Understanding Equippers Kids Curriculum
EQUIPPERS KIDS CURRICULUM
Equippers Kids Head Teacher Sara Tanielu-Seve unpacks the NZ Early Childhood Curriculum
Equippers Kids follows Te Whariki, the NZ Early Childhood Curriculum. We asked our Head Teacher to answer some frequently asked questions.
The word “empowerment” is used a lot in the Curriculum - What does that mean to you?
Empowerment is about building confidence in the children and our team. It’s about encouraging the learning journeys of individuals with consistent support.
To me Empowerment means:
Listening to children’s voices and respecting their right to direct their own learning
Being supported or supporting others to be the best version of them/ourselves.
Encouraging our children to grow, develop confidence, and find their identity
Encouraging my work colleagues to grow in their professional practice
Empowerment is also about encouraging children to learn, grow and develop their potential
The term “Holistic Development” is used a lot in Te Whariki – Can you give us an example of this at Equippers Kids?
Holistic development reflects the “total sum” of a child. It’s about teachers trying to truly know and learn as much about them as we possibly can.
An example of holistic development at EK is giving children the opportunity to explore, play and discover what they value and enjoy. For example, setting up different painting stations and rotating between different play corners. From doing this, children are able to make choices that will enhance their cognitive, social, cultural, physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.
The activities they take part in help them to face the demands and challenges of every day life. The experiences we provide provoke the opportunity to enhance their holistic development, especially when exploring their current interests and discovering new ones.
Holistic Development means having a routine is just as important as having free play and choice. We allow the time for children to make a choice and do activities at their own pace.
Our meal times encapsulate the value of these aspects. Meal times are predictable, children can anticipate what is going to happen. They are also able to choose which tap they wash their hands at and which table they sit at. Meal times are not rushed but each child is able to eat at their own pace.
Another aspect of holistic development are our bicultural practice, language weeks, and the routine use of languages.
Physically challenging environments are also important to the complete development of a child.
We also encourage the children to work alongside their friends so they can also learn from each other.
Te Whariki has a focus on culturally appropriate communication – how does this happen at Equippers Kids?
Firstly by having conversations with our peers, children and families regarding their culture, beliefs and practices.
We actively seek to have a deeper understanding of who each person is and accepting him/her for who they are and where they come from.
By showing a genuine interest when communicating with others and responding appropriately without judgement.
There are some cultures that have a unique way of greeting, or practices that align with beliefs. I believe it’s important to build the knowledge of children and their whanau to ensure we are communicating in an appropriate manner. This starts by building relationships. Every culture is different and it’s vital that Kaiako provide an environment that encourages a sense of belonging.
· We work on greeting children, parents, and whānau in their own language
· Seeking to use language that can be understood. by someone who might still be learning English
· Giving a person’s ‘home language’ a go and asking for help on pronunciation and meaning
Te Whariki is all about relationships. What are some examples of ways that Equippers Kids fosters relationships with parents and whanau?
Through genuine communication during drop offs and pick ups. Asking their opinions and their aspirations for their children. We discuss their children’s interests outside and inside the home. We also include parents when planning a child’s learning goals.
Our goal is to:
· Acknowledge whanau when they arrive and leave
· Greet people by their name!
· Have a one on one conversation about their child’s day
Conversation is the first step to building relationships. This challenges us to really observe the children in our care so that we to have something to share with whanau at the end of the day.
Whanau nights and Parent-teacher interviews also develop and deepen relationships, as well as inviting families to come and share their culture at a mat time.
What does it mean in a practical sense for a child to be capable of keeping themselves healthy?
Children keep themselves active by taking part in experiences throughout the day = balancing, climbing, running, walking, dancing etc.
Children wash their hands before meal times and after using the toilet
Children wash their faces after meal times
Children wipe their noses or are assisted by a staff member/friend
Children are introduced to eating healthy meals and drink water throughout the day
How does Equippers Kids foster a sense of belonging?
The most common ways for us to do this is by:
Identity/Belonging wall
Cultural weeks
Individual learning stories in the portfolio
Families and Children are greeted in their language and acknowledged by name
Parent’s requests are considered and acted upon
Children are welcomed into the centre with our mihi whakatau process. They have their own cubby to place their bags . Children are allowed to bring their own pillow or blanket from home to help them settle for bed.
What are some of the strategies that Kaiako use to foster a sense of contribution? In particular – the skills of playing and learning with others.
Group experiences are wonderful to foster a sense of contribution. We ensure all children are invited to participate and in these spaces we give children room to contribute to the experience. Children can help set up our activities. They help choose the paper and paint and also carry items to the art table. They choose what tools they’d like to use for the experience (paintbrushes, cotton buds, rollers, sponges etc.) The teacher and children are working together to contribute to the experience. Everyone has a chance to contribute and learn alongside one another.
We have structured learning times, where our children learn how to participate in a group activity. We regularly invite children into activities. We also have child led learning where the child directs the play. We model, remind and demonstrate social competency skills to the children.
Group experiences that involve problem solving activities (painting, gloop, giant bubble) that require the children to work together and share the resources also foster a sense of contribution.
What are non-verbal communication skills?
Non-verbal communication skills are ways of expressing emotions when the use of words are not yet developed. These can be through dancing, singing and even artwork (such as painting with colours that reflect their emotions).
Infants often use a certain cry to communicate
Art can be a non-verbal communication
Actions can be a simple act of non-verbal communication. An example of this, would be a child who was still learning to talk, bringing their bowl for kai to the teacher - they might motion or wait for more food, indicating that they would like some more.
I often find in my age group (Under 2s) most of the communication is non-verbal. These include crying, screaming and laughing- all valid emotions and all part of learning verbal language. As a teacher it is important for me to observe what the child is trying to tell me about what they need.
What does exploration mean in a practical sense when a child is already very familiar with Equippers Kids?
When children are very familiar with EK they have the confidence to self-direct their own learning. Because of this, children are able to enhance their learning development and exploration by selecting resources and trying new things. They are able to experiment with new materials and build a sense of curiosity.
I believe children that are familiar with Equippers Kids know the expectations and boundaries of how to explore the environment. Their routine is a sure outline of what their day looks like and because they are familiar with the routine, this settles them into their day to explore the activities set out in their environment.
How does planning happen at Equippers Kids?
Planning is informed by the interests of our children. As a team, we get together and discuss what our learners are interested in. We use this information to find activities and experiments to enhance each learning experience.
We also use learning stories to inform our planning. We ask the questions - What have they learned so far? And… where to next?
Planning happens by observing the interests of the children. We use the cycle of notice, recognise, respond, revisit and evaluate. This is done for each child’s individual learning pathway. Our panning is made up of a continuous learning journey, unpacked over a term. We can add to it as the term progresses. The planning also links to Te Whariki and Te Ara Poutama. We do research that links to the topic of the term.
Children’s interests and dispositions are identified. This is through observation and conversations with family and colleagues. This is then recorded and added to our weekly evaluations.
We plan on a term basis. This is broken down into months and further into weeks. This makes sure that the overall plan is accomplished as well as allowing for the planning to identify emerging interests that we can spontaneously follow.
We meet regularly as a full team to discuss any issues and to touch base. We then split off into our different rooms and plan for each term.
What is an example of an informal and formal assessment at Equippers Kids?
Informal assessment is when we make changes immediately. For example, rearranging or swapping resources as we respond to children’s changing interests. We might add resources to support an interest or take away resources that the children are not interacting with.
Formal assessment is a Learning Story. Learning stories are documented and filed to the child’s learning journey and can be taken with them for a lifetime.
Informal assessment is also observing something a child is doing and talking to a colleague about it. Maybe even taking a quick note or photo. Formal assessment is then utilizing this observation and responding with a learning story and planning activities to further support the interest.
What is the most recent internal evaluation done at Equippers Kids?
I believe the recent internal evaluations we’ve taken part in are the policy reviews. These reviews are done as a team. They include the consideration of how the service is supporting the strengths, interests and needs of all the children and how they’re progressing.
Internal evaluation is also our self-review process. We document where we are right now and how we can improve our practice.
We also do a monthly reflection where we look at the learning that took place and and use these observations to set goals for the next month.
What is the most recent external evaluation at Equippers Kids?
This was an ERO (Education Review Office) inspection. This happens every three years. Equippers Kids is thoroughly reviewed by this independent body. They look at all our informal and formal assessments as well as reviewing our internal evaluations. They then summarized this and provide ways that we can improve.
Thank you for reading – we hope that this helps you to understand the curriculum that Equippers Kids uses to support your child’s learning journey.