Video: Working with Koorie Children and Families
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TRANSITION A POSITIVE START TO SCHOOL:
SUPPORTING RECIPROCAL VISITS
Working with Koorie Children and Families
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The Department of Education and Training and the project facilitators respectfully acknowledge Aboriginal people as the Traditional Owners of the land and waters known as Victoria. We acknowledge the Victorian Aboriginal Elders, and recognise their central place as knowledge holders and teachers across early years learning communities.
The Victorian Department of Education and Training is committed to continually improving transition to primary school for children, families, teachers and educators. To this end, Semann & Slattery in collaboration with Macquarie University and the Boon Wurrung Foundation were commissioned to undertake this project with a focus on two sites across Victoria: Morwell and Mildura.
Over a period of seven months, reciprocal visits and professional gatherings were facilitated between prior-to-school settings and schools within a high Koorie population context. The purpose of the reciprocal visits and shared professional learning sessions was to increase mutual understanding and respect for pedagogical practices across educational sites and to strengthen the transition to school experience of Koorie children and their families.
An additional purpose was to strengthen and highlight the effective practices already in place to support transition to school for Koorie children in these local communities.
Remembering that every child, family and local community is unique, these vignettes are a springboard for further reflection, discussion and innovation in practice relating to engaging with Koorie families and communities to support transition to school.
They feature the perspectives and insights of participants from prior-to-school settings, schools, key people and community groups in Morwell and Mildura.
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SUPPORTING KOORIE CHILDREN AND FAMILIES PRIOR TO STARTING SCHOOL
Barb Hunt, Dala Lidj Woolum Bellum Kindergarten, Morwell
[Starts: 01:10]
Some of the things we do to support our Koorie families, because we have a high population of Koorie families at our centre, I meet with all the families and go through the transition statement with them. We fill it out together, or I can help them fill it out for them. Then we go through it and use that as a basis for a chat about how they feel about their child going to school. Whether they're comfortable going to the school, what school they've chosen to go to, and if I can help support them in any other way with that transition process.
Vera Briggs, Koorie Engagement Support Officer, Morwell
[Starts: 01:43]
Now these are young parents which is really good because they're really supportive of their children going to school because they never had that chance of having access to kindergarten. That's why they're so supportive of their child going to kinder, giving them that best start that they never had.
Chantelle Wylde & Natasha Wilson, De Garis Kindergarten, Mildura
[Starts: 2:03]
We run a bus service here for a lot of the Indigenous children that do come here because they don’t have the transport to get to kinder, so that's important in our eyes, getting them here for that early childhood education. So the method of communicating through Facebook, emails, and stuff is particularly important for those families who we don’t see on a regular basis.
Marcia Lo Po, Mid Valley Kinder & Child Care, Morwell
[Starts: 02:24]
We actually have quite a few schools, a large catchment in our area. So for instance, last year we actually had 10 schools that our families were involved with. So there's a lot of contact with other schools and we do that quite early on in the year. So we do make contact with schools and have that contact person, and we find that really helps with families. One of the things we do now is to assist our families with that. So if that means helping to fill out forms or actually get the forms from the school or even go to the school with the family, we're quite happy to do that. In our service, we're very fortunate to have quite a few recognised Aboriginal families.
They're quite strong with their culture within our service and they like to share that with us, which we're very grateful for. Quite often they will go to a school where cousins or other family members are so we tend to make that contact with those, and often perhaps asking would you like a friend to go with you for that first tour? Speak to them about options in relation to getting to school and from school. So that might be the school bus, it might be accessing our service for before and after school care. So we try and make those links again. A few of our schools have got Aboriginal teachers that work there or guidance officers, and we like to make those links there again so we can actually put them in touch with them.
We quite often find that they're related in some way or they know them which is a wonderful option to have for our families. We have a very open dialogue with our families. A lot of our families have been attending our service since their child was quite young. So we actually start with a baby's room all the way through to kindergarten. Because of that, we've been able to build trust in a strong family connection.
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Reflective Question
What are some of the key points that the speakers make in supporting Koorie children and families in the year prior to starting school?
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ENGAGING WITH KOORIE CHILDREN AND FAMILIES TO SUPPORT A POSITIVE TRANSITION TO SCHOOL
Cleonie Quayle & Christina Brims, Koorie Engagement Support Officers, Mildura
[Starts: 04:25]
I know that a lot of parents that bring their children to kindergarten, they build those relationships with the teachers, the assistants too as well. When it's that time for that transition phase and to start prep at school, I think sometimes there's that lack of understanding from the early educator at school about maybe some parents expect that they keep on building that relationship too as well. You might find parents that say well, we've had bad experiences when they started school. So you know, you've got to sometimes work hard in building those relationships with those Aboriginal families.
Ben Parker, Koorie Engagement Support Officer, Ranfurly Primary School, Mildura
[Starts: 05:04]
So this year we've got community members running it. As a school, we supply the facility. Our local co-op, Mildura District Aboriginal Services, they supply some food and those sorts of things, and our community members run it. So they run it. So they're maybe doing activities, particularly a bit of a come and play for their kids to break those barriers and they've got some learning programs mixed in with that. But also activities for the parents as well. So you know, there may be some calico drawings and those sorts of things.
We're looking at different programs where there might be basket weaving, those sorts of things. Where they're programs that are based over a certain number of weeks so that we get that commitment from the families to come back and finish these projects. So it's not just a one week in and then move out in the next week, it's more about trying to sustain them in the program for as long as we can so that rapport just continues to grow over the course of the year. We want it to be whole inclusive so that everybody - we're not just branded as a Koorie program focused school.
We want to be right across the board and as a very multicultural school, we want to make sure that we're incorporating as much as we can but having that strong Koorie community members running this program, it just shows that it's not, again, just run by the school system. It's giving community that ownership over the school again as opposed to it just being the school as being part of the community, it's now the community being part of the school.
Stacey Brown, Mildura Primary School, Mildura
[Starts: 06:33]
Our transition program at Mildura Primary School is quite a strong program. It begins in term three. We feel we have very strong relationships with the kindergartens. We organise some visits. We also have 10 open afternoons where all families are engaged in our program. They can just come along and join in with a prep session. We also engage in our Koorie workforce. They're helping us to engage the families and bring them on board. We also run some information sessions to support those families so that they're prepared for a school year.
I think primarily, we just want to alleviate some of those fears of coming to school, and also foster the connection from kindergarten to school. We also are able to have a chat to our kindergarten teachers to identify any concerns about future children. Then we can identify that early and look at continuing that. So that's, again, a smooth transition from kindergarten to school, and helping those parents get on board from before the school year starts so they're ready for the school year.
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Reflective Question
Which of the strategies identified for engaging with Koorie children and families might work best in your setting?
CULTURALLY SAFE PRACTICE
Sue McGinty, Mildura Primary School, Mildura
[Starts: 08:05]
If attendance is getting in the way, sickness is getting in the way, we personally meet with parents and our Koorie workforce has been an absolutely vital part of that. Our KESO with his home visits, and not always a home visit just to why aren't they here? But well done, we see they've improved. So let's you know, really build that bank of positive. So when there is a difficult time, we've formed a relationship, and that’s what our school is so big on, just those high expectation relationships that no matter who you are in our school community, you are valued.
We don’t do standalone Koorie teaching as in there's not a set time where they may have Koorie books because it's NAIDOC week. So we very much - that's put through our reading schemes. So we have Koorie literacy through our reading schemes. We have our LOTE teacher teaching Barkindji so there's a connection that we work together with that. Our school council president is a Koorie Elder, and we also have Uncle Peter who is a Koorie Elder in our school.
Margaret Sharman, Mallee District Aboriginal Services, Mildura
[Starts: 09:14]
I think something that was really important for me to learn was that you get this little child come in in the morning but you've got to consider where that child has come from. We need to consider the whole family situation and really make a good connection with the parents if we want that child to be culturally safe and accepted and to do well in that transition from kinder to school.
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Reflective Question
How do you ensure Koorie children and families always feel culturally safe, especially when commencing in your education setting?
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KNOWING YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY
Cleonie Quayle & Christina Brims, Koorie Engagement Support Officers, Mildura
[Starts: 09:57]
Well up to the schools to understand how Aboriginal families work. So that's just not the nuclear families, it's not just the mum and dad. We have a large family. So my sisters are mum to my daughters as well. I like to see that. So they can get a better understanding. They might think oh, the aunty has come to pick them up today and they might understand mum is busy doing something else, the other mum is coming here to pick them up. And also, them to understand that just because I live in Mildura, I don’t come from Mildura. So they might have a range of Aboriginal kids in their class that comes from different languages and tribes from Australia.
Helena Baxter, Mallee District Aboriginal Services, Mildura
[Starts: 10:40]
HIPPY is Higher Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters, and we’re in partnership with the Brotherhood of St Laurence and HIPPY Australia. It's a two-year educational program where we deliver the program to children that are four and five, and work closely with the parents. So we deliver educational programs to the families in their home, and then the families will deliver that to their child. So it's all about the children - their parents being their child's first teacher, and the word is getting out there more because they've actually been out and done some talks with the kinder teachers and their committees and to Mallee Family Care and different places that have actually worked with children.
We've actually even had a lady from the speech came in and seen me last week and wanted to know how we can combine and work together with HIPPY and with speech.
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Reflective Question
What community organisations are you connected with to assist you to better support Koorie children and families? What other organisations and programs in your community support Koorie children and families? How could you find out more about these organisations?
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Thanks to all who participated in this project in Morwell and Mildura. This includes participants from Morwell: Carinya Early Learning Centre/Latrobe City Council, Commercial Road Primary School, Dala Lidj Woolum Bellum Kindergarten/UnitingCare Gippsland, Goodstart Early Learning Morwell, Mid Valley Kinder & Child Care, Morwell Park Primary School, Morwell Primary School, Tobruk Primary School, Koorie Engagement Support Officers (KESOs) and Koorie Preschool Assistants (KPSAs). It also includes participants from Mildura: De Garis Kindergarten, Pasadena Preschool, Playgroup Early Learning Centre, Mallee District Aboriginal Services, Mildura Rural City Council, Mildura Primary School, Ranfurly Primary School, KESOs and KPSAs.
Additionally we wish to thank the children and families at these sites who allowed visitors into their programs.
State Government Victoria
Department of Education & Training
© State of Victoria 2016
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