Meet Daniel Nicholson, an educator who’s teaching sign language to preschoolers. BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE SEPTEMBER 29, 2022 Daniel Nicholson is an educator at Haileybury Rendall ELC in Darwin, and he’s someone who truly loves working with little learners. After being a Centre Director at another service, Daniel chose to step back into an educator role, bringing his passion for Australian sign language (aka ‘Auslan’) with him! Daniel first learnt Auslan to communicate with a hearing impaired friend at high school, and he’s now dedicated to sharing the language with as many people as possible. He’s introduced Auslan to more than 500 Darwin families, and at Haileybury Rendall ELC, Auslan is part of the daily program. Daniel says, “I do Auslan with the children all day, through their normal lessons and everyday use. We use it through transitions, mealtimes and other activities, and I also do specialised lessons with children, focused on sign language.” He’s found that the children are ready, willing and very able Auslan students. In just six months, Daniel’s Reception room kids have become aware of more than 250 signs, and this is helping them to understand a language other than Auslan. At Haileybury Rendall ELC, ages three and older learn Mandarin, and sign language has been woven into these weekly classes. Daniel says, “We’ve found that me signing Auslan has helped the children to understand the Chinese names of animals, like ‘dog,’ ‘cat’ and ‘dragon.’” “Children have been able to connect multiple languages, using hand signals to solidify the knowledge they have, and our Mandarin teacher has learnt some Auslan, too!” In fact, everyone in Daniel’s orbit is learning some sign language. He says, “It’s my passion project to introduce Auslan to as many people as possible, and the more people who know about Auslan, the better it is for society.” “I offer training to whoever is interested, using whatever resources I can find, and I love sharing my knowledge with the children, staff and families at Haileybury Rendall ELC and the wider community.” “I’m thrilled to have shared Auslan with hundreds of people so far and it’s my dream that every child in Australia gets some exposure to Auslan.” Daniel believes, “It’s really important that hearing impaired people are heard and understood, and learning Auslan is a positive thing for young children, on both a cognitive and social-emotional level.” “Auslan teaches them to use their brains – and hands – in new ways, with a focus on collaboration and community-mindedness.” Daniel says, “Children usually find it easier to pick up a new language than grown-ups do, and I hope they take these early Auslan lessons with them through life.” “It’s a real thrill to see preschoolers showing off their signing skills to their parents and siblings, and we’ve come a long way since I first thought to use Auslan actions for ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ at the start of my childcare career!” At Haileybury Rendall ELC, Daniel’s special skillset is an incredible asset. Head of the Early Learning Centre, Michelle Shaw says, “The children are eager to learn more and more signs, and Daniel is an exceptional educator. He understands that young children learn through play, and always goes the extra mile to make learning accessible and fun for every child.” “We’re proud to offer a rich early learning curriculum at Haileybury Rendall ELC, including specialist subjects like Physical Education, Music, Library, Phonics, Science and Mandarin – and Auslan is a really wonderful way to round out our children’s early education.” If you’d like to introduce your own child to Auslan, then Daniel suggests you start with the basics and build from there. He says, “The best way to learn and teach sign language is through nursery rhymes and songs that make it fun and engaging.” “Together, you can expand your Auslan vocabulary, and even if you don’t remember all the signs a year from now, you will have opened up your family’s understanding of the world and the importance of all-inclusive communication.” Back at Haileybury Rendall ELC, the centre’s incredible early learning program and great culture hasn’t gone unnoticed. Haileybury Rendall ELC is a KindiCare Excellence Awards Finalist for the Northern Territory, with a KindiCare Rating of 9.6, and we congratulate Michelle, Daniel and the whole team on this very well-deserved result!   

Why an outdoorsy educational approach is so good for preschoolers. BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE SEPTEMBER 29, 2022 Little adventurers love forest kindy! This educational offering puts preschoolers in beautiful natural areas where they’re encouraged to play, explore, take risks and grow their love for the great outdoors. Activities like raft-building, tree-climbing, wand-making and camp-cooking are all possible, and there’s a real freedom in the way children get to choose their own challenges and test the bounds of what they can – and want – to do. Educators offer instruction in things like fire-lighting and wood-whittling, but mostly, they stand back and give children the space and time to lead their own learning. This has developmental upsides for preschoolers’ brains and bodies. Forest kindy empowers kids to think, decide and do in lots of different ways, and Amanda England knows first-hand how awesome forest kindy is for young learners’ development. Amanda is busy writing a PhD all about forest learning, and she’s the Brisbane Area Manager for Wildlings Forest School, which provides weekly forest kindy sessions for ages three to six (and their siblings). Amanda finds that no session is exactly the same, but every moment in the bush is beneficial. For starters, forest kindy boosts children’s language and social skills. Young learners have loads of opportunities to communicate, collaborate and compromise as they play in nature, and this increases their language skills, builds their vocabulary and develops important social skills. Amanda says, “Children wonder aloud and share their opinions as they work and play. They learn new words, like ‘canopy’ and ‘flint,’ and conversation flows freely during socio-dramatic play.” “For example, children might take turns ‘driving’ a thick log that reminds them of a car, talking about their pretend route and errands as they go.” There’s plenty of time to pursue all avenues and go deep with ideas. The slower pace of nature play increases the flow of children’s creativity and imagination, and forest kindy offers long, uninterrupted periods of child-led play. Amanda says, “This gives learners lots of time to conceptualise and create their own play using natural materials.” “So, instead of having just enough time to build a cubby house with sticks, they can launch into pretend play in its kitchen, using loose parts, like rocks, leaves and seedpods, to role-play cooking and eating.” Forest kindy also encourages children to think for themselves, because sessions are child-led. Preschoolers gain self-awareness, independence and confidence as they try new things, and Amanda sees lots of children building self-trust and courage in the forest. Tree-climbing is a great example of this. She says, “Children test the branches to make sure they’re safe before they climb. Then as they climb, they show self-awareness by only climbing as high as they feel comfortable. This builds trust within themselves, which empowers them to keep trying to reach the top on their own.” Along the way, they build resilience – that all-important ability to bounce back when the going gets tough. At forest kindy, children are given the freedom to take risks in a safe space and learning new skills, like sawing and drilling, requires perseverance.  Amanda says, “We teach preschoolers that they need to keep trying to succeed, and they’re given opportunities to work on their skills over and over again, building resilience as they grapple with risky endeavours, like woodwork.” Forest kindy also strengthens preschoolers’ fine and gross motor skills. The little muscles in children’s fingers and wrists get a work-out tying knots, striking flint and collecting leaves, while the big muscles in children’s arms and legs are used for climbing trees, clambering up hills, dragging rafts and wading through water. Amanda explains that, “As they do all this, children learn how to coordinate their hands and eyes, and arms and legs. They improve their proprioceptive (body awareness) and vestibular (balance) development as they move, climb with grip, pivot without slipping, balance without falling and adjust to moving through different terrains.” “And all of this helps kids to develop an understanding of their body, where it is in the space, and the way it moves, which sets them up for school and life.”  Then, there’s the feel-good factor! Forest kindy increases children’s biophilia (love for nature), and their respect for the natural world grows as they identify flora and fauna, clear weeds, plant natives, conserve water and reflect on their place in the natural world. Amanda says, “Playing in nature leads to improved mental health outcomes, such as lowered anxiety and stress levels,” and she sees children relax noticeably as dirt falls through their fingers. The microbes children pick up in soil are also positive for their body. Amanda explains that, “We have trillions of little resident microbes living in our gut and on our skin. These help us to digest foods, absorb nutrients, regulate our immune response and produce inflammation-fighting chemicals, and we pick them up through exposure to the microbes in soil.” And let’s not forget that forest school is fun! Children really look forward to their weekly Wildlings sessions (with lots of them wanting to come more often, or stay in the forest forever!), and all ages benefit from bush learning. Wildlings also runs nature playgroups for under threes in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, and after school adventures for big kids in Brissy, and no matter where you live or how old your child is, forest learning is a fantastic thing to explore.

Winners Revealed: KindiCare Announces Australia’s Best Early Learning Centres for 2022. BY BENJAMIN BALK, KINDICARE SEPTEMBER 11, 2022 An independent early childhood education and care centre that puts priority on the wellbeing of its workforce has been named the National Winner in this year’s KindiCare Excellence Awards. Essex Heights Juniors in the outer Melbourne suburb of Mount Waverley scored 10.0, the highest KindiCare Rating in the nation, to take top honours. The regional winner, a category introduced for the first time this year, was also from Victoria with Journey Early Learning Centre in Whittlesea scoring 9.7. The KindiCare app and childcare comparison website, developed by founder and CEO Benjamin Balk to make the process of selecting a quality early learning centre more transparent for parents, has revolutionised the early learning search journey for Australian families. The KindiCare Excellence Awards recognise the top performing early learning services across the nation based on their Kindicare Rating. The KindiCare Rating provides a unique score for every early learning service that is based on their current and historical assessment and ratings under the National Quality Framework from ACECQA, parent and community feedback and reviews, the stability and length of operation of the service as well as other characteristics known about a service – providing a comprehensive real time picture of quality and value for money that’s easy for parents to understand. In a sector suffering a critical shortage of qualified educators, Essex Heights Juniors boasts 11 Bachelor or Masters qualified teachers and is regularly cited by Education authorities as a model early learning centre. Centre owner and director for 25 years, Paula Papanicolaou, attributes her success to looking after her staff. “We have two wellbeing officers,” said Paula. “One is responsible for the wellbeing of staff and the other for the children. Our educational leader is full time off the floor, providing support to staff in all rooms and having private one-to-one sessions to explore their learning goals.” Mr Balk says Essex Heights Juniors’ approach provides a shining example of how to overcome workforce issues as shortcomings in the early learning sector were laid bare at this week’s Jobs Summit. “Look after your educators and education looks after itself,” said Mr Balk. “Essex Heights Juniors offers an incredible program of education and play and a working environment where educators are valued. That translates to staff being able to deliver the curriculum and care that they know will lead to happy children – and happy parents.” Mr Balk says a common theme amongst National, State and Regional winners was having long-serving staff who were motivated to create engaging play and learning environments with a strong culture of continuous improvement. “It’s incredible to see the innovative approaches that some centres have adopted to captivate children’s imagination and teach them important life lessons,” said Mr Balk. “Goodstart Early Learning Port Macquarie, who were joint NSW winners with their sister centre in Tuggerah, empower their children to be critical decision makers. Children are involved in the centre’s daily safety checks which helps them to become safety advocates and more aware of risks.” Forrest OOSHC, a joint winner in the ACT, and the first before and after school service to take top honours in the KindiCare Excellence Awards, goes even further to give children a voice in how the centre is run. A children’s committee is involved in selection of staff at the centre and recently cast their vote in favour of hiring a staff member with cerebral palsy. Executive Director Ali Sewter says the children have embraced the opportunity to make important decisions about the operation of the service. “The children led the process, did the research and spoke to the principal of the attached primary school, the committee and staff, to determine what changes would be necessary to employ this person,” said Ms Sewter. Through joint decisions made by the interview panel, Forrest OOSHC has two employees with Down Syndrome, eight on the autism spectrum and one in a wheelchair. A willingness to embrace risky play was another outstanding feature amongst top performing centres, according to Mr Balk. Joint WA winner, Princeton Preschool by Busy Bees, encourages children to climb trees, helping them to evaluate the risk and climb with safety in mind. Yirrkala Preschool in remote East Arnhem Land was the Northern Territory winner but finalist Dripstone Children’s Centre has also been kicking goals by turning the usual child care model on its head. Acting Director Georgia Cleanthous says they don’t lock children into age groups but let them move into whatever play and activity space they want. “We see children as capable risk-takers and we honour their voices,” said Ms Cleanthous. “We have a children’s committee who meet once a month and this is where children’s big ideas are documented and the adults action them.” Some requests don’t get past the fun police however. When the children asked for a crocodile, the centre looked at getting a baby croc but settled for a mock croc that now lives with the uncaged chickens and bunny. With plans to add to the menagerie with turtles and a fish, it was undoubtedly the wisest and safest decision. Ashgrove Memorial Kindergarten, Queensland joint winners alongside Goodstart Early Learning North Lakes Winn Street, has a history dating back to 1949 with their longest serving staff member clocking up 18 years. “Quite a few of our parents attended Ashgrove Memorial Kindergarten as children themselves and would never consider sending their children to another kindy,” said centre co-director Lisa Cranny. Inclusiveness also stood out as a common theme amongst winners and finalists. Educator Daniel Nicholson introduced Auslan at Darwin’s Haileybury Rendall Early Learning Centre, incorporating sign language into play and learning activities. “In the past, I’ve taught blind children and deaf children, and have also learnt Braille to support their learning,” said David. “I do Auslan with the children all day, through their normal lessons and everyday use. We use it through transitions, mealtimes and other activities and in the past six months have incorporated Auslan into our Mandarin lessons.  “My dream would be that Auslan is a lesson, like any other in schools, and that every child in Australia gets some exposure to Auslan. So far, I’ve shared it with over 500 families in Darwin, and the more people who know about it, the better it is for society.” Joint winners in South Australia, were Stepping Stone Evanston Childcare & Early Development Centre and Nazareth Early Childhood Centre, with scores of 9.5. Mr Balk said that the 2022 KindiCare Awards this year recognised just over 2,000 early learning services nationally who achieved a KindiCare Rating of 9.0 or above. About 10% of services nationally were recognised with an Excellent Award with the top 2% of the nation’s best performing early learning services receiving the newly introduced Outstanding Award for achieving a KindiCare Rating of 9.5 or above. “It is fantastic to be able to recognise the hard work and dedication of the childcare providers, educators and staff at these top performing centres nationally who strive every day to give the best possible start to learning for children across Australia,” said Mr Balk. View the 2022 KindICare Excellence Awards Website to see all the winners and finalists showingcasing Australia's top performing early learning services >>>