Pedagogy in Practice

Pedagogy describes the ‘art of teaching’ and at Macquarie Hills Community Preschool we are fortunate to have professional, qualified, experienced, knowledgeable, intuitive, and passionate educators. Our team is committed to ensuring the preschool environment offers endless opportunities for quality teaching and learning.

Our pedagogy is the way we work with children. It includes what we do, how we do it and how we think about what we do. Our pedagogy is usually based on children, education and the families we work with. The Early Years Learning Framework encourages us to reflect on our pedagogy, to make sure that we have carefully thought through what we are doing. Recent training has helped our educators and administration staff reflect on all aspects of our service. Giving of their own time, our team had fun and enjoyed networking with other professional teams. Leadership, behaviour management, financial and management systems, cultural competence, STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) are just some of the subjects we have recently attended researched and professional training on.

Implementing aspects of all we have learned is part of critical reflection aimed to ensure quality.

The Children at MHCPS are the Sustainability Heroes of the Future!

At Macquarie Hills Community Preschool we regularly discuss recycling, food scraps, and soft plastics. The children are developing greater understanding and opinions about sustainability. We talk about sorting waste, composting, the use of recyclable materials and how this can benefit our environment. The children have discussed changes in the Lake Macquarie City Council waste management system, and as a result we have chosen to recycle using a four bin system, to better support sorting waste and recycling.

Last week our curbside bins received a 'thumbs up' award because the children have decided to recycle right! Well done sustainability heroes! Our educators have actively supported the children's decisions by helping them research and gather accurate information throughout the process.

Aboriginal Dance

Michael a local indigenous educator from Speaking In Colour came into preschool this week and showed us some Aboriginal dance moves. He explained why ochre is used to paint the faces of the dancers and how the dance movements are very special in telling the story of the animal, song or music.

Our children enjoyed learning about dance and were keen to tell Michael all they knew about rhythm and Aboriginal dreaming stories, and that they like dance, music and Australian animals. We proudly showed Michael our Acknowledgement of Country, and told him what we know about the Awabakal land and people.

Respect for diversity is a key principle of our curriculum. We consider cultural competence a key practice and recognise the importance of cultural competence in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Dating back more than 75,000 years, being one of the oldest cultures in the world, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture holds a unique place in Australia. Our children are certainly enjoying learning about Australia's first people and most definitely developing a cultural interest and knowledge.

Mrs Collinson - August 2018

Aboriginal Art Exploration - Culture

At Macquarie Hills Community Preschool we are connecting with our community with Aunty Shellie from Speaking In Colour. We are developing greater connection and understanding of the Awabakal people, the land and culture. Exploring weaving, art and dance over a few weeks, the children are enjoying hands on experiences, gaining knowledge, and further understanding different aspects of Indigenous culture.

Aunty Shellie explained how to use natural earthly materials to create rock paintings and art. She shared her skills and resources with us to promote our learning.