A CONVERSATION WITH JACKIE STAUDINGER DIRECTOR, KU MACQUARIE FIELDS PRESCHOOL
Macquarie Fields is a diverse and unique community with families from many different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. 96 % of families enrolled in the preschool speak English as a second language.
Describe the type of relationship that you aim to develop in your centre between educators and families.
We aim to develop a mutually respectful relationship between educators, families and carers. Because many parents speak English as a second language, it is particularly important that educators greet families every day with a welcoming smile and show that they are happy to see them. Using positive verbal and nonverbal communication strategies is the first step towards respectful relationships.
How would you describe the benefits to children when educators develop strong and positive relationships with families?
By showing children that educators and parents / carers have a relationship based on mutual respect, it allows children to feel emotionally safe, secure and happy. It is a major step towards children being able to develop positive relationships and attachments with educators.
We use the Parent Circle of Security approach to help us understand ways of building on parent and educator relationships. All educators have been trained in this approach and it helps us in several ways including:
Building the types of trusting relationships where parents feel a sense of belonging within the centre. We want parents to know that educators feel privileged to have the opportunity to teach their child.
Giving us strategies to support parents to understand their own relationships with their child and the primary attachment relationship between parents and their children.
Developing strategies for helping children to develop relationships with their peers.
Can you talk about the key strategies you use to develop these relationships and engage families in your centre?
We find that families at our centre like the structure, routine and predictability of preschool. Many of the families are new to Australia and do not have the support of extended family and friends. Some of the strategies we have found work well for us are:
Orientation evenings. For the past two years we have run orientation evenings with great success. We use visuals to help with language barriers. This includes using photos to demonstrate playbased learning, how to pack a lunch box and the routines of the day. All educators attend the orientation evening to meet and greet the families.
Educators play the“ lion” role in the morning and afternoon. This means that an educator greets all families and children and supports them to sign in, place the children’ s lunch in the correct place and apply sunscreen. Parents take their child out to the play space to support their transition.
Storypark is used as a tool for parents to provide feedback on the program and read community posts. This works well for our families because they can use translation apps to translate the posts into their own language.
Page 4 www. ku. com. au APRIL 2018