Month: May 2017

Walking into Flinders you can’t help but notice the new garden development at Preschool House. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the path; along it’s twists and turns, down the hill to the new gate. What a stark difference it has made visually to the space. What difference will it make to play at Preschool House? A new path, new possibilities; we wonder where it will take us. The children and educators at Preschool House are very excited to witness the development of the Forest, beginning with the pathway that connects to the affectionately names Jungle Path along the fence line. Many children spend time during their day looking over the fence; watching, listening and asking questions. We have also begun documenting what is happening. We are learning about different tools and the material that is needed to make a path; logs, rakes, wheelbarrows, quarry sand and rubble. Inspired, we add logs and wheelbarrows to our play. Some children enthusiastically begin making a path with the logs; two children use spoons from the sandpit as a tool to cut the log to size and others take the wheelbarrows and move sand or leaves around the space. Following our risk assessment and our knowledge of the children’s competence in using logs safely, we add more logs as the week continues. This means that the Preschool House children can complete pathways, yet is also opens up opportunities for new inventions. The log is a remarkable loose part. A loose part is aRead more

The Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Government have declared an ongoing commitment to embedding indigenous perspectives in education and in ‘closing the gap.’ As a part of this ongoing commitment and our ethical responsibility as inhabitants of Australia, Flinders is developing a Reconciliation Action Plan. Among the strategies we wish to implement is the development of an Acknowledgement of Country. Flinders is located on Kaurna land, and we wish to formally acknowledge this. We have worked through a number of drafts, and we are seeking feedback from various community participants, including families and local indigenous community members. We acknowledge that Flinders University Childcare Centre is located on the traditional country of the Kaurna people who have educated and nurtured children on this land for thousands of years; we hope to learn from this wealth of experience. We pay respect to the Elders, past, present and future. We commit to reflecting on reconciliation and equity. Would you like to share your thoughts?