If I didn’t have Storypark I would walk away from teaching

It’s 4.30pm on a Friday afternoon and I finally sit down. The kindy is all packed up and my day and week are finished. It has been a beautiful week, a very busy week, but a good one. As I sit here I begin to reflect, breathe a sigh of relief and a thought pops into my head ‘What on...

/ May 17, 2017

Opening lines of communication at Boronia Early Childhood Centre

Mission Australia Early Learning Boronia is a not for profit service with an aim to help provide early learning support for the local community. The service offers 85 places, providing care and education for children from the age of 6 weeks, with a programme that is led by children’s interests in a play based environment. Located at the foot of the...

/ May 17, 2017

Top 5 Storypark Tips to support the EYLF and the NQF

Storypark is an important tool for communicating with parents about the development of their children and it can also be used in other ways to support the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality Framework. As an advocate for Storypark I look at ways the centres can use this tool to assist them with not only their programming and...

/ May 2, 2017

Dear Zoo – extending children’s interests is different to extending learning

A child would come to my Kinder room on a Monday morning and be very excited to share their stories about their trip to the Zoo on the weekend. So as a graduate teacher 6 years ago, I was so proud of my efforts in setting up a table with beautiful fabric, a range of animals, and some construction materials...

/ April 26, 2017

Embracing a vision for children’s learning with the early years frameworks

When using the Early Years Learning Framework always remember… That it is just that – a framework. It’s not a syllabus, nor a program, not a curriculum, nor a model, neither is it an assessment tool. Above all, it is not a detailed description of everything children will learn. A framework is developed on sound Principles, Practices (Strands – Goals)...

/ April 26, 2017

Ask yourself why

“Is it that we become complacent, lack motivation, are unwilling to become vulnerable to the prospect that we could be wrong? Or all of those?” The Storypark blog shares diverse opinions from educators and parents all over the world. Today our guest blog is from the author of ‘Uplifting Early Childhood‘. What are your thoughts? Share them below in the...

/ April 22, 2017

Enhancing Risky Play – Our Little Secret!

A guest post by Shannon Keane, with the support of the team at YMCA Early Learning Centre Manurewa – Awhina Taiohi. In 2016 YMCA Early Learning Centre Manurewa embarked on a journey to engage parents & children in a consultation process around risky play. This is their story… Change was coming with health and safety policy changes in New Zealand. ...

/ April 22, 2017

Bring the magic

The Storypark blog shares diverse opinions from educators and parents all over the world. Today our guest blog is from the author of ‘Uplifting Early Childhood‘. What are your thoughts? Share them below in the comments, we’d love to hear from you! Why do some mat times fail and others succeed? Do you think that some teachers just have the...

/ April 19, 2017

Guardian Early learning Group CEO talks about Storypark

“My educators have said that families often struggle, or don’t know how they can contribute to their children’s learning. Storypark has transformed this for them.  It provides a platform for families and educators to engage and contribute different perspectives on their children’s learning, thinking, development and wellbeing. At the end of the day, we are all working to achieve greater...

/ April 11, 2017

Sustainability and the NQS: program priority or area of focus – Part Two

This is part two of a series on sustainability in an early learning setting and how to improve on this in relation to the Australian NQS. Read part one here! Some ways I’ve explored and improved upon sustainability in services are by… Actively involving the team, families, community and children throughout all steps of unpacking the subject matter and highlighting...

/ April 5, 2017