Goodstart Magill Penfold Road’s Bianca Edom is a big advocate of key educator relationships.
The centre director started introducing key educator relationships into the nursery room more than 12 months ago and says the impact on the centre and how the team works has been fantastic.
“We started it in the nursery room because for children aged less than two years old, the building of relationships is crucial,” Ms Edom said.
“My educators were really open to the idea and it worked really well by considering the relationships that the children already had with educators in the centre and who the children were naturally drawn to anyway.”
The approach aims to help children reach their full potential through secure attachments and individual care and education is at the heart of Goodstart’s key educator relationships .
The team organised rosters to ensure that children were in on the same day as their key educators, gave parents an information pack and talked to educators about the benefits of key educator relationships.
Key educators give families and children one or two people in the centre who are connected to the child, their development, their routines and their specific needs. Families always have a go-to person to talk to, ask questions or raise concerns and the children enjoy secure relationships which are essential for learning and well-being.
Ms Edom said while trying to organise rosters, and ensure educators were available on the same days as their children was a challenge, the hard work had paid off.
“We just worked really hard to ensure there was consistency and routine for the children,” she said.
“Some of my educators struggled at first because they have their own children and their own commitments outside of the centre. We needed to work together to show them the value of working in this way.”
Educators now talk to Ms Edom about the benefits of key educator relationships – from the happiness of the children to the way in which things are done.
“Now our key educators do nappy changes and talk to the children, take their time and interact while they are doing it. We are more active in letting the children let us know when it’s time to change their nappies, rather than just doing them all at once.
“There’s a real sense of calm in the centre now and I don’t have to worry about things. Because key educator relationships ensure we respond to each child’s holistic development and learning, every child’s needs are being met, and every key educator is accountable.
“We all have clear expectations and everyone knows what their responsibilities are,” Ms Edom said.
The centre director started introducing key educator relationships into the nursery room more than 12 months ago and says the impact on the centre and how the team works has been fantastic.
“We started it in the nursery room because for children aged less than two years old, the building of relationships is crucial,” Ms Edom said.
“My educators were really open to the idea and it worked really well by considering the relationships that the children already had with educators in the centre and who the children were naturally drawn to anyway.”
The approach aims to help children reach their full potential through secure attachments and individual care and education is at the heart of Goodstart’s key educator relationships .
The team organised rosters to ensure that children were in on the same day as their key educators, gave parents an information pack and talked to educators about the benefits of key educator relationships.
Key educators give families and children one or two people in the centre who are connected to the child, their development, their routines and their specific needs. Families always have a go-to person to talk to, ask questions or raise concerns and the children enjoy secure relationships which are essential for learning and well-being.
Ms Edom said while trying to organise rosters, and ensure educators were available on the same days as their children was a challenge, the hard work had paid off.
“We just worked really hard to ensure there was consistency and routine for the children,” she said.
“Some of my educators struggled at first because they have their own children and their own commitments outside of the centre. We needed to work together to show them the value of working in this way.”
Educators now talk to Ms Edom about the benefits of key educator relationships – from the happiness of the children to the way in which things are done.
“Now our key educators do nappy changes and talk to the children, take their time and interact while they are doing it. We are more active in letting the children let us know when it’s time to change their nappies, rather than just doing them all at once.
“There’s a real sense of calm in the centre now and I don’t have to worry about things. Because key educator relationships ensure we respond to each child’s holistic development and learning, every child’s needs are being met, and every key educator is accountable.
“We all have clear expectations and everyone knows what their responsibilities are,” Ms Edom said.