Duration: 3:07
Transcript
Corrie Connors: As a principal, I know that I've got lots of things on my agenda every single day, but at the same time I know if I've got 100 kids potentially every day going into an OSHC service in the afternoon – they've spent a day with us at school – we need to make sure we facilitate the best environment for them after school as well. If I didn't have that partnership with OSHC, we wouldn't be connecting in on the best interest for the kids.
Pam Kildey: Corrie and I have a very professional relationship. We work together on a lot of things, and we try and involve both the OSHC and the school in as many projects as we can. It's really good to be able to just touch base with Corrie on things as needed. So we don't always have to have formal sit-down times. We can just pop in and have a chat or give each other a call or email. And we do discuss a lot of things to do with the school.
Corrie Connors: At Kuluin, our motto is ‘Together we grow’, so we believe we're one big Kuluin family. So what that means is we've got partnerships with the staff, with the OSHC and with the families, and P&C. Some of the examples of the formal opportunities that we're working on currently is preparing the kids for transition into school. So, we invite the OSHC team into all of the induction processes, so they get to know the new families, they get to explain the partnership that exists between the school and OSHC, and the drop-off procedures, the transitions in the morning and the afternoon. We make sure that when we transition between the school and OSHC that their personalised learning plan that's set up in the classroom or in OSHC is common and consistent. So we've got common strategies that simplify, for that child, what works best for them in the setting.
Pam Kildey: We find that the children participate more when things are in sync, because there they get into a flow and so they continue that flow.
Corrie Connors: I honestly couldn't imagine if we didn't have those supportive environments and relationships between school and OSHC. From the moment the kids arrive to school, whether it be in the OSHC centre or the school environment, we're working together as a team. What sort of day has that child had in OSHC if it’s before school care? What sort of day have they had in the classroom, if they're returning to OSHC in the afternoon, so we can facilitate conversations between school, parents and OSHC.
Pam Kildey: We all have the best interests of the children and families at heart and being able to be part of that family, being respected in our role as OSHC staff and being able to respect the teachers and the school admin staff and other staff in their role within the school, is what makes us be able to get along in such a positive way.
Corrie Connors: I know that I have lots of things that go on, on a day-to-day basis, at the school. But if I've got a strong positive relationship with the OSHC, that's one less thing that I need to worry about, because I know our Kuluin kids are in safe hands when they go into the OSHC team.
Keywords: out of school hours care, before school care, after school care, before/after school care