Effective partnerships contribute to positive outcomes for children

In the first post of a three part series, guest bloggers Kathryn Wetenhall and Rebecca Andrews from John Brotchie Nursery School shared a key strength of their quality practice: a positive attitude towards continuous improvement. In this second instalment, educators and teachers from John Brotchie Nursery School discuss how effective partnerships with families, colleagues, organisations and community members contribute to positive outcomes for children at their service. John Brotchie Nursery School was awarded the Excellent rating by ACECQA in May 2020.

Partnerships

Partnerships are an embedded aspect of our preschool culture at John Brotchie. We have developed partnerships with many different organisations, colleagues and community members to enhance educational programs for our children and our service as a whole. These reciprocal relationships provide an opportunity to learn from each other, share ideas and plan for continuous improvement. Our partnerships begin with our preschool community. Positive relationships with families are established as soon as children are enrolled in our service. We gather information about our families, including their strengths, interests, culture and beliefs. Parents have the opportunity to participate in our program and even become mentors for our educators. One of our longest running parent mentors has been Jane. Jane is a scientist and has supported the educators to become more confident with embedding science into our preschool curriculum. She has developed our team’s knowledge of scientific concepts and together we have developed experiences for children that Jane and educators implement together.

Other parents have been integral in helping educators understand cultural diversity. Donna has supported our educators to understand Jewish traditions and celebrations that her family and community participate in. These are just two examples demonstrating the important role that parents and family play in supporting and mentoring our team. We also draw on the depth and breadth of knowledge of colleagues within our local community.

We have developed networks with local preschools, other education and care services and schools in our area. Networks and professional learning communities enable us to utilise the strengths and knowledge of other professionals. One of our local network groups is with four other NSW departmental preschools. We meet once a term to discuss, reflect and share information about program documentation, policy development and emerging early childhood topics of interest. Working together, we build on our knowledge and implementation of early childhood pedagogy. Our partnerships extend to the broader community. We have broken down distance barriers by using technology to network with colleagues who are in rural and remote areas.

One of our strongest and longest running network groups has been with our colleagues from the Dubbo School of Distance Education and Broken Hill School of the Air, both distance education preschools. We have worked together to further our understanding of Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) to support the development of high-quality, play-based programs in these rural and remote regions of NSW. We believe that this reciprocal partnership has improved learning outcomes for children here at John Brotchie Nursery School and for the children in some of New South Wales’ most remote communities. We have gained a wealth of knowledge from our partnerships and network groups. Our educators have really valued the reciprocal relationships of network groups and have implemented some wonderful changes to our practices. You might be able to start a network group in your local area for educators and teachers. We encourage you to reach out, call a colleague and introduce yourself!

In the final instalment of our guest blog post series, Kathryn Wetenhall and Rebecca Andrews from John Brotchie Nursery School discuss the value of outdoor learning and describe the many opportunities for outdoor play for children at their service.

Related resources on partnerships

• ACECQA We Hear You blog: Embedding culture in sustainable ways
• ACECQA We Hear You blog: Transition to school
• ACECQA Newsletter Issue 10 2019: A focus on building and maintaining community partnerships
• ACECQA Information sheet: QA6 Building partnerships with families
• ACECQA Information sheet: QA6 Enrolment and orientation
• Community Child Care (CCC) resource sheet: How to generate family involvement in service management
• Child Australia How To Series: How to build strong partnerships with families