golden grove kindergarten - docs.decd.sa.gov.au

Golden Grove Kindergarten

2020 annual report to the communityGolden Grove Kindergarten Number: 4695Partnership: Golden Way

Preschool director: Mrs Judith Sansome

Governing council chair: Melissa Ainslie

Date of endorsement: 3 February 2021

Signature

Context and highlightsGolden Grove is uniquely situated within a community which includes natural creeks and catchments alongside urban environs. At Golden Grove Kindergarten we value children's right to connect, care and learn from nature in childhood. We believe every child is a capable and competent learner. We provide children with a caring and active learning environment that promotes challenge, safe risk taking and learning through play. We are co-located next to Golden Grove Primary School. Our preschool sessions are Monday-Thursday (8:30-3:15pm) and Fridays (8:30-11:30am). Children can attend 2 full days and one-half day, every alternate Friday. We have 2 groups that children can attend. Group A (Mon/Tues) or Group B (Wed/Thurs). Our staff team consists of 1 Director, 1 teacher, 2 part time ECWs and a 0.4 teacher employed using Universal Access funding, as well as part-time ECWs providing preschool support. Throughout 2020 we focused on continuous improvement towards the National Quality Standard through implementing systems engaging all staff in working towards our Preschool Quality Improvement Priorities. Our focus was on strengthening Quality Area 1: Educational Program and Practice. Developing and strengthening pedagogical practices in Literacy through shared sustained thinking strategies. During the year children engaged in whole site inquiries. Our year started with an inquiry on friendships which lead to an inquiry into perspectives and then an inquiry on noticing our local community. Our final inquiry was on birds and bugs, which was inspired by a magpie family residing in our kindergarten yard.Our newly re-developed outdoor area supports our strong Nature play pedagogy focus and provides numerous learning opportunities. Our new outdoor environment includes a campfire area, platform for dramatic play, dry creek bed, bridge, a garden path and bamboo archway and new plantings. In 2020, COVID-19 impacted on some of our learning experiences and family events. A few of the events we were able to hold included the Twilight kindy at the beginning of the year, Book week celebrations with children participating in a dress up day and end of year celebrations with limited family members in attendance. We went on two excursions as part of our inquiry into our local community, visiting Golden Fields and Cobbler Creek. These excursions provided the children with opportunities to explore and investigate their local area and were supported by our parent community.We had a busy and enjoyable year with lots of great learning happening, despite the challenges of COVID-19.

Governing council reportThe Golden Grove Kindy Governing Council of 2020 included parents from both group A and B. We began our year with regular meetings and a very good outlook with various activities and fundraising events already on our agenda. Though many of these opportunities were put on hold and most cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As all of our fundraising plans for the year included social events that were not possible with social distancing restrictions, we decided as a group that we would look to assist within the community instead. We organised a collection of non-perishable food items which we donated to a local community group, Foodbank. The fundraising events that were initially planned for were a fun-a-thon, family night, and a possible book swap. I have no doubt that these would have been wonderful opportunities to come together and raise some funds for our kindy. As such, we were not able to collect any funds this year. We discussed other options for some form of fundraising but were mindful of the financial impact on the kindy families in relation to COVID-19. As a group we have been able to approve the plans and quotes for a complete kitchen upgrade. Which was also put on hold due to COVID-19, but is on track to be completed for next year. To improve safety on Kindy excursions, we purchased Hi-Vis vests for adult volunteers to wear. We also reviewed and approved changes to the allergy aware policy and the continuation of the Sun Smart policy in partnership with the Cancer Council. We also approved the introduction of an ongoing ICT program to support staff with the use and supply of IT equipment. The year has certainly not been without its challenges, but as a Governing Council we have been able to continue meeting regularly, and even managed to still meet via Webex through the tightest of restrictions. We have made positive contributions to Golden Grove Kindy and have very much enjoyed our time working together. We look forward to seeing what the Governing Council of 2021 will achieve. We have begun some planning for the upgrade of the Sensory Path outside, and also look forward to hearing about and seeing the kitchen upgrade when it is completed.

Melissa Ainslie Governing Council Chairperson 2020

2020 Annual Report to the Community1 | Golden Grove Kindergarten

Improvement planning - review and evaluateOur 2020 goal: “To extend children's learning and critical thinking through play.” (Quality Area 1: Educational Program and Practice)Our 2020 challenge of practice: “If we incorporate strategies for sustained shared thinking with children, then we will extend children's learning and critical thinking skills through play.” Some of the actions we undertook included:• Engaging in collegiate, reflective, and ongoing professional learning and development funded by the site. Utilizingour 4 Pupil Free Days to facilitate our professional development and learning as well as being supported by ourEarly Childhood leader as a critical friend.• Developing a common understanding of shared sustained thinking and critical thinking.• Deepening Educators’ knowledge and understanding of literacy content, pedagogy and embedding our newlearnings into our practice• Using a wide range of approaches and strategies to explicitly extend children’s vocabulary, expressive andreceptive abilities• Modelling increasingly complex language and communication• Problem-solving with children using prompts to extend their thinking, using open-ended questioning, and sharedsustained thinking strategies• Engaging in high-quality adult-child interactions and conversationsEducators’ have built their capacity, through professional development and readings in this area, and consolidatedtheir new learnings, which are being embedded into their practice. Our data and documentation indicate thatchildren are engaging in more shared sustained conversations with others. Children’s oral language skills havedeveloped, and their vocabulary has been extended, children are using and understanding more complex languagein their communication with peers and adults. Children have been applying a wide range of thinking strategies, suchas problem-solving, inquiry, experimentation, researching, hypothesizing and investigating, and using reflectivecritical thinking to engage with situations, solve problems and adapt to new situations. Throughout the yearchildren’s engagement in collaborative experiences and sharing their thinking with others has increased, resulting inthem developing their collaborative, problem-solving, planning, and critical thinking skills (shared sustained thinkingskills).

Enrolment

NOTE: The data is based on person counts in the two week reference period each term. Excludes pre-entry. Data Source: Preschool Data Collection, Data Reporting and Analytics directorate. Term 2 2020 data may not be available for all preschools.

Enrolment commentGolden Grove Kindergarten is a category 2 preschool in the North East suburbs of Adelaide. Our numbers are lower than in previous years. For the past two years our numbers have been declining, indicating a possible decrease in the number of eligible pre-schoolers in our area. In some instances, families are accessing Preschool through their existing Community and private childcare centres. Our numbers did remain steady throughout the year. We had 2 children leave at the start of Term 3 to begin schooling in the private sector, we also gained 3 children at this time. Our predicted enrolment for 2021 is 62.

Enrolment by TermYear Term 1 Term 2 Term 3 Term 42017 83 83 81 82

2018 73 79 76 77

2019 67 67 65 68

2020 64 N/A 65 63


Destination schoolsFeeder Schools (Site number - Name) 2017 2018 2019 2020

1848 - Golden Grove Primary School 88.0% 86.0% 88.2% 91.8%

NOTE: The data is collected in Term 3. It does not reflect actual schools enrolled in by exiting preschool children. Only schools that are a destination for 3% or more of students are shown.Data Source: Site Performance Reporting System (SPER), Term 3 2020 collection.

Golden Grove Primary School (GGPS) continues to be our major feeder school, which is adjacent to our kindergarten. In 2017 we worked closely with GGPS educators to develop an effective transition process, including regular visits to the library and Reception classrooms throughout the year, supporting children with their transition from kindy into school. This has continued over the past three years. 92% of our children this year are going to the local government school Golden Grove Primary. In 2021 we will have a very small percentage going to local independent schools.

Destination schools comment

Term 1 Term 2 Term 3 Term 42017 centre 89.8% 90.5% 89.5% 91.0%

2018 centre 89.0% 85.6% 87.1% 88.6%

2019 centre 92.1% 90.3% 91.3% 88.0%

2020 centre 93.0% N/A 92.3% 87.9%

2017 state 90.5% 88.2% 85.9% 87.2%

2018 state 90.7% 88.3% 87.0% 87.2%

2019 state 90.3% 87.4% 85.8% 86.4%

2020 state 89.3% 82.0% 84.8% 85.9%

Attendance

Based on attendances recorded in the two week reference period each term. Data for eligible enrolments as described in the department's Enrolment policy.Attendance rates may differ to previous reporting with the transfer from calculations based on deemed attendance to actual attendance using booked hours divided by attended hours.*Note: Term 2 2020 data may not be available for all preschools.

Attendance commentAttendances are collected in the 'reference weeks' (weeks 2 & 3 of each term). Our attendances have remained steady, with the usual illnesses occurring throughout the year impacting on our attendances. This year due to COVID-19 there were likely more absences than in previous years as parents kept their children home even if they only had mild symptoms. Attendance at Preschool is not compulsory but is highly desirable and encouraged. We regularly promote and highlight to families the importance of children attending kindergarten, in regard to their learning and development, in an effort to improve our attendances. We speak to parents of children whose attendance is irregular throughout the year. Our site's attendance is above the State averages.


Client opinion summaryWe encourage all families to provide us with feedback via a variety of communication modes. Our documentation feedback from families included: “I enjoy hearing that she works well with others and enjoys collaborating. It is good to hear about activities our child does at kindy. Great to hear our child is building connections with other children”. Feedback from some of our events, such as our Twilight kindy included: “Dedicated staff staying late so thank you. Kids loved having extra time at kindy.” Comments from our excursions to Golden Fields and Cobbler Creek included: “Lots of learning. Nice to see the kids interacting with their friends.” All 63 families were given an opportunity to complete our Parent Opinion survey to help us gain feedback regarding the service. 21 families completed this survey. The responses were either moderately agreed or strongly agreed. We asked for feedback on our enrolment process: "Enrolment was easy with great communication. It was very organised and it was a smooth transition." Comments regarding our teaching and learning: “I appreciate the extra help provided by teachers. Great teachers and play based curriculum. Love the big focus on exploration and inquiry. Diverse range of activities have kept my child interested and engaged. Comprehensive very happy with the program and am glad my child has enjoyed her time at kindy”. Other comments regarding our service included: “I really like how the kindy works with the school and is part of the school community. Thank you to all the staff we have been very happy with the kindy and experiences our child has had. I love the feeling of being part of the kindy family.” There were some comments referring to the aesthetics of our learning spaces. We have sought Governing Council input to address these comments. We will continue to work hard to maintain positive client opinion feedback. Overall, the responses to the survey indicated a high level of satisfaction with our service.

We have processes in place to ensure that all staff's relevant clearance are up to date. All staff have valid DCSI or Working with Children Checks. The Director ensures that our contract gardener, finance officer, cleaners and visitors providing a service e.g. performers, have valid DCSI/WWCC. Parents who volunteer on excursions/incursions have a child at the kindy. These volunteers are given information about their roles, responsibilities, and expectations before attending any excursions. All Governing Council members participate in RAN-EC training for volunteers.

Relevant history screening


Funding Source AmountGrants: State $500,472Grants: Commonwealth $0Parent Contributions $32,447Other $4,176

Financial statement


2020 Preschool annual report: Improved outcomes funding

Improved outcomes category (where applicable to the site)

Briefly describe how the 2020 funding was used to improve the relevant department's standard of educational achievement outcomes (where applicable):*

Outcomes achieved or progress towards these outcomes:

Improved outcomes for numeracy and literacy

Funding has supported staff to engage in and access a range of targeted professional learning and development opportunities related to Literacy and Numeracy, with a focus on Literacy and critical reflection. All staff participated in our LDAR inquiry project on oral language. This included 2 closure days.

Educators have a deeper understanding and more confidence in delivering an effective Literacy and Numeracy program.

Improved ECD and parenting outcomes (children's centres only)

N/A N/A

Inclusive Education Support Program

14 children were eligible to receive support through the DfE Inclusive Education Support program for speech and language, OT and behaviour. ILP or behaviour support plans were written for targeted children, an educator worked individually or in small groups with these children, implementing a variety of strategies.

ILP’s and goals were regularly reviewed and evaluated. Over the year all children have made steady progress.

Improved outcomes for non-English speaking children who received bilingual support

N/A N/A

* The department's standard of educational achievement is defined as children and young people progressing and achieving at or above their appropriate year level.

golden grove kindergarten - docs.decd.sa.gov.au

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