Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmehl

Lag B’Omer

We celebrated Lag B’Omer on Tuesday with a pretend bonfire on the oval. We re-enacted the story of Rabbi Akiva and his students studying Torah around the bonfire, pretending to hunt with their bow and arrows when the Roman soldiers came to look for them. We sang a few songs, and all enjoyed delicious baked potatoes with salt and butter.

Be You mental health program

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing information from the Be You mental health program that the Pre-school is involved with. We joined Be You in 2019, a national initiative for educators, aimed at promoting and protecting positive mental health in children and young people. Their vision is for an education system in which every learning community is positive, inclusive and resilient, and where every child, young person, staff member and family can achieve their best possible mental health.

Be You empowers educators by supporting them to develop their mental health skills and knowledge, while also providing guidance on how to implement a whole learning community approach. It offers a range of online, evidence-based tools and resources aimed at improving the skills and knowledge of educators to foster and support mental health and wellbeing in children and young people.

At the heart of Be You is a content framework that provides a structure for both Professional Learning, and the actions schools can take to implement a whole learning community approach to mental health and wellbeing.

There are five domains in the framework, with each domain containing two or three modules. These modules delve deeper into the domain topics, helping educators to increase their understanding of mental health and wellbeing and enact meaningful change in the ways they support and nurture children and young people.

The educators at Kornmehl have been working through these learning modules as part of their professional development. Some of the modules are done together as a whole staff team and others are done individually. At the end of modules, we come together as a staff team to reflect and discuss what we learned and how we can use the information to inform our practice, understanding and interactions with the children and families in the Pre-school and with each other. Be You helps foster a positive, supportive and inclusive environment where all educators have appropriate mental health literacy and feel empowered to work towards better mental health.

We are aware that during these unprecedented and uncertain times there is lots of anxiety and stress on families, children and educators. Early learning services have some unique challenges as they deal with the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. To begin with, educators can’t practise social distancing when working with young children. Young children may also seek out educators for additional comfort during this time. They may ask questions about the outbreak or want to share what they understand about the changes happening around them.

What affects young children is how the adults around them feel and respond. We know that it is important to look after ourselves, so that we are in a better position to look after the children in our care.

We are confident in knowing that our Pre-school already has so many strengths that will help us get through the outbreak e.g. strong health and safety policies, including hygiene practices.

As we work through the challenges, it’s important to be kind, compassionate and patient with each other – skills that we already practise every day as educators.

We also know that to manage our stress levels, we need to maintain our routines, know our limits, debrief with trusted colleagues, family or friends, and find ways to stay engaged and connected during the outbreak.

We recognise that many of us here in the community are feeling scared, worried and overwhelmed about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Just as we have come together during other difficult times, we need to do the same now and make time to look after our wellbeing and the wellbeing of everyone in our community.

Supporting children

Maintain regular routines and rituals where possible

Children may experience more disruptions than usual during the outbreak. Routines and rituals are important to maintain at this time, as the little things (such as singing the same funny song when washing hands or reading a favourite story at rest time) can create an emotional connection and relieve anxiety.

We need to think about how changes to the set-up of their physical environment may affect children, including those taking a break from the service. Give children as much notice as possible about changes to routines and environments and have realistic expectations of them during this time.

Help regulate emotions

We need to keep building strong relationships with children as much as possible during this time, as the complex relationship-based work we do is incredibly important. We are well-placed as educators to help children navigate and explore their emotions and help them self-regulate.

Use play

We need to keep being interested and supportive of children’s play – it helps them to feel connected, valued and accepted. Having fun together during play time enables children to experience pleasure and joy. Play also helps children to express and work through their feelings, even before they have the words to say how they feel.

Look for changes in behaviour

Children who may be feeling overwhelmed by stress or anxiety could be tired, withdrawn, irritable, fearful, unmotivated, moody, lose their appetite, need more comfort, have trouble concentrating and feel physically unwell. We are here to support the children through these different behaviours and emotions. We have a strong focus on collaborative partnerships with families to support the children’s mental health.

Stay connected

If families are keeping children at home, we encourage you to think about ways you can stay connected to the Pre-school. This will assist for a smoother transition back. We invite families to continue sharing news, information and photos of their child with us on Educa. We also invite families to link into our online program. Sit with your child to watch the daily story being read to them by one of our educators. Have a go at making some of the wonderful activities suggested in the program. You might like to tune into one of Morah Martine’s Hebrew lessons. All of these materials will help your child to stay connected to the Pre-school until they return to a normal routine.

Over the next few weeks we will be sharing more Be You information with families to support them during this difficult time. Please feel free to chat to educators about any difficulties you might be experiencing at home and how we can work together to best support your child.

Below are some links that will give you access into the Be You website and Facebook pages that offer great links to information and resources for families and educators.