Leading Continuity of Early Learning - Bastow Institute - Impact Case Study

Leading Continuity of Early Learning

Bastow

Institute of Educational LeadershipIm

pact Case Study

Bastow | Leading Continuity of Early Learning

Children are enjoying a smoother transition from kindergarten to school after educational leaders from Canterbury Primary School and St Paul’s Kindergarten teamed up to complete Bastow’s Leading Continuity of Early Learning course.

When Justine Mackey and Susie Rosback first heard about Bastow’s Leading Continuity of Early Learning course, they were convinced the content had been designed just for them.

Justine, Assistant Principal at Canterbury Primary School, and Susie, then Director of nearby St Paul’s Kindergarten, were looking for ways to improve each child’s transition from kindergarten to school.

‘This course was absolutely perfect for us,’ says Justine. ‘There’s so much more we need to do to understand each child’s needs so they’re not starting school with everything feeling completely new.’

Susie, who’s been a kindergarten teacher for 19 years and has written four books on early childhood, says her biggest ‘light bulb’ moment in the course came when she realised ‘how incredibly different the curriculums between kindergarten and foundation classrooms are’.

Susie and Justine mentored each other around interpreting and applying curriculum frameworks as they completed the course, forging greater mutual understanding and a much closer working relationship. By working and learning together Canterbury Primary’s and St Paul’s learning and

transition programs were dramatically improved resulting in positive outcomes for the children.

Improvements include creating regular opportunities for kindergarten children to visit the school for formal and social activities. Adjustments were made to school arrival procedures for prep students. The school teachers also began rethinking their approach to classroom teaching and learning in its Foundation Centre.

Both women say the course also strengthened their ability to reflect on and improve how they lead their respective teams.

During the course, the paired school and kindergarten participants were asked to identify an action research project based on what would work best in their specific context, and to then determine how to put it into practice.

Since completing the course, Susie and Justine have given their teams action-based research projects and cite this as a valuable leadership and planning tool.

Justine’s teaching team is investigating developmental play and how to apply it to meet the specific needs of the school and its students. One teacher is researching play-based learning with a focus on writing, another is exploring the role of the teacher, while the others are looking at assessment and planning.

Supporting early learning transitions – from kindergarten to school

Participants

Susie Rosback, (former) Director St Paul’s Anglican Kindergarten, Canterbury

Justine Mackey, Assistant Principal Canterbury Primary School, Canterbury

Connecting children with their future school

The course prompted Susie and her team to look more closely at how the kindergarten could deepen the physical relationship between its children and the school. This included creating opportunities for St Paul’s children to visit the school for music, art and sport sessions.

‘I’ve heard from a few parents and they’ve said it’s been fantastic and that the kids have transitioned really well into school this year,’ Susie says. ‘It’s because the kinder now has such a strong relationship with the school and the kids have gone up there every fortnight for the past year – they’ve talked about it, they’ve been there, they’ve already got their buddies.’

Justine says the knowledge she brought back to the school led to immediate and ‘enormous’ changes to Canterbury Primary’s foundation learning and community engagement programs.

‘It reminded me about the things that really matter, such as continually putting children at the centre, and thinking about where they’ve come from and where they are going,’ says Justine.

Bastow | Leading Continuity of Early Learning

Transforming prep play-based learning

One major revelation occurred when discussion among course participants turned to play-based ‘discovery’ learning. What the school participants described as play-based learning looked very different from the concept in early childhood centres.

‘The school approach was very structured and curriculum-based,’ says Susie. ‘They instructed the children about what was going to happen rather than involving them in the decision-making for themselves, and yet they were calling it play-based learning.’

The early childhood participants’ feedback was that the teachers were endeavouring to deliver structured curriculum with some play elements, rather than incorporating learning opportunities into meaningful play.

Following this discussion, the St Paul’s team offered to help the school redesign its play-based learning program. ‘In just 15 minutes we set up an entire program for them as a demonstration and it was just beautiful – it was that really inspiring sort of play we do at kinder – and the teachers were blown away by how well the children reacted and concentrated,’ Susie says.

Justine says the revised program is prompting children and teachers to investigate more deeply.

‘Now there are certain investigation areas that are completely based on student interests – it’s really exciting,’ she explains. ‘There’s now a deeper level of connection for students to their learning and there’s deeper questioning from teachers.’

The resulting observation and information gathering by teachers about their students is personalising the learning for the student and also having a direct impact on planning.

The early childhood team also suggested the school increase the frequency and duration of its play-based learning sessions to give the children at least an hour to relax enough to be fully immersed in their play. The school responded by making play-based learning a daily activity, starting from when children arrive at school until morning recess.

‘When I walk into a prep classroom now, the children are so focussed on what they’re doing they barely even look up to say hello, and that’s really satisfying because it means they are so connected to their learning,’ Justine says.

Justine says the improvements are having a significant positive impact on the school’s foundation teaching team. ‘There’s one teacher who’s so committed to personalising learning that this has empowered her to do the teaching that she really wants to do,’ she explains. ‘And for another teacher, these changes have made her fly; she’s so excited and is absolutely firing.’

Preps now ‘bounce’ into the classroom

One of Canterbury Primary’s foundation teachers, Danielle Bouchier, says the changes made the transition into school much easier for this year’s intake of students.

‘Last time I taught prep was three years ago and my experience this year has been totally different,’ Danielle explains.

‘These kids love school; they bounce into the classroom in the mornings. I didn’t have anyone at the start of the year in tears missing their mum and dad.’

Danielle says the new approach allows for creative investigation as well as sensory activities, and provides a much better environment for teaching. ‘Now we want to extend that deep level of engagement across the rest of their day into other streams, such as maths and science,’ she explains.

Justine also reviewed how the school welcomes new parents into its community. Orientation and social events in the transition program were redesigned to connect parents with each other as well as with their children’s class teachers.

Susie says the continuity of learning program developed between the kindergarten and primary school as a result of completing the Bastow course ‘ensures children start school feeling connected, confident and with a strong sense of belonging’.

‘By creating greater similarities in our teaching methods and the expectations we have of students, the children are finding the transition seamless,’ she says.

Justine agrees: ‘What I’ve brought back from this Bastow course has been so valuable and has had an enormous impact on our school. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.’

Bastow | Leading Continuity of Early Learning

‘The leadership skills I’ve learned through this and other Bastow courses, have been incredible, absolutely incredible – life changing.’

Bastow key to Susie’s career success

Shortly after completing the Leading Continuity of Early Learning course, Susie Rosback was headhunted for a new position as Chief Executive Officer of the much larger Bubup Womindjeka centre, a family and children’s integrated service in Port Melbourne.

She now heads a diverse early childhood and family centre with 50 staff and about 200 children attending every week.

Susie has previously completed several Bastow leadership courses that focus on the early childhood sector.

‘The leadership skills I’ve learned through this and other Bastow courses, have been incredible, absolutely incredible – life changing,’ says Susie. ‘There is no comparison to me pre-Bastow and to [me] now. Bastow was the key to me even being able to work up to this position of CEO.’

Susie says the knowledge gained from the Leading Continuity of Early Learning course has been invaluable in her new role.

‘It’s been amazing to see continuity of learning as not just being between kinder and primary,’ she says. ‘I’m now looking at continuity of service for the whole family and applying what I learned to make connections within the community to create better outcomes for children and families.’

horizon:thought leadership

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