Based on AEDC data for the Inner North West Brisbane Region, children in Sherwood are more likely to be developmentally on track compared to other areas (AGDE, 2024). There has been a notable decrease in the number of children attending standalone kindergarten vs long daycare in the last 10 years (AGDE, 2024). Interestingly, a number of the children enrolled travel from the North West Outer Brisbane Region which has developmental outcomes comparative to the national average (AGDE, 2024).

According to the philosophy, the centre has a strong focus on inclusion and respect for diversity particularly First Nations peoples. The image of the child projected by the philosophy is one of a competent, capable and reflective learner. Sherwood implements a community of learners approach influenced by theorists such as Barbara Rogoff which values children’s independence and places emphasis on social interactions in learning (Nolan & Raban, 2024).

The centre is run as a sessional kindergarten program between 8:30-2:30 and has two groups. The magpies group has 21 children and attends every Monday, Tuesday and alternating fortnightly on Wednesday. The possums group has 12 children who attend alternating fortnightly Wednesdays, and every Thursday and Friday. There are two full time early childhood teachers and one part time teacher who work across the week. The service operates during school terms only.

In my discussion with the Nominated Supervisor she mentioned the biggest issue they face is the lack of young families in the area. This has had an impact on their funding as they are not meeting enough enrolments to be financially viable.

This all links in with the APST: plan for and implement effective teaching in particular 2.1 and 2.2. In my prior experience I have been at centres where children did not go on regular excursions and only had access to centre bikes which were all the same. This experience instead trusts children to be responsible in risk taking, and gives the children ownership of the learning through using their own bikes.

This experience provided me with opportunity to develop my goal for the placement which is to support children in building their understanding of movement, through a range of physical activities followed by reflection and documentation.

This is an example template used to assess children’s existing skills and knowledge.

Today’s learning sequence continues to build on our inquiry “Ways of Moving and Building Strength” through the familiar game of hopscotch. The children will also have an opportunity to draw themselves on the hopscotch map. The goal for this experience is to work on locomotive movement and engage with sustained shared thinking. The experience will be set up at the beginning of the day, nd requires chalk, our floor book and drawing materials.

Evaluation

The children were interested in hopscotch however it was not quite challenging enough. They extended their creativity by drawing additions to the hopscotch. They engaged with the floor book drawing themselves along the hopscotch. One child in particular said “this is the track where I go”

Extension Ideas

Continue floorbook with bean bag toss game tomorrow

Earning from a more knowledgeable other. Today I ran a threading experience with the. Children where they collected leaves, punched holes and threaded them to create necklaces. Through this process I noticed the concept of the more knowledgeable other in action. The children demonstrated the challenging task of hole punching leaves and encouraged each other. This collaborative learning approach is inclusive and holistic giving children the opportunity to learn across multiple domains of development at the same time. Through socio cultural approaches to learning children are viewed as competent and able to share knowledge with their peers, recognising that all children have unique strengths.

In my practice as a Pre Service teacher I believe in the power of socio cultural approaches to learning which empower children. During my placement I have been developing my understanding of how to foster children’s ability to share knowledge and co construct learning. I hope to continue to develop this area throughout my whole placement.

Plan

We continued working on our ongoing project around fundamental movement skills development as identified through AEDC priority area and observations of focus children. The goal of today's learning sequence was designed to build children’s fundamental movement skills through the use of music and movement focussing on balance.

In the morning I will use a variety of songs by Hap Palmer - The Bean Bag, Bean Bag Shake and Bean Bag Alphabet Rag to practice fundamental movements.

In session 2 we will extend on the mornings bean bag dancing by practising under and over arm throws into a bucket. This will also build on the children’s school readiness through taking turns and lining up. The experience will take about 15 minutes and require witches hat, bucket, floor book, bean bags and pens. We will add a numeracy element as children count how many get in or miss.

Evaluation

The children engaged with this experience enthusiastically with encouraging and prompting. The whole group engaged in activity one and a small group engaged in activity two. An area for improvement is my confidence and clarity when explaining and demonstrating activities.

Today’s experience is an extension of our recent excursion to the library and work around road safety. We have been noticing multiple road signs and discussing the reason they are important. The goal is to create and communicate through art work.

We will need provocations (signs, figurines and books ), cardboard, pens and paint. The experience will be set up on the deck during our morning session. I will take the following steps:

1. Call children over in small groups

2. Explain the experience and reflect through questioning “what signs did we see on our walk yesterday?”

3. Support children to create their signs through the processes of drawing, cutting, painting, drying and writing

4. Document the learning process

Evaluation

The children all participated, some needing explicit support and some with only minimal prompting. This is further discussed in my Day 11 critical reflection

What’s Next

Map making - exploring our community.

Today I led a discussion where we discussed ways to care for country and how we could write a letter to the Prime Minister about why it is important to care for country. The sustainability principle of the QKLG discusses children understanding how human action supports the environment and building understanding s of country. From a social justice and human rights perspective empowering children to have a voice in matters that affect them is a vital element to early childhood education. As I finish my placement for EDET100 and begin my placement for EDEC111 I am excited to embark on a project that supports children's agency and voice in not only their local community but the national political conversation.