning community. Fewer and fewer families attended the prescribed parent information sessions and educators began to feel compromised by the time required to assist individual families with the documentation and enrolment requirements, the translated assistance necessary and the increasing amount of dedicated support needed for individual children to navigate the transition from home to the centre. An opportunity to engage in Action Research invited the team to review the orientation processes for families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and prompted the question: “How does our centre orientation process support families’ inclusion and facilitate children’s transition from home to centre, reflecting the cultural context of the community?” What then was important to families? Resident families were invited to contribute to a review of current orientation practices. In dialogue families reviewed: What was the orientation experience into KU Chatswood Community Preschool like (was it welcoming, informative, how did they feel)? Did families find the practical information helpful (including the Standard Terms for Enrolment, operational information)? As established members of the centre community, families were asked to consider what would be good to include or change in the future. Would long standing families be interested in assisting new families’ orientation into the centre and what could this look like? What was important to the children? Children were also consulted as part of the review of current practices. They were invited to discuss the following: Did the children remember when they first started at KU Chatswood? How did they feel? What did they see? What could the children tell new children about our preschool? These discussion forums provided great insight into the ineffectual practices that supported orientation and provided some clear and creative resolutions to ensure the process of welcoming new families into APRIL 2018 the service would be a warm, positive, supportive experience. The centre utilised the wisdom and perspectives of resident families, the courageous critique of the educators and the reflective suggestions of the children to reshape orientation. Recognising resident family knowledge and their willingness to actively welcome new families into the centre community was a vital component of a new look orientation package. A “Pay-it-Forward” strategy was introduced, and resident volunteer families were recruited to extend a welcome to new families as part of the orientation process. “Pay-it-Forward” facilitated opportunities for small groups of new families to come to the centre with an existing family member playing host and sharing key aspects of the culture of the centre with prospective families. It provided an opportunity to share useful information like where to put children’s bags, tips for morning tea and lunch and how these transitions are supported by staff, the best place to park and many more important functional tips. This was supported by a “Stay and Play” time for new parents and children. These small forums of new families were also encouraged to reconvene for coffee outside of the centre at another date. Rethinking the tenants of orientation was most effective in building relationships among new families and having an informed resource for questions and queries beyond the centre staff. These existing families proved invaluable as advocates for the work and pedagogy that defined KU Chatswood Community Preschool. The concept of sharing the many tasks associated with orientation with existing families meant that the Centre Director and the teaching team could allocate more time to individual families, walking them through the learning environment, discussing expectations of care and education in a relaxed way. The team could calmly engage with families and begin to build relationships of trust and respect. It became apparent that new rituals were readily adopted. The once new families soon became the established resident members of the centre community who were eager to step up and “Pay- it-Forward”. The willing participation of current families to support new families became integral to the changing face of orientation and foundational relationships. With each new year, KU Chatswood families step in to create space for belonging. They are open and eager to welcome new families, they share their experiences and advocate for the expertise of the educators and the rich learning opportunities afforded to children and families. www.ku.com.au Page 3