“It’s our polite nudge in the ribs to help you and your team stay organised and on task.”
This week’s subject is Engagement with the Service.
Element 6.1.1: Families are supported from enrolment to be involved in the service and contribute to service decisions.
Does your service struggle to get families involved in the service? Do management and educators find it an ongoing challenge to obtain feedback and input into the program and service operations?
Family involvement in the Service is crucial to fostering a holistic support system for the child, enhancing their learning and strengthening relationships between families, educators and the service. However, as we know, this is an area that many services find challenging, with families often being time poor and face increased pressures and responsibilities in their everyday routines and lives. It’s important that Service support families by having realistic and attainable expectations and find innovative ways to encourage family involvement that meets the needs of individual families.
Services must first and foremost ensure that quality practices are implemented from the time of (and throughout) enrolment, to foster a genuinely welcoming and supportive environment where families feel valued, comfortable to share, contribute and participate in meaningful ways:
Creating a welcoming and inclusive environment:
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- Ensure the physical environment is warm, inviting and fosters a sense of belonging. Display family photos, celebrate cultural diversity and related events, and showcase children’s work, to help families feel represented and valued within the service as well as foster a sense of belonging.
- Always ensure that educators and staff are approachable, open to conversations, and make an effort to get to know the families. A friendly greeting and a genuine interest in a child’s well-being and individual circumstances can go a long way in making families feel comfortable.
- Recognise and acknowledge that families come from diverse backgrounds. Offering communication in multiple languages and formats (e.g., written, verbal, or digital) can ensure that all families feel included, and their individual preferences valued.
Educators implement a wide range of strategies to encourage different types of involvement, including contribution to service decisions, feedback on the program and operations. Educators should use their knowledge and information collected about individual family’s preferences for communication and take into consideration each family’s circumstances to develop realistic and effective strategies to encourage family involvement:
Collecting information, input and feedback:
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- A child details form included in the enrolment package is a great starting point. Ensure this information is regularly updated to reflect children’s current likes, dislikes, interests and needs.
- Share the weekly program and menu with families via your digital information sharing app and invite specific feedback.
- Create a child information book for updates about children’s interests, sleep and dietary routines and weekend activities.
- Consistent, daily discussions with families to gain information about their child’s needs, development and interests. Ensure relevant information collected is documented.
- Include information in the family handbook and regular newsletters informing families of the specific methods to provide information and feedback to help inform the program and assist the service to cater to their child’s individual needs.
- Share children’s daily activities using a digital platform (the service’s information sharing app, Facebook page etc.). Prompt feedback by including specific questions with the post.
- Online surveys are quick and easy way for families to provide feedback. Consider sharing surveys periodically as a method of ensuring information about children’s development, interests and culture remains current. (See survey links below).
- Wall displays requesting specific information from families about children’s preferences. E.g. a poster where families can mark/tick their child’s favourite food/s or activities.
- Individual parent-teacher meetings. Ensure these are documented.
- Individually share each child’s summative assessment via your digital app and request feedback through the private commenting/messaging section.
- Use your online app to create regular posts that ask families questions about their child/family. E.g. child’s favourite dinner this week, recent or upcoming travel destinations, questions that aim to pinpoint what’s currently trending with certain age groups, weekend adventures, ask families to share traditional recipes etc.
Suggestions for encouraging family involvement at the service:
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- Invite families to share their cultural traditions, stories, or recipes with the children. This could be through storytelling sessions, cooking activities, or cultural celebrations.
- Invite families to the service to talk about and share interesting aspects about their occupation, special interests or talents.
- Create a space where families can access educational materials, books, and resources related to early childhood. This helps families feel informed and empowered to support their child’s development.
- Host workshops on topics such as child development, positive behaviour guidance strategies, or how to support learning at home.
- Offer virtual participation options for families with busy schedules who may not be able to participate in person.
- Hosting social events and gatherings where families can come together and socialise with other families and educators.
- Have a “class pet” (plush toy/animal) that visits each child’s home. Have a journal to document (and display photos of) the child’s adventures with the “class pet”.
- Host working bees at the service during flexible hours, based on families availability.
- Establish volunteer committees to assist with organising events and fundraisers.
- Appoint parent representatives to collect feedback from other families (via online chat groups or informal discussions) on service operations, menu and programming.
- Services managed by parent committees- inviting families to participate in committee meetings and AGMS, share meeting minutes, request input from families about management decisions.
Resources:
How to generate family involvement in service management
Engaging with families: Social Media
Building strong Partnerships with Families
Case study- A targeted approach to family engagement
Within System7 go to Quality Area 6/ Modules 1- 6 to submit self-assessment notes and if required, open a QIP issue if you identify any areas of improvement.
The Childcare Centre Desktop has a range of resources to assist services with engagement with the service. These include ‘All About Me’ form, Family Input Weekend form, Family Participation form, General Satisfaction Survey and much more.
Resources, NQS Element, Regulation and System7 links:
Childcare Centre Desktop – Childcare Centre Desktop
National Quality Standard – QA 6/ 6.1.1-Engagement with the service
National Regulations – 73, 157
System7 Module – QA6/ Modules 1 – 6
If you have any questions, send us a note via the Contact page here!
