Providing education and care to children is one of the most challenging things possible. Instead of being a job, it is a vocation. The team at Rainbow Station Early Education Centre excel at their work, giving children strong foundations from which to work. It is why they have been recognised for their APAC Excellence as Australia’s Most Outstanding Early Education Center of the Year, 2020. We looked more closely to find out more.
Every child is unique, finding different ways to learn, grow and develop. The fully qualified Early Childhood Teachers, and Early Childhood Educators at Rainbow Station do their best to adapt individualised learning program to each child’s needs, interests and abilities. This approach is one of the many things that makes Rainbow Station thoroughly unique.
With an approach that is intrinsically individualistic, the environment is one of equal opportunity for all. Learners of all different kinds, whether kinaesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, mathematical, linguistic, auditory or spatial are given the essential tools that they need to thrive.
The educators are trained to base learning and development techniques off a child’s interest at the time. This means that the children are consulted in their everyday activities and routine, documenting them in a floorbook. Children are then able to revisit topics and ideas. This gives the children a sense of agency, responsibility and control.
The results have been extremely positive. Everyone, from teachers, to children to parents know that their input is valued, and that their cultures,
beliefs and values are shared and promoted throughout our centre. It is a melting pot of different ideas, ripe for young minds to explore and learn more about.
Examples of this would include participating in the walk for autism each year and celebrating the international day for people with disabilities. Accepting and normalising both of these is just one way in which children can be introduced to an inclusive environment that explores what different families can look like.
COVID-19 has placed unusual challenges on the team at Rainbow Station, forcing them to innovate and find new ways of delivering their systems of education and care for those self-isolating at home. Videos of learning programs have seen sent home, with resources available on the centre’s app. It is just one of the ways in which the team have tried to give support to families while at home.
This approach sums up Rainbow Station, never daunted by a challenge and always looking to support families. It is how the team have achieved such incredible success.
