Linking Tasmania’s child care services and schools
Substantial evidence from a wide range of sources indicates that supporting children’s development before school has ongoing benefits for their future health, wellbeing and learning. To ensure that these solid foundations are realised, the department has placed increasing emphasis on the importance of learning in the early years.
The Tasmanian Early Childhood Review (2002) identified the need for:
- an early childhood curriculum
- the formation of collaborative partnerships between child care services and schools
- professional development opportunities for child care practitioners
- greater sharing of knowledge between child care practitioners and teachers.
Responding to this, the Early Years Office has developed a number of initiatives and programs to support the development of the Tasmanian curriculum from birth to five years, and the development of strong connections between child care services and schools.
With 31 child care facilities now located on government school sites that are licensed to deliver services for children from birth to five years, the concept of child care services as an integral part of the local education community is becoming firmly established.
Leadership teams from schools and child care services are forming partnerships to identify collaborative strategies and programs to link and improve curriculum provision and communication between the sectors.
The Essential Connections: A Guide to Young Children’s Learning, a collaborative effort between the department and Early Childhood Australia (Tasmania Branch), was a major initiative undertaken to inform planning and programming between the sectors. Action research undertaken in schools and child care services produced a document that, for the first time, detailed the learning of young children and provided practical assistance in the planning of daily child care experiences.
To enhance early learning and support the implementation of the curriculum, work was undertaken to identify how the curriculum could be applied to the delivery of learning experiences for children under five. To support this process Essentials in the Early Years workshops were held across the state for teachers and child care practitioners.
Regional early years coordinators developed professional learning models to meet local needs. This work aimed to further develop partnerships and build the capacity of early years educators. Collaborative documents were published and disseminated.
Early years focus groups met regularly to bring together teachers, child care practitioners, and health and community service professionals to discuss and share common learning, interests and practice.
Schools and child care services also worked together on action research projects in 2005-06, focusing on effective practice and models of assessment in the early years. These projects fostered the development of mutual respect for the knowledge and expertise of teachers and child care practitioners.
With a clear mandate to maintain this cooperative, curriculum-based and professionally driven approach, further programs will be introduced in 2006-07.
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