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Snapshot of Kingston FDC
• 60 Educators
• 373 Children
• 417 Families
Coordination Unit:
• Team Leader Children’s Services
• FDC Coordinator
• Pedagogical Leader
• 3 Field Officers
• Playgroup Specialist
• Placement Officer
• 2 Administration Staff
History
• 2012 Full time Coordinator started
• Council concerned- dwindling numbers
• Pressure to grow the service or risk closure
• 67% of educators are from CALD backgrounds
• Coordination Unit: white-Anglo women
Need for change
• Pressure to grow the service
• Losing educators due to minimum qualifications
• Coordination unit struggling to embrace the National Quality Agenda
• Partnerships
• Collaboration
• Leadership
Wynnum Family Day Care
• Robyn and Liz spent two days with Cathy and team at
Wynnum in March 2013
• Two full on days of exploration, conversations and
reflection
• Discussed findings with team back at Kingston
• Some apprehension and resistance to change
Next Step… to grow the business
• Placement Officer
• New Playgroup Specialist
• A focus on marketing
• Educator recruitment effectiveness
• Maternal Child Health visits
Critical Reflection
• Compliance Model: ‘catching educators out’
• Educators had an element of fear associated with
field officer visits
• Same voices heard at business meetings
• White-Anglo perspectives in relation to child rearing
and education:
MacNaughton (2005) indicates
that within “early childhood
studies, dominant
developmental truths of the
child privilege
Western/Minority views of the
normal child and marginalise
Majority views” (p.36).
Next Steps to grow the team…
• Moving away from a compliance model into a strengths
based/needs approach
• Educator Awards
• Four part training series: across 3 geographical locations
• Creating a culture of pedagogical conversation, reflection and
the development of both professional relationships and
friendships at playgroups. Strong sense of community!
What's happening now… • Field Officers are building on the strength of their own and
each others knowledge
• Working in partnership with educators when setting goals in
relation to practice
• Full capacity at playgroups
• Placement Officer role has been hugely successful
• A sense of real collaboration within the coordination unit
• We are growing!!!
“I had lots of vacancies and Jo filled them ASAP. Fantastic idea and should remain all the time”
We acknowledge that in relation to Kingston FDC our core work is
mentoring, teaching and supporting educators, our vision is to work
in strong partnership with all members of the team hence creating a
workplace where knowledge, power and voice are spread equally
among its participants.
“I never imagined I would be divorced in my 20’s, single mother and have no money. It has been very hard but I am strong and I know things will get better”
“We are just people…with the
same emotions as everyone else.
This is just our job and we give
everything to it”.
“When I was younger I was very shy and didn’t like being around people, as I have got older I have learnt to participate more with people. I choose mediation as a way of life to help me become a better person”