Childspace Early Learning

Have you received this issue of The Space yet? If The Space #77 hasn't arrived, that means you're probably not subscribed!
Subscribe by visiting childspace.nz/shop/space/the-space-magazine-nz/ or email [email protected] to check your subscription status.

Our colleagues at Milford Lodge are creating amazing spaces and experiences for children, and are featured in the latest Space mag! Are you subscribed? https://childspace.nz/shop/space/the-space-magazine-nz/

Published! Thanks Childspace Early Learning . What an amazing opportunity to share our Across the Service Program, Planning and Practice with the broader EC community ❤️

In August of last year, Childspace, Te Rito Maioha, and hundreds of teachers, families, children, and ECE services delivered a petition to Parliament asking for better teacher to children ratios. 1 to 4, under 3! Later this week, we will be presenting on this petition to the select committee, and if you want a refresher on why we're doing it all, you can check out this NewsHub video & story with more info.

Link (or click preview below):
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/08/early-childhood-teachers-deliver-petition-at-parliament-calling-for-improved-teacher-to-child-ratios.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawFK-lJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHSawuKcdjfEWwPfrN20XhgqifosqB-adeUYRsT81VM5WdciDNaC817HjyQ_aem_t-yAjp8RKOlH9tfaJvu3TQ

Early childhood teachers deliver petition at Parliament calling for improved teacher-to-child ratios | Newshub "Right now we are a profession in absolute crisis."

Updated now: Toilet Learning!

This quick, comprehensive resource will help parents & teachers understand the emotional and physical development of toddlers in regard to using the toilet. Digital copies and physical booklets are available now, and are a useful resource to help teachers and families get on the same page in regard to toilet learning.

Toileting is a complex and significant milestone of development and requires clear understanding and empathy from adults to ensure a smooth and healthy transition from nappies to independent toileting. This resource shares practical tips about making the toilet learning process empowering for children and allowing them to be agents in their own learning and growing autonomy. It also explores intentional language, and why we specify 'toilet learning' over 'toilet training'.

Toilet Learning resource by Childspace This book helps you ensure a smooth and healthy transition from nappies to independent toileting by Childspace early childhood education institute.

CANBERRA: Last week to get Yeah Baby! tickets.
Happy Early Childhood Educators’ Day, Australia! Thank you all for the work and care you put into teaching the next generation of your beautiful country.
If you're an ECE service leader in CANBERRA looking to celebrate your team, why not treat them with a day of professional development at our upcoming Yeah Baby! conference on 14 September? Yeah Baby! is a specialist conference concerned with the education and care of our infants from birth to three years of age, and morning tea and lunch is included for all delegates.
Our Canberra lineup includes:
Toni Christie (Childspace) presenting "Toddlers: A taxonomy of needs and rights",
Su Garrett (Explore & Develop) presenting "A cohesive team of infant educators",
Dr. Andi Salamon (University of Canberra) presenting "Baby-Play: Enacting infants’ right to quality play-based learning"
Robin Christie (Childspace) presenting "Power and Place – Recent Thoughts on Infant and Toddler Learning Spaces."
Ticket sales will close MONDAY 9 SEPTEMBER, so get registered while you still have the chance!
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/childspace/1111127

Buy tickets – Yeah Baby! Canberra – Griffith Hall & Function Room 53 Stuart St, Griffith ACT 2603, Australia Yeah Baby! is a specialist conference concerned with the education and care of our infants from birth to three years of age. Th...

We want your examples for an oral submission to parliament. Next week we get the opportunity to speak to our 1:4 under 3 petition and we want to hear from you! Please write in the coments specific examples of why the current minimum ratios are impossible for 2 year olds. Please help us paint a picture for the powers that be.

Another Childspace workshop throwback! The Brian Webb Kindergarten whānau in Tawa had a fantastic vision - to invite Maui and Tangaroa into their playspace while creating protected spaces at each end of their deck. These coloured perspex windows were designed by Thijs 'Yelz' de Koning and translated into woodlight form by Jesse 'Danger' Hill.
The rest of the end wall of the deck is formed from clear perspex and coloured fold-down shutters. This cuts wind and rain, and creates protected spaces both inside and out.

The other end of the deck features Maui and his brothers capturing Tama-nui-te-Rā, with the same fold-down shutter system. These shutters open the space up while still allowing activities to be set up free of through-traffic. This woodlight plays around with the positive and negative spaces - check out the silhouettes of Maui's brothers holding their ropes in the background.
Well over two metres tall, these woodlights are shown pre-installation in the paint room of the Childspace workshop in the fifth image.

Check it out! Vision to Actions: Strategic Planning, Annual Planning & Internal Evaluation.
Our Strategic Planning and Internal Evaluation resource has a new look, a new title, and updated, easy-to-read content! Now with the most up-to-date information, Vision to Actions is packed with useful templates and guidelines to help your service with strategic planning, annual planning, and internal evaluation.

This resource introduces a simple and effective internal evaluation framework that will help services evaluate the effectiveness of their policies, programmes and practices. It also covers strategic planning and annual planning, including setting and meeting strategic priorities, creating an annual plan, making planning meaningful, and staying on track to turn our vision into actions.

Shop hard copies below, also available as an ePublication!

Vision to Actions: Strategic Planning and Internal Evaluation This resource is packed with useful templates and guidelines to help your service with strategic planning, annual planning, and internal evaluation.

Available now: Leading with Heart & Soul 2nd edition by Toni Christie, which outlines the values associated with leadership in early childhood. Now with more than 30 years of leadership experience, Toni has revised this well-loved book to share her wit, wisdom, and lessons learned from leading teams in early childhood education. This book is available as an eBook from our website, or shop physical copies at the link below:

Leading with Heart & Soul book by Toni Christie for ECE teachers The Leading with Heart & Soul book is for all teachers and other educators in early childhood education, by Toni Christie from Childspace New Zealand.

Remember to get in while you can to see the fabulous Maggie Dent!

Happy Friday, team. Toddlers with hammers, now you're talking! We live in awe of the confidence and competence of our youngest citizens, so when our inspirational kaiako Ali suggested a living wall built in partnership with the children, we were very excited. Pictured in the second photo is lead builder Jonny 'X' guiding the construction with the Childspace Ngaio whānau. The pallet garden is mounted at an ideal height for the children to help with watering. Being mounted on the edge of a deck rather than a boundary fence reduces the risks associated with the occasional climbing of this structure. Look at their handiwork in the last photo, mīharo!

Yeah Baby! is a specialist conference concerned with the education and care of our infants from birth to three years of age. This one-day conference runs from 9am-3pm on a Saturday and includes trade fair, and great seminar and workshops style presentations. This is Childspace's most popular PLD, so make sure not to miss out when we bring Yeah Baby! to Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, Tauranga, and Christchurch later this year. Don't just take our word for it, check out this feedback about speakers Toni and Robin Christie from our Sunshine Coast Yeah Baby! 2024 delegates.
Find dates, programmes, and tickets through childspace.nz/ece-teachers/ece-conferences

Another Flashback Friday from our Childspace Workshop, many years ago we were fortunate to be invited to work alongside Frances Fraser at Honour Creative in designing and fitting out the playroom in the Ronald McDonald House in Wellington. Using plywood and perspex, we designed a two-dimensional tree that gives a very three-dimensional feeling. Stained plywood native animals inhabit the branches, each using the heart- shaped motif of the Ronald McDonald House logo. The raised platform and 'woodlight' panels give a sense of protection and separation from the rest of the space. There are multiple protected corners, and both a fale and a whare taakaro (playhouse).

Are you a passionate teacher who is dedicated to striving for best practice and want to be part of an innovative organisation? Then come teach with us! We have teaching positions available for ECE qualified kaiako in Wellington! We are committed to providing high-quality ECE and full pay-parity. Fill out our expression of interest form on our website if you wish to explore the opportunity to join our unique organisation.
childspace.nz/careershttps://childspace.nz/ece-teachers/careers-opportunities

Childspace Careers and Opportunities for ECE Teachers and More

What's new on Childspace At Your Place? Three new articles from The Space are now available for all our At Your Place subscribers, and they join our growing collection of ECE articles and professional development videos. To learn more or join Childspace At Your Place, visit childspace.nz/join

Have you got your tickets to see Maggie Dent yet? Get in quickly to make sure you don't miss out on seeing Australia's best-loved parenting author this September while she's here in Aotearoa New Zealand. She will be giving an evening seminar, 'Mothering Our Boys', on Thursday 12 September: https://www.maggiedent.com/events/mothering-our-boys-auckland-new-zealand/ and will also be part of a full-day conference with other talented speakers, 'Calming Today's Anxious Kids', on September 14: https://www.maggiedent.com/events/calming-todays-anxious-kids-auckland-nz/

Covered decks are such wonderful learning spaces, able to host both indoor and outdoor activities. They are also fantastic sleeping areas! To ensure that there are protected spaces for play we seal the ends of the deck off, creating a single thoroughfare connecting the playscape to the whare. Here's some flashback Friday images of the covered deck at Childspace Karori, when our workshop team had freshly installed it.

This end of the deck at Childspace Karori has been enclosed using 'woodlights' and clear perspex windows, to ensure that it is both weatherproof and has good lines of sight through to the playscape. The second image shows the view from inside the covered deck. We created three fold-down shutters (the clear squares) to let the gentle Wellington breezes through on hot days. Lastly is the 'before' shot, showing the old PVC rolldowns. Rolldowns have a tough life in the Wellington weather, and these ones had become very tatty and cloudy over time so it was time for an update.

MELBOURNE, CANBERRA, SYDNEY, TAURANGA, AND CHRISTCHURCH: Yeah Baby! is coming your way later this year! Yeah Baby! is a specialist conference concerned with the education and care of our infants from birth to three years of age. This one day conference runs from 9am-3pm, includes a packed lunch, trade fair, and great seminar and workshop style presentations. The format for the day ensures delegates will return to their early childhood settings affirmed and inspired with topics covered all relevant to work and play with children under 3.

Yeah Baby! Melbourne - Saturday, 7 September 2024, 9am-3pm: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/childspace/1088587
Yeah Baby! Canberra - Saturday, 14 September 2024, 9am-3pm: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/childspace/1111127
Yeah Baby! Sydney - Saturday, 21 September 2024, 9am-3pm: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/childspace/1086393
Yeah Baby! Tauranga - Saturday, 5 October 2024, 9am-3pm: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/childspace/1086329
Yeah Baby! Christchurch - Saturday, 19 October 2024, 9am-3pm: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/childspace/1086323

The amazing Maggie Dent is making the journey across the ditch to present this parenting seminar on Thursday 12 September. We can guarantee that it will be full of her characteristic charm, humour, research, and common sense, just like her best-selling books. Check it out at www.maggiedent.com/events

Happy Friday! Here's some joy from the Childspace Workshop archives: Papatūānuku planter boxes!
Two of these macrocarpa planter boxes featuring Papatūānuku routered into the capping were created for a local kindergarten, and assembled by the tamariki alongside lead builder Robin 'Dr Bob' Christie.
A plywood stencil was used as a guide for the router using a pattern-cutting bit, with extra details added using a holesaw and an electric 'renovator' multi-tool.
To help the children connect all the sections (it was taken to the kindergarten in pieces like a kitset), they were carefully labelled using matching symbols, like these rāpeti you can see in the third image. From there, three battery drill/drivers were used to drive large batten screws into the pre-drilled holes, tremendous fun!
The last photos were taken a year later, the macrocarpa has silvered up, and the mara kai is growing Papatūānuku her living hair!

Our new resource, A Guide to Curriculum Planning, is available for purchase now!
This new resource has been a labour of love and a collaborative effort that has taken two years for our team to develop. The resource defines curriculum and local curriculum with chapters set out in the familiar notice, recognise, respond, and revisit format. There are examples of practical planning and useful tips and templates that can be easily utilised in services straight away and will prove useful for both experienced and beginning teachers and leaders. Always with a practical lens, everything is covered in this beautiful publication from the fundamentals of recognising learning, to how to get the whole team on board with a curriculum plan.
You can buy a physical copy here: https://childspace.nz/shop/planning-and-assessment/guide-to-curriculum-planning/
Or a digital/eBook copy here: https://childspace.nz/shop/ebooks/a-guide-to-curriculum-planning-ebook/

Australia's best-loved parenting author and our inspirational friend Maggie Dent is bringing a one-day conference to Auckland this September, and Childspace is giving away double passes to TWO lucky winners. Email [email protected] by 5pm on the 31st of July with the subject line "Maggie is Awesome!", and include your full name and centre name in the body of the email.

Happy Friyay! Here's a favourite quote from the legend, Bev Bos to remind us of the importance of learning through play.