mmg.com.au

Benalla childcare centre Gumnuts has been recognised for meeting high standards in its early childhood education program.

The framework also recognises the importance of communication and language, including early literacy and numeracy, and social and emotional development.

Ms Gebauer said the new program focuses more on each child’s individual interests, rather than using a curriculum designed for groups of children.

‘‘Where at school they have almost the same curriculum for every child, we’re not allowed to do that anymore,’’ Ms Gebauer said.

Implementing the changes has been a time-consuming and at times challenging task, which makes the successful review all the more exciting for educators at Gumnuts Resort.

Ms Gebauer said it took considerable effort from educators and parents to embrace the changes.

‘‘With a lot of persistence from us, they jumped on board and embraced it,’’ Ms Gebauer said.

‘‘We really supported (the staff), but we basically wouldn’t take no for an answer.’’

Input from parents was also crucial, as details about a child’s home life and interests provided key information for educators to tailor programs around.

Ms Gebauer said that each child had an individual ‘‘child journal’’ that parents were encouraged to take home, read and contribute to.

The journal contained photos and observations from educators, facilitating better communication between educators, parents and the children themselves.

‘‘The kids love it,’’ Ms Gebauer said.

‘‘They love looking at information about themselves.’’

Ms Gebauer said she was extremely grateful to present and past families for helping facilitate the changes, and the team at Gumnuts were looking forward to maintaining the high quality services they have been shown to provide.

‘‘We now have to challenge ourselves as to how we can get better,’’ she said.