Amplify! Blog

All videos are © 2017 ECIA NSW Transition to School Resource. 

Emma Pierce, an early learning inclusion specialist, returns to share more tried-and-tested resources for educators supporting children with developmental delays or disabilities transition to school. 

Earlier this year I observed our staff becoming more and more interested in sharing stories and resources about nature schools and forest schools in Australia and overseas.

Molly questioned the early childhood service ‘institution’ of PJ Day, an event allowing educators and children to attend wearing their pyjamas.  Particularly popular in winter time, PJ Day is sometimes connected to fund-raising events for charities such as hospitals or homeless shelters but often exists in its own right, ‘for fun’.

The start of school is a major life event for children and families alike.  Research shows us that children who have a positive start in early learning are likely to be more engaged learners at school, and that a positive school transition is also likely to help a child to experience ongoing academic and social success.

Once you have a good established local excursion culture it is easier to go further into the community. These excursions are more complex as they involve transport by bus and therefore are planned well in advance, rather than our spontaneous walking excursions.  The philosophy behind the excursions remains the same, however: children must go out into their communities in order to build a sense of connection and belonging.

This is the first of three articles Su and Lauren are sharing with Amplify! readers about how they manage so many outings and excursions at their 56 place service. They hope their experience might help other educators to build excursion planning into their ‘normal’ program.

Today Emma Pierce of Early Childhood Intervention Australia joins Amplify’s guest writers with a companion piece to Rebecca Thompson’s series on Inclusive Practice.  Her story of Xavier will ring bells for many educators and directors, and her top tips for difficult parent meetings on child development are simple but well-tested. 

We know as early childhood professionals that children learn in a range of environments and in different ways. Children should regularly experience opportunities to go ‘outside the gate’. Community engagement aligns nicely with the benefits of excursions for children also.

This post is going to sound strange coming from me, a dyed-in-the-wool advocate for inclusion and early intervention, but bear with me while I question the prevailing wisdom which says that if you don’t have those hard conversations with the family then you cannot be doing your job for the child in question.