2024 VEYA Finalist Series: The Emeritus Professor Collette Tayler Excellence Award

The Victorian Early Years Awards (VEYA) are an opportunity for the best and brightest Victorian early childhood professionals to be recognised for the exceptional contribution they make to early childhood education and care (ECEC). 

 

Now in their 19th year, the awards are an opportunity to showcase the inspiring work being done in the Victorian ECEC sector, with finalists exemplifying the vital work happening across the sector. 

 

This is the final article in The Sector series in the lead up to the announcement of the award winners on 7 November 2024. 

 

This week we are showcasing finalists from The Emeritus Professor Collette Tayler Excellence in Educational Leadership Award category

 

This award recognises an educational leader, early childhood service, or an approved service provider that has led their educators and teachers to significantly improve the quality of their learning and teaching practices, with a focus on intentional teaching practices to achieve improved outcomes for Victorian children and their families.

Finalist – Connie Benn Early Learning Centre (in partnership with Laura Petrie Psychotherapy)

 

The Connie Benn Early Learning Centre is a purpose-built facility located within the Fitzroy social housing complex to enhance accessibility for local families. The centre works with children and families that have unique and complex needs, with many coming from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

After a period of high staff turnover and burnout, the leadership team recognised that the service setting and vulnerable community created a unique set of challenges for educators. Developing a strategic service plan, they invested in trauma-informed practice training, specialised consultation and educator wellbeing.

One of the initiatives staff developed following this training was the establishment of a Wellbeing Room – a calming multipurpose space where children can develop self-regulation skills, engage in allied health sessions and connection-based learning such as yoga and art therapy.

The service’s teaching practices, programs and learning spaces follow an emergent approach and intentional teaching moments, ensuring children feel secure in an environment where they are supported to have agency over their learning.

 

Finalist – Chloe Edgar – Discovery Tree Early Learning Centre 

 

As Educational Leader at Discovery Tree Early Learning Centre, Chloe Edgar developed unique and creative education programs for the service and kindergarten. Her initiatives led to both services achieving an overall rating of ‘Exceeding’ from the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority.

Chloe is dedicated to fostering an environment where educators thrive, and facilitates collaborative learning sessions where educators share best practices, discuss challenges, reflect and explore new ideas and intentional teaching practices.

Her forward-thinking mindset ensures that the centre remains at the forefront of educational innovation. She constantly seeks out new and effective learning experiences through the integration of technology, experiential learning opportunities, or interdisciplinary approaches and her efforts have inspired the educational team to create rich and meaningful learning experiences that promote children’s growth, agency, success and school-readiness.

 

Finalist – Monash Vale Early Learning Centre (in partnership with Biik Bundjil)

 

After discovering that their service was located on Boonwurrung Country, Monash Vale Early Learning Centre (MVELC) developed connections with the Boonwurrung community to learn how to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into their programs. 

They established the role of Cultural Inclusion Coordinator and built a strong relationship with cultural organisation ‘Biik Bundjil’ to ensure this work was guided by best practice and Aboriginal perspectives.

Continuous professional learning and engagement with Jaeden Williams from Biik Bundjil resulted in the development of the ‘Yulendj’ curriculum, an innovative resource that provides practical, culturally relevant teaching tools, to foster understanding and appreciation among staff, children and families. The resources includes lessons plans, teaching examples,

printable resources and helps guides on how to respectfully implement teaching practices that teach Boonwurrung culture, language, and traditions.

 

The winners of the 2024 VEYA will be named on Thursday 7 November 2024. 

 

Learn more about the Awards, and view the finalists in all categories.