Helen-Keft Cooper, Manager of Riverbreeze Preschool and Child Care Centre, needed to individualise the programming and planning cycle at her centre while still maintaining consistency across rooms.
Helen chose to use Gowrie NSW’s customised professional learning service because it enabled all of her educators to complete the program at the same time in a location that suited them, but found there were other advantages to using customised professional learning.
‘The biggest advantage was that it was planned for our service, tailored to our needs and was very practical and hands-on,’ Helen said.
The module Helen chose to have delivered at Riverbreeze was 'Holistic planning – Capturing the Uniqueness of the Child'.
‘It was wonderful. All the educators felt that the training clarified lots of documentation and programming issues for them and enabled them to turn the theory into practice.’ Helen said. ‘After the training the team felt more informed and it has definitely clarified their thinking and ability to plan based on the needs of the individual child.’
Helen also found that the Unit has also helped to build links between teams, provided a more consistent guideline across the rooms and ensured more effective planning.
‘The planning we’ve implemented has also made it easier for casual educators to follow the program,’ Helen said. ‘They now understand that our planning is based on where each child is at and the interests of the child.’
Helen recommends Gowrie NSW’s customised professional learning because it’s specific to the service, planned to meet the service’s requirements and because it enables all educators to participate together, creating a more uniformed and team approach.
For more information on Gowrie’s customised professional learning email us or check out our online information.
