When it comes to resources, creativity and sustainability are a focus of Eleni

Last week The Sector shared the story of Eleni Svarnia, and her passion for working in regional and remote communities. 

Her experiences of working in places where resources were very hard to come by gave her a renewed interest in sustainability, and a new perspective on what children ‘need’ to have a high quality learning environment. 

When working in Derby, and in her subsequent positions, Ms Svarnia quickly learned to use the resources she had around her to develop games and activities for the children, and now believes that working in small communities can give educators amazing opportunities to develop resourcefulness and inspire creativity, problem-solving, imagination and appreciation.

Even though she is now working in a situation where resources are more readily available, her previous experiences have given her a new appreciation for what’s possible. 

“Instead of buying plastic phones, we will get a block and stick a photo of a phone on it and the children will be like, ‘Oh hi! How are you?’,” she explained.

“We use sustainable and recyclable materials. To create displays, we cut sticks from outside and hang pictures. We don’t really have to buy that many resources; we can make them.”

When her team approaches her about purchasing materials or resources, one of the first questions she will ask is “how can we MAKE that? What materials might we need?”

“When the children make something themselves, they respect it more and they are proud to show it,” she said.

For Ms Svarnia, who has her own two children, aged one and two years enrolled at her service, gaining the input and connection for families has been an important part of ensuring success in being creative with resources. 

Using the ‘family wall’ in her daughter’s room as an example, she shared her first hand experience of the respect children have for the things they create. 

“We use containers, egg cartons, everything you can imagine. Every child chooses what they want, they paint it the colour they want, then we stick the picture of their family, and we hang them,” she explained.

“What they make, they understand that it’s theirs and they don’t damage it or pull it off the wall. My daughter is only two, but you can see this throughout the centre. It’s interesting because as a teacher before, I never thought this would work. But I’m seeing it in action now and it works.”

For the educators, Eleni says it benefits their way of working and managing behaviours because everything they plan comes from the children.

“Recently, one of my rooms has been interested in exploring the role and function of police,” she said, “So, we made police badges using cardboard and colours. The children have made phones, ATM machines, whatever they’re interested in. It’s all a learning experience. They sit and create together, and when they’re truly engaged, they don’t run around and hit each other.”

Read the first part of Eleni’s story here. For the full version of her story, which The Sector has broken into three parts, please see here.