Program
NQS 1.1.2 Child Centred - Each child’s current knowledge, strengths, ideas, culture, abilities and interests are the foundation of the program.
Embedded Files
We noticed...
We noticed...
...towards the end of 2022, the Centre Director, Operations Manager, Educational Leader and other educators attended an Exceeding centre in Brisbane. During this meeting we reflected on the program style of the centre in comparison to our own program styles and recognised the lack of children's voices within our own centre.
Similarly the Senior rooms, Kangaroos and Emus, moved to a relaxed program during the Christmas period. The educators within these room consulted the children every morning regarding their learning interests and their desired experience for the day, and using the children's own voices they created an emerging program. Educators reflected how much they enjoyed this style of programming.
Based on these two situations, we recognised that our program does not reflect children's voices or allow them to facilitate their own learning, the planning cycle was not clearly reflected in the program and therefore did not lead to meaningful learning experiences.
November 2022
Centre Manager, Operations Manager, Educational Leader and other educators visiting Everton Park Child Care and Development Centre.
Kangaroo Emerging Program Sample
Kangaroo Emerging Program Sample
December 2022
An image of the emerging program for the 19th of December as written by the children's input.
December 2022
A snippet of Educator's reflections on the emerging Christmas program
What are we trying to achieve?
What are we trying to achieve?
We seek to create programs that are purposeful and meaningful, emerging from children's ideas and interests. We seek to gather more involvement from children and allow children to guide their own learning. We seek to create programs that reflect children's voices, ideas, cultures, interests, strengths and knowledge.
How will we do this?
How will we do this?
Reflect on our programming method - leadership team, room leaders and educators
Research and implement a new programming method
Induct educators to ensure that ALL educators are aware of our programming method
Reflect as a team on how gather children's voices
Gather children's voices, engage in reflections with children
When will we do this by?
When will we do this by?
May 2025
How will we measure our success?
How will we measure our success?
Educators will be collaborators with children in their learning, working together to achieve learning goals and projects.
Observe in practice:
Educators collaborating with children to work towards learning goals
Children engaged in their learning, working together with educators on room projects
Children leading learning and educators guiding and supporting
Educators are intentional with their practice when engaging with children
Sight Documentation:
Children's voices and input are recorded on the program
Educators use feedback from children to develop the program
Projects with children are documented
Who is responsible?
Who is responsible?
Educational Leader - Sinead Leong
Room Leaders:
Tessa – Koalas
Esther – Possums
Andreia – Wombats
Jess – Emus
Sarah - Kangaroos
Progress Notes
Progress Notes
December 2022
December 2022
Leadership team reflected on the current program and documentation and its weaknesses. Leadership team started research on emergent program and floorbooks and how we could implement that in our service. Leadership team wants to be consistent and maximise learning opportunities for the children.
January 2023
January 2023
Whole team staff meeting to discuss the possible change of program, the benefits of an emergent program and floorbook documentation. Ed Leader explained how this would look like moving forward for the rooms. She also explained how effectively use floorbooks to ensure we are maximising learning opportunities for children and how they can actively get involved in it.
Staff Meeting 12th Jan 2023 - Floorbooks new program.pdfFloorbook Training Log.pdfJanuary 2023
January 2023
Educators from the three rooms that will be trialling the floorbooks participated in formal training on floorbooks and emergent program.
February 2023
February 2023
Possums, Emus and Kangaroos starting trialing floorbooks within the rooms.
Parents Feedback on Floorbooks.pdfFebruary 2023
February 2023
Parents were asked for feedback on the floorbooks. Many liked the floorbooks but had some suggestions.
April 2023
April 2023
Leadership team had a meeting and reflected on how the floorbooks were being used and felt that educators were not meeting what was needed.
Unfortunately, we were not able to see evidence of success measurers set by our team. Also, our current Ed Leader unfortunately had to leave our service and we felt educators would not succeed without the appropriate support.
We decided to stop the trialling of floorbooks and go back to our previous program template.
July 2023
July 2023
New Educational Leader took over and began reflecting on the program.
July 2023
July 2023
The new program, interactive sheets and outdoor baskets were introduced at the room leader meeting (see room leader meeting book). Educators were asked to take away the program and give feedback.
17072023.pdf
July 2023
July 2023
Educational Leader created a new program template which will cover everything that is required and will reflect more of what we would like to focus on.
Meeting with Leadership team and room leaders to present the new program format and explain expectations.
New format was sent to families advising the change and asking for feedback if possible
Evidence: New Program Format sample
August 2023
August 2023
Unfortunately our Ed Leader had to leave again and a new Educational Leader was appointed. This Educational leader made a list of observations and reflections on the current state of Quality Area 1.
September 2023
September 2023
EL found the Butler Programming Diaries and proposed these at the room leader meeting for use in the following year on the basis that the hand written diaries would be able to incorporate more children's voices and educators will be better able to record emerging ideas. It was suggested that one room should trial the diary to see the effectiveness and how it would work. Wombats room led by Miss Jess was chosen.
October 2023
October 2023
We ordered the 6 month Butler Diary to trial the programming method with one room for the rest of the year. Together with the Room Leaders we reflected on the program method and how we could use it.
Programming Reflection.pdfOctober 2023
October 2023
Educational Leader completed a reflection on the programming methods used within the service
Evidence on left - For a larger view click the arrow symbol in the right hand corner
October 2023
October 2023
Butler Diary Programming trials - Wombats room led by Miss Jess was selected to trial the new programming method and offer feedback. Other educators also examined the diaries and offered feedback.
Evidence on right - For a larger view click the arrow symbol in the right hand corner
2023 Butler Diary trial.pdfButler Diary Invoice.pdfFebruary 2024
February 2024
Rooms begun to implement the Butler Programming Diaries as the new method of programming. We are exploring how to use them and setting expectations and boundaries.
Evidence on left - For a larger view click the arrow symbol in the right hand corner
March 2024
March 2024
The Educational Leader conducted a programming check and noticed that there was some confusion and inconsistency regarding the linking process for the program. Also to explain the addition of new linking codes referring to the centre philosophy.
She created a guide to help educators understand the purpose of each linking code and how to use it effectively. This was handed out to each room to read and discuss at the next Room Leader Meeting.
Evidence on right - For a larger view click the arrow symbol in the right hand corner
Guide to Linking the Program.pdfAugust 2024
August 2024
As a centre we are reflecting and moving towards adopting slow pedagogy into our practice. This will significantly impact the way we complete our programs.
Sinead (EL) already discussed with room about planning their programs for environmental changes and self-sufficient experiences. We will explore how this impacts our programs as we progress through the critical reflection.
Routines vs Rituals.pdfOctober 2024
October 2024
As a team we spoke about routine vs rituals, the difference being the intent behind a rituals to make it meaningful and impactful within a space. We discussed now that we as a team have embraced slow pedagogy, how do we make our moments more meaningful through programmed experiences and embedded routines. We will start to notice and create embedded routines and rituals that are written on our program.
November 2024
November 2024
Educational Leader reflected on the progress we have made with our slow pedagogical approach and how calm the entire service seems and the difference in the educator interactions with the children and each other. She reflected with another educational leader from another service about the need to deepen and enrich those interactions with the children further showing more intentionality with our programming and practice. The Abecedarian Approach was brought up and the EL began to look into this avenue. The aim is that this approach, particularly the Learning Games, can be used to maximize learning potentials throughout the entire day. It will also help children's learning goals through its rich language priority.
A Summary of 2024
A Summary of 2024
Our center’s journey exploring the Butler Programming Diaries in the context of early childhood educational programming has been a transformative experience that blended reflective practice with a commitment to fostering creativity, curiosity, and problem-solving skills in young learners.
The exploration began with the introduction of basic programming concepts, but the emphasis was placed not just on coding skills but on the broader learning experiences. Drawing from the principles found in the Butler Diaries, your center encouraged educators to engage in reflective practices, documenting their observations of how children interacted with simple programming tools and environments. These diaries served as a means for educators to track the children's developmental journeys, noting moments of discovery, challenges faced, and the growth of critical thinking, teamwork, and resilience.
As your center delved deeper into this approach, the focus shifted to creating an environment where children could engage in programming activities at their own pace, fostering a sense of agency and creativity. The process emphasized the importance of play-based learning, where programming was seen as a tool for exploration and expression rather than a rigid curriculum. Educators learned to observe and document how children approached problem-solving and how collaboration with peers became an integral part of the learning process.
The integration of the Butler Programming Diaries allowed your center to document not only the successes of early childhood programming but also the challenges and insights that emerged along the way. This reflective process has helped to deepen educators’ understanding of how young children develop foundational programming skills and how such experiences can foster curiosity, logical thinking, and social-emotional development.
In summary, your center’s journey exploring the Butler Programming Diaries in early childhood education has led to a deeper appreciation of the holistic learning experiences that programming can offer. By embracing reflective practice, play, and collaboration, the center has nurtured a learning environment where young children are encouraged to explore, create, and problem-solve, setting the stage for lifelong learning and development in the digital age.
Moving into 2025
Moving into 2025
New educational leader: Tayah Newstead
Our goals for programming in the new year:
continue exploring the Butler programming diaries
outdoor program - creating a seamless program that effectively works in all environments.
rather than planning 'experiences', we will plan our environments to be stimulating and inviting. We will ensure that programmed experiences are age appropriate and can be accessed independently, as well as options for educator led group play.
review 'group times' and what that means for our service
complete Abecedarian training and utilise knowledge to plan meaningful/quality experiences and transitions
plan and embed deeper rituals throughout our rooms routines
Outdoor Program 2025
Outdoor Program 2025
25th February 2025
I, Susana, our outdoor enthusiast, and Karen, the director, sat down and discussed ways to implement a new outdoor program in the yards. Across the service, there was no consistent flow of what educators had been planning and executing from indoors to outdoors. Upon opening the centre in the morning, educators could not effectively set up experiences or activities linked to any program as they couldn't find what the educators wanted for the day. This is where, as a team, we decided to come together and reflect on what we could put in place for the outdoor program to run effectively.
As you can see in the photos attached throughout our meeting, we talked about what the program would look like, how they would execute it and what areas they would need to program for and ensure that they were able to link and effectively connect to the indoor program.
Evidence: Outdoor program
1st April 2025
After some time for the outdoor program to take full effect, I had our outdoor enthusiasts reflect on how our teams achieved this program to its full extent. The senior yard as a group reflected that dividing the categories would have provided more clarity on the program; however, after trailing this, they weren’t able to still portray the program the way it was meant to.
We also had discussions with the junior side on their reflection on the outdoor program. They, too, feel like there are too many boxes and a lot of double handling. They would like things to be simplified and easier to branch off and extend on and more fluid learning.
Once discussed with the team, we brainstormed some different ideas of ways we can amend the program to be able to produce the desired outcome. One idea that was discussed was having a whiteboard outside, changing the paper program to display differently (options attached). The other challenge that the team had with the program was the nature play section; they all felt that this section felt somewhat contradictory given the yard's lack of areas with nature for the children to explore.
In addition, we will trial these two templates over the next two weeks, one for each and reflect on these before we trial the whiteboards.
Evidence: Outdoor program amendments 1
Evidence: Outdoor program amendments 2
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