Partnering with families, improving rooms environments and incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learnings into programs have been the focus of team development at Goodstart Ormeau.
Centre director Rebekah George has driven a learning and development program at the centre which has not only seen improvements in her team’s capability but has also helped the centre to increase occupancy and achieve an exceeding rating.
“We spent a lot of time looking at the areas we could develop further,” Ms George said.
“We mapped our capabilities and saw where we excelled and where we could grow.”
Ms George and her team identified diversity, room environments and partnering with families as key areas to build capability.
“As a centre we needed to be better at incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island curriculum into our programs, so two of my team attended EATSIPEC training and shared their learnings with the group. It’s made us more confident in delivering that service.
“Improving our room environments also became a focus. My ECT did a lot of research and attended conferences on the Reggio Emilia approach to learning environments. This has improved the way we use our space to support children’s learning.”
“Another key area for us to build capability was partnering with families. We reflected a lot on what it actually meant for families to be our primary partner and we became more active in looking for where they needed more support.
“It resulted in us doing more to help families access child care benefits and connect with community services dealing with domestic violence and mental health.”
The growing capability of the team was put to the test when two children at the centre were diagnosed with autism.
“This was new to us and we had to ensure we were at a level where we could really support them. We researched and educated each other and reached out to occupational therapists and speech therapists to find ways to incorporate different kinds of support for these children as part of our program.
“The families were just trying to come to terms with the diagnosis, so giving more support to their children and incorporating that into our program, really made a difference.”
Goodstart Ormeau is firmly on a path of continual learning and development.
“Our team is so supportive and engaged. We help each other solve problems and as a group we have a lot of confidence in delivering our service.
“We respect that what one person can do really well might not be the same as another person, but collectively our capability has grown.
“Investing in our team and each other played a huge part in our exceeding rating, and the outcomes we’re achieving with our children and families.”
Centre director Rebekah George has driven a learning and development program at the centre which has not only seen improvements in her team’s capability but has also helped the centre to increase occupancy and achieve an exceeding rating.
“We spent a lot of time looking at the areas we could develop further,” Ms George said.
“We mapped our capabilities and saw where we excelled and where we could grow.”
Ms George and her team identified diversity, room environments and partnering with families as key areas to build capability.
“As a centre we needed to be better at incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island curriculum into our programs, so two of my team attended EATSIPEC training and shared their learnings with the group. It’s made us more confident in delivering that service.
“Improving our room environments also became a focus. My ECT did a lot of research and attended conferences on the Reggio Emilia approach to learning environments. This has improved the way we use our space to support children’s learning.”
“Another key area for us to build capability was partnering with families. We reflected a lot on what it actually meant for families to be our primary partner and we became more active in looking for where they needed more support.
“It resulted in us doing more to help families access child care benefits and connect with community services dealing with domestic violence and mental health.”
The growing capability of the team was put to the test when two children at the centre were diagnosed with autism.
“This was new to us and we had to ensure we were at a level where we could really support them. We researched and educated each other and reached out to occupational therapists and speech therapists to find ways to incorporate different kinds of support for these children as part of our program.
“The families were just trying to come to terms with the diagnosis, so giving more support to their children and incorporating that into our program, really made a difference.”
Goodstart Ormeau is firmly on a path of continual learning and development.
“Our team is so supportive and engaged. We help each other solve problems and as a group we have a lot of confidence in delivering our service.
“We respect that what one person can do really well might not be the same as another person, but collectively our capability has grown.
“Investing in our team and each other played a huge part in our exceeding rating, and the outcomes we’re achieving with our children and families.”