Building strong relationships is one of the cornerstones of successful early learning. They help children to feel secure, develop a sense of belonging and encourage a strong sense of wellbeing.
It’s for all these reasons and more that Julia Whayman, early childhood teacher at Goodstart Pullenvale, has put so much focus on an innovative approach to relationship building with her kindergarten children.
Julia’s concept, known as Kindness Culture, was developed early in 2017 as a way to help new children and families settle into the centre and is based around being kind to each other, doing good deeds and supporting the community.
Pullenvale centre director, Kylie Stevenson, said the initiative had already extended well beyond the centre and into the community by supporting numerous charities and causes.
“Julia’s idea was that building a culture of kindness within the centre would ripple out to families and then the community,” Kylie said.
“Each month the children will initiate a discussion around who or what they could support next, and how we’ll go about it.
“Last month for example, the children decided they wanted to support looking after the sea because many of them were about to go on family holidays to the beach.
“From this we learned about sea life and the things we can do to protect the ocean, and then ended up creating a display at our local shopping centre that celebrated the phasing out of plastic bags and encouraged people to do the right thing with waste.”
The children have also made donations and raised money for Ronald McDonald House, the Pyjama Foundation, and taken part in a Million Paws Walk around their community.
“Working together on these initiatives and spreading goodwill in the community has helped with building the kind of nurturing and positive relationships that support good outcomes for children in early learning,” Julia said.
“I’m thrilled to see all the children and families appreciating and getting involved in their community. These children are a perfect reminder to all of us, that everyone can make a difference in this world.
“I am very proud of my little people doing big things,” she said.
It’s for all these reasons and more that Julia Whayman, early childhood teacher at Goodstart Pullenvale, has put so much focus on an innovative approach to relationship building with her kindergarten children.
Julia’s concept, known as Kindness Culture, was developed early in 2017 as a way to help new children and families settle into the centre and is based around being kind to each other, doing good deeds and supporting the community.
Pullenvale centre director, Kylie Stevenson, said the initiative had already extended well beyond the centre and into the community by supporting numerous charities and causes.
“Julia’s idea was that building a culture of kindness within the centre would ripple out to families and then the community,” Kylie said.
“Each month the children will initiate a discussion around who or what they could support next, and how we’ll go about it.
“Last month for example, the children decided they wanted to support looking after the sea because many of them were about to go on family holidays to the beach.
“From this we learned about sea life and the things we can do to protect the ocean, and then ended up creating a display at our local shopping centre that celebrated the phasing out of plastic bags and encouraged people to do the right thing with waste.”
The children have also made donations and raised money for Ronald McDonald House, the Pyjama Foundation, and taken part in a Million Paws Walk around their community.
“Working together on these initiatives and spreading goodwill in the community has helped with building the kind of nurturing and positive relationships that support good outcomes for children in early learning,” Julia said.
“I’m thrilled to see all the children and families appreciating and getting involved in their community. These children are a perfect reminder to all of us, that everyone can make a difference in this world.
“I am very proud of my little people doing big things,” she said.