The centre’s educators regularly seek opportunities to build their professional knowledge to better their practice and decision making in regard to children’s learning and are regular participants at Kids and Traffic workshops in their local area. Many of the ideas they have taken from workshops have been implemented and extended on in creative ways for children and families.
Educators have worked closely with families to involved them in their road safety education program. The centre is committed to supporting families in many ways to help ensure safe journeys to and from the centre but also when families are out and about in their local area. It is this link to the everyday journeys around the Merrylands area that has become the focus of their road safety education program.
As a way of encouraging hands-on learning, storytelling, collaboration and creativity while also talking about keeping safe when out and about, educators initiated a project to construct a ‘Mini Merrylands’. The journeys to and from places in their community and how children travel safely were dramatised in this small world play and talked about during conversations between children and adults. The ‘Mini Merrylands’ was a highlight for children and families at the centre’s Gallery Day, where educators and children showcased road safety experiences and learning for families.
