As we approach the end of Term Three and turn our focus towards the “what next” with school transitions for our current children, orientation sessions for our 2018 children and the inevitable end of year celebrations my reflections focus on “change”.

My gosh we expect young children to do a lot of it! Early childhood is a time of constant change for young children – the very act of changing from a baby to a toddler to a pre-schooler is change and whilst we as adults know this because we have the experience and knowledge of what to expect we must remember that the children do not. Every change that comes to their lives is an entire new learning curve and it is important for us to look at this from the perspective of a child rather than the more extensive knowledge base that we adults have.

This has never been more important than at this point in their young lives as they prepare for the biggest change they have yet to encounter-going to school! I cannot emphasise enough how important it is for you to ensure that your child takes part in all the transition activities that your school has to offer. It is important that the whole family takes part so you all learn together what you can expect so that everyone is well prepared.

Useful strategies that will help:

Be prepared – know what to expect, when to expect it and ensure your child has everything they needLet children know simply what they will be doing a day at a timePoint out the school when you pass “look there’s your school for next year”Ensure that they can manage their own clothing and belongings by “practicing” at homeArrange play dates with other children going to the same schoolBe positive – if you are stressed and worried about it so will they beCelebrate the major milestone that it is and embrace the change!!

A common thread of conversations over the front desk this past week has been “where did Term One go?” This caused me to take stock and reflect on how busy our lives are and to ponder how all this business of rushing about everywhere is impacting on the lives of our children.

I am a firm believer in the old adage that it is vital to our kid’s sufficient time to be just that “kids”. At a risk of sounding like a dinosaur I have fond memories of my childhood days being spent playing outdoors and not coming home until Mum called (I know different time and different context), climbing trees, getting dirty and no-one cared and simply playing. And that play came out of our imaginations not from the latest App.

Even though I am a very passionate teacher of young children I believe that not everything in the life of a child needs to be tied learning or a particular purpose. A couple of extracurricular activities are fine but not every hour of every day needs to be filled with something. If it is we run the risk of creating “stimulus junkies “who are incapable of making independent choices and decisions.

It is important to include some regular down time in your family life so that all the family can relax and you have time to connect as a family. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking your children will be bored, boredom creates opportunities for them to learn to occupy themselves.

My quote of the day:

Never be so busy making a living that you forget to make a LIFE – Dolly Parton

Have you ever considered the purpose of play? It’s not just children running around enjoying themselves or simply mucking around. Play is actually the work of children. So what are they actually doing?

The Early Years Learning Framework tells us that “play provides the opportunity for children to learn as they “discover, create, improvise and imagine”. It also tells us that “when children play with other children they create social groups, test out ideas, challenge each other’s thinking and build new understandings. Play also provides an environment where children are supported to ask questions, solve problems and develop the ability to think critically as well as build a love of learning.

Play also provides the opportunity for children to develop the life skills they need such as the language and communication skills that will allow them to negotiate, engage in social interactions that are caring about others and the environment, be assertive in an appropriate manner, build confidence, be a leader and a follower (and know when each is appropriate) and to take risks in a supportive environment. Play also helps with physical growth and development. Most importantly the freedom to play helps a child to build trust and to feel loved, happy and safe.

This is exactly what we see when we watch the children at play when they are at Kindy. Our interventions and provocations are based on how we can further help children with the development of these skills, grow their love of learning and help them to realise just what it is they know.

And you thought that they were just playing ??????

The other day I was pondering the theme of my next blog and I came across this quote from Bill Beattie in a professional magazine. He said ……

“The aim of education should be to teach us how to think, not what to think – rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with thoughts of other men.”

…… and I thought WOW – got it in one!!

This statement really resonated with me because it so clearly defines what it is we aim to achieve. I quite often have this conversation when I ask them what they want to achieve for their child from a year at preschool. I all too often hear I want them to learn to write and know their numbers and sometimes even learn to read. What I believe is more important we teach them how to think!! The other stuff comes easily with the ability to think developed. More importantly learning that the child understands is the learning that stays with them and gives them the ability to apply their knowledge wherever it is needed. Nearly every child can rote count and recite the alphabet but NOT every child knows and understands what letters and numbers mean and how they can be used. Food for thought!!!

Yours in Education,

Hubby

31 May 2016

Research has shown that a critical part in a child’s educational success is the involvement of their parents in a partnership with teachers. In our setting the children are just commencing their educational journey and the preschool is often the first place that they have been without their parents. Obviously it is therefore vital that we establish strong, trusting relationships with parents so that the children can all see that it is okay to trust us.

But it goes further than that. Children grow up in a community and in this day of fast advancing technology are actually citizens of global community. Just because this is the case it is important that we continue to remember to respect our grass roots and take the time to ensure that the children know how to be good citizens.

So how do we do that? Well one of the first ways is to teach them to give back to their community. And the best way to do that? Lead by example. Demonstrate to your child how important this is and articulate the benefits that it brings to you. There are many. Satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment, making a difference to someone else, great modelling for your children and a sense of pride which boosts self-esteem to name but a few.

We have a number of community events coming up over the next few weeks and other opportunities for you to volunteer your time, experience and expertise. To us in a community based, not for profit organisation that is pure gold and highly valued.

So why not give it a go and see the smile it will put on your child’s face. The following quote says it well.

“Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they’re worthless, but because they’re priceless”

Sherry Anderson

Yours in gratitude,

Hubby

As we embrace a change of season, wave goodbye to daylight savings, enjoy the cooler nights and prepare for the winter months we must also embrace the onset of cold and flu season. As ever this highlights the big dilemma for parents – when is my child too sick to come to Kindy?

I acknowledge that this is a huge issue for parents as I faced it myself when my girls were young. You have work commitments to meet, no one to look after your sick child, acknowledge (to your inner self) that they are not well BUT nor or they THAT sick, or simply beaten down by the wail “BUT I WANT TO GO TO KINDY!!!

The reality is it’s important that you take a bigger view of the picture. Sending a child to Kindy who is not well only serves to pass the illness on to other children and staff and causes illness to linger because children are constantly cross infecting each other. If staff are ill it also upsets a child’s already fragile temperament because “their” teacher is not there and that causes the upset and tears that are not the way to start anyone’s day.

This is especially so for children who are at Kindy for the first time. Staying Healthy in Childcare (5th edition) points out that infections are common in children and often lead to illness. At home, children are reasonably well protected from infectious illness because they do not come into contact with many people – at Kindy they do! The way that children interact in our setting means that diseases can spread quickly in a variety of ways. Children of this age still put things in their mouths, the ability to wipe their noses and cover sneezes is still developing and in spite of reminders they are still not that great at remembering to wash their hands!!

Obviously we have health and hygiene procedures in place to counter this but we cannot guarantee an environment that is 100% hygienic and sterile 100% of the time.

The other point here is that sometimes a dose of prevention in the form of a “day off” has many benefits and should be top of your agenda. Most workplaces these days are very flexible about working from home and often this strategy can result in only one day off instead of a week when they get really sick! So please consider this when your child presents as unwell.

As a slightly left of centre view on this I have included a link to the Mamamia website which may make you laugh. I certainly had a chuckle. AND remember- we always know when you have given your child Panadol to get them through the day and haven’t felt that it was necessary to share this information with us!!!

http://www.mamamia.com.au/10-ways-to-drop-your-sick-kid-at-child-care/

Also here is another good one to end this blog......

Mary Had a Little Cold

Mary had a little cold, but wouldn’t stay at home..

And every where that Mary went

The cold was sure to roam.

It wandered into Molly’s eyes and filled them full of tears

It jumped from there to Bobby’s nose and then to Jimmy’s ears.

It painted Annie’s throat bright red and swelled poor Little Johnny’s head

Dora had a fever and a cough put Jack to bed

The moral of this little take, is very quickly said

Mary could have saved a lot of pain

With just one day in bed!

- Author unknown

For my first blog of 2016 I thought I would write about parents rather than children!! I hope that hasn’t turned you all off because it is important that I emphasise just how important parents are to what we do.

You are your child’s first teacher and never under estimate the importance of that. What they know already has come from what you have taughte them. Therefore also have a far greater knowledge of your child and what they know than we do. We rely on you to share that knowledge so we know how to best provide for your child.

Quite often the relationships we build with your children are the first they have had outside the circle of family so it is important that you learn to trust us so that the children it is okay for them to trust us as well.

Put simply the educational partnership that you will form with every teacher your child will have is probably the most important relationship they will have in their early years. It is the one that will have the most impact on the person they grow to be.

This is why we value the engagement of parents in our centre in both our community activities and our learning programs. It doesn’t matter what form that engagement takes just so long as it happens.

The words of Jane Hull below summarise succinctly.

Yours in Partnership,

Hubby

Here goes on the final blog of 2015. What a year it has been! I hope that the year has provided you and your child with an outcome that validates your choice in entrusting your child’s early education to us. I know that sometimes it is not easy for families to fit in with our opening hours and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making it work! That means a lot to us and I hope it has made a huge difference for your child.

Our 2015 cohort has been amazing. Not only the children but the families too. We have never lacked volunteers or anything other than a willingness to help out if help has been requested. The children have all grown and thrived in our environment and I am very proud to be sending them on the next stage of their journey as “Beacon Hill Kindy kids”. I hope that they will wear that badge with honour.

Being the Director of a community based preschool is not always easy. I am forever being bombarded with changes to regulation, legislation and funding. I do not know why the State government simply does not understand the value and importance of early childhood education and constantly underspend their budget. The investment in early education in our State lags not only behind the rest of Australia but also the World. Please spread this message to all and sundry. The advocacy we have engaged in has resulted in some improvements but we need more.

Enough of the soap box!! The purpose of this blog is not for me to have a rant but

the intended message is much more positive. Thank you for 2015. Every day I come to work and leave in the afternoon feeling enriched and thankful. Not many people can say that about their daily toil! See you somewhere, sometime and please, please, please – come back and visit.

With much love,

Hubby

I spent some time in the playground this morning arranging to have some plans drawn up to help with a planned re-vamp of the upper area. It actually made my morning! It is so lovely out in the garden now that spring has arrived and to see the children fully engaged and using the environment is so inspiring.

This made me stop and reflect on places for learning. I thought back to my early education. As a country girl, growing up in a small rural community in New Zealand I didn’t have the advantage of preschool. However, when I went off to school at age 5 I attended a very small school with a total enrolment of 59 students. There were two classrooms. The “little” room for the equivalent of K-2 and the “big” room for the rest of the school. What this actually meant was that we engaged in lots of learning together all over the school. Those early experiences certainly influenced my personal educational philosophy and also enables me to draw a direct comparison to our Kindy.

We don’t spend all day in our individual classrooms, restricted to our desks or a fixed environment. At BHCK we value our playground as another classroom and include provocations that ensure that the children get equal access to all curriculum provisions no matter where they are or which class they are in. This was also the sort of early education that I had.

The thing about early education is that so much of the learning is unseen. Our aim is to ensure that all the fundamental building blocks are in place so that when they move on to more formal schooling they are going well prepared. More importantly our aim is to deepen their understanding of the world so that they have the ability to make the connections by themselves.

This is why places for learning are so important. Children must have the opportunity to explore things and experiment for themselves. This helps all learning styles. More importantly, making decisions on how and where to learn helps them to grow in confidence and develop the attitudes that will define who they become.

Remember: learning can happen anytime and anywhere!!

Yours in education,

Hubby

Today's blog is about community spirit and is written after our Reunion held on Saturday 12 September. This event was a powerful endorsement of the impact of community. It was so rewarding to re-connect with families from the past, hear their stories and simply come together once more. I have used the words from my address on the day to hopefully share with you why this is so important.

The idea of a reunion came together late last year when I celebrated my 20 years on staff here at Kindy. I started as a teacher in 1995 but in the 3 years preceding this I was here as a parent and a Board member when my 3 daughters attended. So my initial connection with this wonderful community dates back to 1992. As a result I have many, many years of memories and people to reflect on. My 20 years anniversary set Samm and I to talking about all the children and families that I have known over the years and pondering where life's journey might have taken these children and their families.

The once thing that resonated most strongly with us was that since the Kindy began (and there has been a Kindy in the community centre since the 1960s) the teachershere have touched and influenced many lives adn we realised how important it was for us to share with you how you have touched ours! I actually did a rough calculation and in broad terms in my 20 years I have taught 1,600 children. Wow - quite a statistic but more importantly so the idea of a reunion was born.

I also loved the idea because one of the greates joys of my life has been meeting Kindy people in all sorts of odd places all over the world and stopping to take a moment to share a story, have a chat or a "remember when". The most memorable of these meetings occurred on a goat track on the Cinque Terra in Italy - it was such a surprise I nearly fell off the cliff. But this story goes to show you how far our kindy community has spread!

What is important here is that the bonds formed at Kindy are often the ones that you sustain right through your life. It is so very rewarding to us to know how genuinely excited families are when it is their time to return with younger children.

To this end we are firmly committed to our community based not for profit preschool model and are resolved to stand fast in spite of efforts by the NSW Government to meddle with our funding and place strain on our viability. Their decision to no longer fund 3 year old children was a real slap in the face and we wonder where those children will go.

Unfortunately kindy's like ours are fast becoming a dying breed and neither the NSW nor the federal government appear to have any commitment to community preschools. They view early childhood education as a workforce participation incentive and are more concerned about getting womend back into the workforce rather than ensuring a quality education for our children and investing in the future of our nation. The NSW Government didn't even see fit to fully expend the budget allocation for early childhood last year and seem reluctant to share the reason why.

We however view early childhood education with a very different lens. Children and their families are at the centre of our practice. We value offering learning in a community context where the children are together in class groups, with the same peers and the same experienced teachers every day. As Educators this means we are in a much better place to grow their knowledge and deepen their understandings. Above all else we can grow the skill to form relationships in the children. Where else can a child get to learn how to form genuine, respectful relationships that have meaning and relevance and learn the social behaviours they need to be successful in life?

Please share this message with your friends, families, neighbours and everyone you know. We don't want to be like the dinosaurs and become extinct! If anyone asks you we do have vacancies for next year and you can either pick up some information today or direct them to our website.

But what do the children think? I asked the teachers to gather some of their thoughts and would like to share a few of those with you.

HARRY: I think our climbing tree is special and all our plants. I feel great when I come to Kindy.

CHARLIE: Playing with tents. I can play outside and inside. Kindy makes me feel good. I like to play with all my friends. I can make all sorts of things. I like it that we have tadpoles.

SYAN: Playing outside - we have a sandpit and a trampoline. I feel happy when I come to Kindy.

LUELLA: I like the climbing ree. I get to see all my friends and play with them. I feel happy coming to preschool. I will remember being with my friends.

MATILDA: The playground is so much fun. The tadpoles are nice. I will remember the tadpoles.

MATTHEW: It's special because there are lots of children. You can play with them and make new friends. I will remember my favourite thing is to play in the climbing tree.

MIA: We have a cool sandpit and swings. I will miss my friends when I go to school. I made lots of friends here. Kindy makes me feel happy.

JESSE: Because it's so fun. The swing goes so high that's why I love preschool. I love playing. Preschool makes me feel good and I'm just happy.

BEAU: I like the swings and the sandpit. I feel good at preschool.

TOM: Kindy is the best because I can play games and also I love Kindy coz I can climb on the climbing tree. I can meet friends. I like learning about stuff at preschool like life cycles.

CASPER: Its the best because it has lots of fun things to play with. We can play outside together with my friends. I will miss my best mates when I go to school.

ASHLEIGH: It's best coz it's got a big playground. I like coming to preschool because I have friends here. I love preschool.

These voices are the voices of some of the children that are currently enrolled. At the reunion we also heard the voices of some our "grown up" kids. Frank Danieli who was here in 1993 shared his memories of the Kindy and how that start has been important to him. Frank is now an Investment Banker so we must have got something right! The Danieli family still have connections with us. Frank's cousin, Simona, is one of our current children. Simona will be back next year and there is still her sister, Gemma, to come. You never know we might even get the children of Frank and his brothers one day!

We also heard from Nel Godfrey who was here in 2005 and 2006. Nel shared her memories of coming to Kindy and was thrilled to hear that many of the same things still happen! The Godfrey family were always very active.

The reunion cake was cut by Mrs Judy Rickard who was a teacher her from 1981-1989. She was helped by her daughter Suzie who attended as a child and now her grand-daughter, Audrey who is currently enrolled with us and her grandson Noah, who was with us in 2013 and 2014.

But that wasn't all! The cake was donated by Christine Pitt whose daughters attended in 2009 and 2012.

Entertainment was provided by Graham Kite who has been doing magic here since 1990 and what's more he donated his time.

Holly (who was our event photographer) summed it up as she was leaving. She said, "Hubby I didn't understand about the whole community thing before today but I get it now!" Please share this message with everyone you know.

Yours in educaiton,

Hubby

14 September 2015

I am so looking forward to our Kindy reunion on Saturday 12 of September, 2015. The reunion seed was sown at the end of last year when I celebrated my 20 year anniversary at BHCK and paused to reflect on the combined years of service of our staff members. Do you know that it comes to a total of 125 years? Imagine what that would be translated to minutes! Convert that to the 80 families who have been with us each of those 20 years and you get 1,600 children. Oh my goodness I hope they don't ALL turn up. Personally, I feel honoured and privileged to have touched the lives of so many children and I know that the rest of the staff share my sentiments.

This all serves to underline the importance of early childhood education. The early years are so fundamental in the development of the child yet we are so often overlooked and misunderstood. I think what people fail to understand is that the learning that happens at Kindy is often unseen and as a result we are labelled with the "babysitter" tag. This is so far from reality but it is also difficult to explain the difference. Be sure and share everything that your child gains from our Kindy with everyone you know and encourage them to be part of a community based organisation like ours. Strike a blow for quality education!

So my message in this blog is simple. SPREAD THE WORD!! We would love to see as many old friends as possible.

"Like the branches of a tree, our lives may grow in different directions yet our roots remain as one" - Anon.

Yours in education,

Hubby

As we approach the mid-point of the year and notice how confident and secure the children are in our environment I have paused to reflect on why that confidence has grown.

I think it's fair to say that the number one reason is the safe, secure and trusting relationships that have been built amongst the children, families and educators. Those relationships are what define and make our centre so very special.

A further reason, I believe, relates to the environment that we provide. Our learning environment is based on the premise that we aim to encourage children's engagement, curiosity, problem solving, independent exploration and appropriate risk taking.

In order to fully understand this we need to explore the difference between a RISK and a HAZARD.

A risk is something that is possible to negotiate and may be appropriate for particular situations and children. This is what we aim to provide.

A hazard is something that is inherently dangerous and needs to be remedied, such as a climbing structure with sharp edges or loose boards that could seriously injure children if they play on it. We have well developed risk assessment practices to ensure that our environment is safe.

And let's face it; our children are growing up in a world that is very "risk aware" and as the significant adults in their life we do our outmost to minimise any risk to them. This often means however that they are not able to develop or practice their internal risk assessment processes. This is the skill they need to meet the demands of their environments. If we provide all the solutions for them they never learn to discern for themselves what is safe.

That is what we do so well. We provide an environment that allows them to take risks in a supportive and safe environment AND that is why we see the emergence of confidence in the children.

The words of Roald Dahl summarise it well,

"The more risks you allow your children to make, the better they learl to look after themselves." - Roald Dahl.

Today is the last day of Term One. Wow! Where has that 10 weeks gone! The increasingly rapid passage of time was however not the subject that came to mind for today's blog!

What I paused to reflect on was celebrations, motivated by the sound of the children in Green Class enjoying an Easter Egg hunt. It made me think about how important celebrations are to people and how we all celebrate different things in different ways. Here at Kindy we love finding out about the things that are important to the lives of our children to ensure that we celebrate as many of their successes, achievements and personal events as we can.

This year already we have celebrated Australia Day, sporting trophies, grandparents coming to visit, birthdays, new puppies, losing a first tooth, Harmony Day, Easter and holidays. We are looking forward to celebrating everyone's birthday, new babies, other family milestones and just simply being.

This is so important to children. To have their successes, lightbulb moments and special events recognised and celebrated is so empowering and essential for them to develop a strong sense of self. So the message is keep sharing those moments that need to be celebrated as we would love to join the party!

Yours in education (and celebration)

Hubby

2 April,

2015

I have spent some time reflecting on the subject of my first Blog for 2015. There are many things I could write about (and probably will throughout the course of the year!) but wanted to share my thoughts on something that is essential to the beginning of the year. I came up with TRUST.

As I watch the arrivals and departures in the morning and notice the smiles, laughter, tears and hesitation it brings to my mind the huge amount of trust that each and every family places in us each day. It is no little thing to leave your child with someone that you really don't know that well yet and trust them to ensure that your child has a happy, healthy and safe day with someone who is not you. For some children it is their first experience of being in a place where there is no one from their home environment so it takes trust on their part to understand that they will be ok.

This makes the building of relationships to earn that trust so vital to what we do. To quote the words of Stephen Covey "Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships."

I hope that we have done that with you and your family. As I walk through the classrooms and watch the happy engaged children I think we are doing a reasonable job. I also hope that we have extended the hand of friendship and welcome to all parents and made it possible for you to feel that trust.

Pleae remember that my door is always open and should you feel the need to discuss anything please come and visit me.

Yours in Educaiton,

Hubby

This will be my last blog entry for 2014 as the year fast approaches its culmination. What a year it has been! The standout event for me has been the validation we received as part of our first ever assessment and rating - EXCEEDING THE NATIONAL QUALITY STANDARD - in not just one area but all seven. You have no idea how empowering this has been not just for me but for the entire staff team. And of course for all the families that constitute our community it validates your choice in entrusting your child's early education to us. I know that sometimes that choice is not always easy for families and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving us a go!

Then of course there are the children and families that make up the 2014 cohort. What an amazing and supportive group you have all been. We have never lacked volunteers or anything other than a willingness to help out if help has been requested. The children have all grown and thrived in our environment and I am very proud to be sending them on the next stage of their journey as "Beacon Hill Kindy kids"!

The end of the year does however bring me some sadness. 2014 marks 20 years here at Kindy for me and the end of my face to face teaching responsibilities. I am not retiring or anything silly like that but from 2015 I will be here in the capacity of Director and not as part of one of the class groups. Having turned 60 during the year and with my own children long gone from the nest I have simply decided it is time for a better work life balance. As such I will work a few hours less each week so that I can pursue some of the other things in life that are important to me. I think the rest of the staff team are actually dreading this as they know it will be harder than ever to keep me out of the classroom!

So I will end with a special thank you to all of the children I have taught during my 20 years as a teacher at Beacon Hill Community Kindergarten. Each and every one of you has enriched my life and I hope I have made a difference in yours.

With much love

Hubby

When I take the time to sit and reflect about what it is that makes BHCK so special I keep coming back to COMMUNITY. Can you think of any other environment where community is celebrated in quite the same way?

Take today for example. The children have been out on an excursion accompanied by 12 parents who didn’t mind being squashed on a bus with 42 excited children. More volunteered but we simply couldn’t take the remainder.

Sitting on the reception desk are the few remaining jars of jam and chutney that were left over from our stall at the community markets and they are still selling. The market stall was staffed by –you got it – members of the community in an effort to spread the word about us.

In the front courtyard is the roster for the sausage sizzle at Bunnings this coming Saturday and it is rapidly filling. Still not too late though so don’t be put off!

Our Bush Dance and any community event that we offer are always well supported. I never have any difficulty getting parents to attend working bees, shovel sand or mulch, do letter box drops, or just generally help out around the place. I also seem to be able to find 10 willing volunteers to serve on our community board each year. You have no idea how challenging some centre’s find this. Every year we seem to be blessed with parents with the right level of expertise and willingness to make this contribution. You are all so awesome it makes it a pleasure and delight to come to work.

Hubby

27 October, 2014

The end of Term 3 always makes me feel really sad! Why you ask? Well I'll tell you!

It is because I know that the farewells are just around the corner. Term 4 always passes in a flash as we go on our big excursion, orientate new families and prepare for our end of year festivities. The children are also engaged in transition activities at their "big schools" and return to Kindy full of excitement and pride. It is further evident in the way the children have grown in both competence and confidence.

To some families it will be "au revoir" but to others it will be farewell as the final member of their family departs for the wider world. I know that after 20 years here at Kindy I will continue to see you all around the area, especially "down at the Mall" and it continues to blow my mind that even when I am overseas on holiday I still manage to meet a Kindy family! It's just not the same!

But it is different and exciting, especially for the children. The end of the year marks the end of a journey that the children and families have with us and I believe that this entitles me to be a little bit sad! On the other hand when I take stock and reflect on the journey that each and every child has had with us I also feel pride and pleasure and know that as a result of their time at Beacon Hill Kindy they are better prepared for the next stage of their life journey.

Yours in Education

Hubby

The decision of what to write about in this blog was made very easy this afternoon when we received our Final Notice of Rating from our recent assessment and rating visit. It's official! Beacon Hill Community Kindergarten exceeds the National Quality Standard in all 7 quality areas. Wow, what a result and a testimony to the hard work and dedicaiton of our wonderful staff team and our community.

I will confess that I actually burst into tears when I initially read the report - not because I was sad but because I was so happy that everyone received the recognition that they so deserve. As a staff team we feel validated, empowered and even more committed to maintaining and retaining the benchmark that we have set. The NQS requires us to engage in a cycle of continuous improvement which comes naturally as we engage in further study and continuously question and discuss what we are doing and why we are doing it.

The contribution of our community should also not be ignored. What a wonderful supportive, committed bunch you are. We love the way you engage with us and contribute to the best possible outcomes not only for your children but for the centre as a whole.

And of course the children. We feel honoured and privileged to be part of their early education and hold the relationships that we build with them in order to facilitate the learning opportunities they engage with as core to what we do.

Yours in Education

Hubby

20 August, 2014

I have just enjoyed my 23rd Bush Dance and this has caused me to pause and reflect on the value of community. Here at Beacon Hill Kindy we have always placed great store on the community part of our name and it is events like the Bush Dance that make me appreciate just how supporting and committed our community are. Community underpins everything we do and it is so rewarding to be a part of a community event and see how much everyone else is part of it too. Our community events could not happen without a dedicated and committed group of people to make it happen and we are blessed with many such willing people. Our families give generously of their time and effort and it makes our job so much more enjoyable and rewarding.

It is not only the parents - our staff are equally dedicated and committed and it was also rewarding for me to see every single one of them also enjoying the Bush Dance. This last one was doubly special as we acknowledged and celebrated 10 years of service for Samm Phin our ever smiling and welcoming "front of house". In fact, all but two of our staff have exceeded 10 years of service and this is a statistic of which we are really proud.

I encourage you all to reflect on the value that community brings to your lives and spread the word amongst all your friends as it is a rare commodity in a very busy world.

Yours in Education,

Hubby