“It’s our polite nudge in the ribs to help you and your team stay organised and on task.”
This week’s subject is Community engagement.
Element 6.2.3: The service builds relationships and engages with its community.
How intentionally does your service cultivate reciprocal community partnerships that enrich children’s learning, strengthen their sense of belonging and empower them to become active contributors to their community?
Strong community engagement extends children’s learning beyond the service, creating authentic opportunities to build partnerships, develop a sense of belonging and deepen their understanding of the diverse communities in which they live. Element 6.2.3 recognises that meaningful engagement with families, community organisations, local businesses, schools and cultural groups strengthens children’s identity, wellbeing and learning while fostering active citizenship, inclusion and respect for diversity.
Community engagement is most effective when partnerships are reciprocal, respectful and purposeful rather than one-off events or tokenistic experiences. By intentionally embedding local knowledge, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, community expertise and opportunities for children to actively contribute to their community, services create authentic educational experiences that support all learning outcomes and strengthen children’s understanding that they can make a positive difference in the world around them.
In practice, community engagement may look different across services, based on their service type, geographical and individual context. Consider how your service can strengthen meaningful community engagement in ways that are aligned with your service philosophy and unique context. Consider developing a community engagement plan that identifies local organisations, businesses, cultural groups, support agencies and community members, outlining how partnerships will be established, maintained and evaluated to ensure they remain purposeful and mutually beneficial. Review the plan regularly, in collaboration with children, families and community partners to identify emerging opportunities and priorities.
Effective, meaningful community engagement in practice:
-
-
- Develop opportunities for children to actively contribute to, and connect with their local community, fostering empathy, active citizenship and a sense of social responsibility. This may include creating a “Pantry for the People”, participating in food or clothing drives, supporting local charities, raising funds for community organisations or contributing to local environmental initiatives.
-
- Collaborate with children to investigate and explore their local community by identifying and mapping significant places, services, natural environments and community members. Use children’s interests and observations to inform projects, excursions and ongoing curriculum planning.
-
- Provide opportunities for parents, grandparents, carers, retirees, university students, secondary school students and other community members to contribute their skills, interests and experiences through volunteering, cultural sharing, storytelling, gardening, cooking, music or other learning experiences.
-
- Establish parent advisory groups or community reference groups to seek ongoing feedback and collaborate on service priorities, community events, continuous improvement initiatives and local partnerships. Provide multiple ways for families to contribute, including online surveys, informal conversations and digital feedback opportunities, to ensure participation is inclusive and accessible.
-
- Strengthen partnerships with local schools through transition programs, shared professional learning, joint literacy or STEM initiatives, buddy programs and opportunities for children to become familiar with their future learning environment.
-
- Develop travel training programs for Year 6 children transitioning to high school (School Age Care), supporting independence, safety awareness and confidence within their local community.
-
- Foster meaningful relationships with aged care services through ongoing intergenerational programs such as shared gardening projects, storytelling, music, cooking, art experiences, letter exchanges or collaborative celebrations that build genuine relationships over time rather than one-off visits. Encourage children and older adults to co-design experiences based on shared interests to strengthen reciprocal partnerships.
-
- Visit the local library regularly and collaborate with library staff to participate in reading programs, community events and early literacy initiatives.
-
- Establish or contribute to a community Street Library to promote literacy, sustainability and community connection while encouraging families to donate, borrow and exchange books.
-
- Develop a community engagement newsletter that celebrates partnerships, shares upcoming community events, highlights local services and actively seeks family and community feedback about future opportunities.
-
- Establish a community garden or partner with an existing local garden to provide authentic opportunities for children to learn about sustainability, food production, biodiversity and community responsibility. Collaborate with local gardeners, environmental groups or First Nations community members to share knowledge and histories about native plants, bush foods and caring for Country.
-
- Organise community fundraising initiatives that support local charities, community organisations or families experiencing hardship, involving children in age-appropriate planning, decision making and reflection about helping others.
-
- Encourage families, grandparents, carers and other community members to contribute their knowledge, skills, occupations, hobbies, languages and cultural experiences throughout the educational program, recognising families as experts and valued members of the learning community.
-
- Work collaboratively with local councils, environmental or Landcare group to involve children in community improvement projects such as tree planting, clean-up days, habitat restoration or sustainability initiatives that demonstrate children’s capacity to contribute as active citizens.
-
- Develop a “Bush School” program (also known as Forest Schools).
-
- Connect with the local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG) and local Aboriginal organisations to seek guidance when developing culturally responsive practices, including an age-appropriate Acknowledgement of Country and meaningful engagement with local Aboriginal communities.
-
- Continuously reflect on the inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives by seeking regular feedback from families, community members and Aboriginal partners to ensure practices remain respectful, authentic, locally relevant and embedded across the curriculum rather than isolated experiences.
-
- Maintain a Community Information Board (physical and/or digital) to share local events, support services, health information, cultural celebrations, volunteering opportunities and family resources relevant to the local community.
-
- Support local businesses by promoting community services, events and initiatives through newsletters, noticeboards or social media where appropriate, strengthening reciprocal community relationships.
-
- Implement the Eight Aboriginal Ways of Learning, where appropriate and guided by local Aboriginal communities, to strengthen culturally responsive pedagogical practices.
-
- Develop, implement and regularly review a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) that identifies meaningful actions to strengthen relationships, build cultural responsiveness and embed reconciliation across all aspects of the service in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
-
- Attend and participate in school events, local festivals, cultural celebrations, sporting events and community activities (particularly in School Age Care), strengthening children and young people’s connection with their broader community.
- Embed ongoing critical reflection about community engagement into staff meetings and Quality Improvement Planning discussions by evaluating who the service is partnering with, whose voices may be missing and how partnerships can become more inclusive, equitable and reflective of the local community.
-
Resources:
Guide to the NQF: Standard 6.2: Collaborative partnerships, Element 6.2.3: Community engagement, Operational requirements: Quality Area 6: Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
Educational Frameworks: The Early Years Learning Framework V2.0, 2022, My Time, Our Place V2.0
ACECQA Information sheets: QA1 Be part of reconciliation
Narragunnawali: Build Relationships with Community
ABC Kids: Allies and Friends Early Childhood Education Toolkit
Reconciliation Australia: Acknowledgement of Country and Welcome to Country
The Spoke- Bush kinder program: taking the classroom and learning outside
Within QIPDesk go to element 6.2.3 to submit your key practices and if required, create a QIP Goal for areas of improvement.
Within System7 go to Quality Area 6/ Module 25 to submit self-assessment notes and if required, open a QIP issue if you identify any areas of improvement.
The Desktop has a range of resources to assist services to foster and facilitate collaborative partnerships whilst ensuring safety and appropriate risk management. These include Transition to School Guides, templates for meeting minutes and critical reflection, Excursion/Incursion Risk Assessment, Excursion/Incursion Plan and Checklist, Excursion/Incursion Procedure, Blank Risk Assessment Action Plan, Safe Transportation Procedure and much more.
Resources, NQS Element, Regulation and System7 links
The Desktop – The Desktop
National Quality Standard –QA 6/ 6.2.3- Community Engagement
National Regulations – 73 – Educational program, 157 – Access for parents
System7 Module – QA6 / Module 25
QIPDesk – Element 6.2.3
If you have any questions, send us a note via the Contact page here!
