Further information
General
The centre is open Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 5.30pm, and is licensed for a maximum of 36 children at the preschool, and 15 under two-year-olds in the nursery.
The centre runs at above-minimum teacher ratios of 1:8 in the preschool and 1:4 in the nursery.
Summary
Citizens Preschool and Nursery is a community-based early childhood centre situated in South Dunedin. Citizens was established in 1930 by the City Council with the aim of enabling women who worked in manual labouring to have access to quality care, making it one of the first preschools in New Zealand. In 1954 Citizens became part of the Dunedin Methodist Mission’s portfolio of social and community services.
The centre offers the services of a Family/Whānau Support Worker who helps and advises parents with the various kinds of assistance for which their families may be eligible, e.g. WINZ services subsidies, offering support to families to enable stability, and supporting families' micro systems.
In December 2004, Citizens Preschool and Nursery received confirmation that their application to become a Centre of Innovation (COI)had been accepted, making them the second centre from the South Island to participate.
Throughout Citizens' COI journey they have looked at what counts as support for families from a childcare centre that actively works with both parents and children.
Key findings: What does count as support for families?
From our investigations with both the teachers and the Family/Whānau Support Worker the findings are grouped under three key themes: It's the little things that count, To know you better and for you to know me better, and You don't know if you don't ask.
It’s the little things that count
The parents identified that it was the ‘little things that count’ that could clearly be identified as supportive for children and parents alike. Our investigations clearly showed that while on occasions extraordinary support needed to be provided for families, it was the everyday best teaching practices that 'made a difference'. For example, one of the centre's practices is to allow parents to visit and stay (free of charge) before they have to leave their child for the first time. This open-door policy was identified as a key support factor over the transition time for new parents:
Being able to visit and look around the centre, coming here with my child, getting used to the nursery together. Being able to settle in made it easier to leave her alone. (Parent Interviews, 2007)
Other 'little things' included: wearing name badges so that parents knew who everyone in the centre was; using a whiteboard outside of the centre to notify of staff changes or visitors and events for the day; having children ready to go at the end of the day (clothes all found); supplying a bottle with formula for the long trip home in the car; having a staff member available in the morning to 'hand-over' the child to for the day, and another available to 'pass back' the child with the information of the day ready at hand. The use of digital photos to display the child’s day for the collecting parent was also described as a reassuring support:
I took a video of this child after his mother left. As she left he was unsettled, but by using a small video clip I was able to back up my conversation with his mother at the end of the day when I told her what his day had been like. She was happy to see him smiling…It is easy for us to tell parents how their child was, but I think it means a whole lot more to the parents if they can be shown. Then they can see and believe it for themselves. (Teacher presentation, 2006)
To know you better and for you to know me better
Relationships are the key to all aspects of early childhood education. While early childhood teachers often discuss how they 'know' the families that they are working with, we put our own 'knowing' under scrutiny – from both the teachers and the parents' perspectives. Our investigations led to a range of activities and interventions to support parents getting to know the teachers, for teachers to deepen their knowledge of and relationships with parents, and for parents to get to know others in their community.
Many of these activities and interventions were the result of our final theme - asking the parents about their experiences and perceptions.
You don’t know if you don't ask
While undertaking research necessitated 'asking questions', asking parents for their views quickly became customary. Parents freely shared their experiences and perceptions, and we saw the benefit of on-going asking for making improvements to professional practices in the future. Teachers and the Family/Whānau Support Worker gained insights into their practices, which enabled the strengths to be built on and the issues to be dealt with quickly and effectively. This also highlighted for us the need to continually update and ask parents about their experiences so that we can maintain the best practices for children and the most effective forms of support for families.
For further information contact
Bobbie Parata
Centre Supervisor
Citizens Preschool and Nursery
PO Box 2391
South Dunedin
Telephone: 03 455 1445
childcare@methodistconnect.org.nz
Dianne Darker
Child and Family Services Manager
Methodist Connect
PO Box 2391
South Dunedin
Telephone: 03 466 4600
dianne@methodistconnect.org.nz