Empowering Children, Every Day: Edithvale Family and Children’s Centre’s Holistic Approach to Child Safety

In Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), empowering children and respecting their voices has long been central to creating a nurturing and safe environment. Edithvale Family and Children’s Centre builds on this principle, continuously strengthening its commitment to child safety by embedding these values into its daily routines.

 

Here, children are not only heard but also empowered, and educators are equipped with the tools and reflective practices needed to navigate the challenges of day-to-day education and care.

 

A Vision takes shape

 

The Centre’s Senior Coordinator, Charlotte Hood and Educational Leader Gina Courtney, frequently discussed ways to better integrate the Child Safe Standards into their practice. Through their involvement in recruitment, they noticed a gap in educators’ understanding of these standards and how they translate into daily interactions with children.

 

Drawing on their extensive experience in early childhood education, they set out to bridge this gap. Collaborating with colleagues Jayda Tresidder and Samantha Eastwood, the Edithvale team developed a Child Empowerment Package — designed not to replace existing child safety standards or body safety programs but to complement these formal guidelines and practice. The package offers practical tools to empower children and strengthen the centre’s approach to safety.

 

Partnering with the Australian Catholic University

 

To strengthen the foundation of the package, the team partnered with the Institute of Child Protection Studies (ICPS) at Australian Catholic University. The ICPS played a key role in the initial resource planning workshop, helping the Edithvale team map out the resources to develop, their target audience, and the order of creation. This process shaped the core structure of the Child Empowerment Package.

 

The Edithvale team also sought ICPS’s feedback and review of all draft resources and training materials to ensure alignment with the best available research. Gina Courtney emphasised how ICPS’s research expertise strengthened the project’s foundation and believed their collaboration was crucial to the success of the Child Empowerment Package.

 

“The ICPS involvement in the project ensures consistency with evidence-based research and practice and has strengthened the project’s foundational base, which has directly enhanced our knowledge and capacity to design resources that improve the safety, wellbeing and empowerment of children, young people and families,” Gina said.

(Package resource poster developed in collaboration with ICPS: Foundations of Empowerment. Supplied: Edithvale Family and Children’s Centre)

She further explained that the package is designed to provide educators with practical, hands-on tools to empower children. It includes training modules on key topics such as the foundations of empowerment, interactions and communication, environment and design, resources, relationships, and mentoring colleagues and families.

 

Incorporating child empowerment in daily practice

 

Through a series of training sessions, the package explores what empowerment looks like for children and unpacks the role of educators in fostering this within everyday practice.

 

By reflecting on real-life scenarios, educators are encouraged to think critically about how they further support children’s autonomy. These scenarios provide a platform for educators to share their experiences with peers, offering practical strategies and insights into how empowerment can be woven into everyday practice.

(Educators participate in a training and reflective session. Supplied: Edithvale Family and Children’s Centre)

For instance, when it comes to children’s eating habits, educators can empower children by offering choices and encouraging their participation, which helps build autonomy.

 

As Charlotte elaborated, in such instances there is often “a bit of a power struggle with the child and so they’re not sure of what boundaries are there and what they can and can’t do and what would be seen as acceptable practices and what would be seen as, too forceful for children.”

 

Through training sessions and open discussions, educators have developed a stronger understanding of empowerment and help them to build confidence in their daily practice.

 

“Seeing (the staff) have almost that light bulb moment – ‘oh, what I did was OK’- is reassuring. It’s validating that what they (are doing) is right, because the result is to always put the child first. That’s our main goal: to ensure that children feel comfortable and confident in our environment, and that they feel supported,” Charlotte said.

 

Resources and reflective tools

 

To complement the training modules, the team also designed various resources. For each module, posters were created to be displayed in the rooms. Educators were provided with a think sheet to revisit the learning concepts. Additionally, a reflective learning tool was developed with prompts and guiding questions for educators to consider in their practice. At the end of the reflective tool, there’s an audit checklist for educators to review and refine their practice. Together, the tools and training sessions provide a holistic approach to supporting educators’ learning journey.

(Think sheet designed to further support educators’ learning. Supplied: Edithvale Family and Children’s Centre)

Practical tools to encourage children’s problem solving

 

Throughout the training sessions, many educators emphasised the importance of empowering children to solve problems and handle conflict with peers.

 

“It’s not just all about educators and children, but peer to peer,” Caroline Brownlees, Team Leader, Family and Children’s Centre’s at City of Kingston said.

 

As a result, staff at the centre have created conflict resolution toolboxes for children.

(Problem Solving Kit developed for children to use. Supplied: Edithvale Family and Children’s Centre)

“When they are having conflicts with (other peers), rather than an educator coming in and taking power of the situation, (we) empower children to come up with solutions,” Caroline said.

 

Positive impact for all: a safe and empowering environment throughout the service

 

The Child Empowerment Package not only equips educators with the tools to support children’s autonomy but also reinforces the importance of listening to children’s voices and respecting their agency.

 

“It has supported the educators to really understand that they don’t have to feel they have control of everything. It’s a real shift (for them) in knowing that the relationships they have built and the practices they have together allow children to be confident in the decisions they make,” Gina highlighted.

(A child picking out a strategy from the Problem Solving Kit. Supplied: Edithvale Family and Children’s Centre)

Charlotte added, “When some of our kinder children do see a bit of a conflict, they’ll tell their peers to get the problem-solving box and pick out a strategy to use. It really demonstrates their understanding of what’s happening and their confidence to share their voice and share the problem and how to solve it together”.

 

This piece was written by Yao Cheng from Early Learning Association Australia and has been reshared here with permission. For the original, use this link.