Category 2: ECEC educator and teacher capability uplift and resources to support children’s development
This category focuses on upskilling educators and teachers in relation to children’s health and development, and includes:
- engaging allied health professionals or other non-government providers to support children’s health and development and build capacity within the service
- developing and embedding cohort-wide strategies to support children’s health and development, under the guidance of allied health professionals or teachers
- engaging with professional learning, training and workshops related to health and development
- purchasing of resources to support children’s development, in relation to identified developmental domains and ensuring cohort-wide engagement.
To determine what may be included under ‘health and development’, consider the components of the Health and Development Checks in ECEC program which includes:
- listening and talking skills
- social skills and behaviour
- gross and fine motor skills
- learning, thinking and problem-solving skills
- how children’s bodies are growing, such as their height, weight and teeth.
In this instance, ‘health’ does not relate to child safety, such as safe food handling, management of allergies or medical conditions, or maintenance of furniture and building fixtures. For further information on what is included in the check, please see the NSW Blue Book (PDF 4,185 KB).
Examples of what allied health supports might look like include:
- whole staff in-service training, provided through staff meetings, on addressing identified needs through cohort-wide strategies. This could be a one-off occurrence or a series of multiple training sessions, as required
- in-classroom support, including observation and reviewing of teaching practices and pedagogies, modelling of cohort-wide strategies and experiences, and reviewing teacher understanding and implementation of these strategies and experiences
- a combination of in-classroom support and staff training sessions to understand and embed cohort-wide teaching strategies that support children’s health and development. Any allied health supports may be delivered daily for a short period of time, weekly, or in other increments depending on the needs and availability of the service and the allied health staff. It may include a break in visits, to allow for consolidation of skills before returning to review those skills and commence the next strategy.
Examples of capability uplift to assist with childhood health and development include:
- engaging a relevant external provider, such as an allied health professional, to facilitate role modelling and training support to educators and teachers and embed strategies into everyday practice. This could include strategies around any areas of health or development (listening and talking skills, social skills and behaviour, gross and fine motor skills, learning, thinking and problem-solving skills or how children’s bodies are growing such as height, weight and teeth)
- engaging in online or in-person training and workshops related to supporting children’s talking and listening, problem-solving skills, gross and fine motor skills, social skills and behaviour. For additional ideas or examples, please see the department's recommended professional learning list (PDF 137 KB). Please note that this resource is a guide only.
- engaging in training related to healthy eating and/or physical activity, such as the Northern Sydney Local Health District Small Bites, Big Steps NESA accredited training or Munch and Move training
- engaging a community member to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families’ participation in the HDC program.
Examples of resources to assist with childhood health and development include:
- social-emotional narrative books, self-regulation teaching resources, role play resources and books, visuals and games to support communication development
- books to engage in shared reading to foster language development equipment to support children's social skills and behaviour, such as a tent for setting up quiet spaces for children to visit when needing time away from the group
- materials for creating visuals to support transitions between routines and support non-verbal communication
- healthy eating or oral health books and resources, such as a tooth brushing model, posters for learning about healthy eating and teeth brushing, and role play resources, such as play food
- gross motor equipment, such as climbing frames
- fine motor equipment, such as beads for threading
- an edible garden to allow children to learn about different foods, assist in food preparation and develop a positive attitude towards food.
