Connection
Children’s social development during their early years was critical, as the way they formed relationships and connected with others would influence them both in the short and long term. At Catholic Early EdCare, we focused on helping children connect and form relationships with their educators, peers, and the broader community.
St Clare’s Kindergarten Teacher Mel Kemp explained, “At our kindergarten children become part of an extended family building strong relationships with their peers, ourselves as teachers and also our co-located school community, St Clare’s Primary School”.
When COVID-19 social distancing began being implemented and the kindergarten saw a decline in children attending, Mel and her teaching partner Miss Sarah wrote paper letters to personally connect with each of the children who normally attended the kindergarten.
“Suddenly, the children could no longer visit or see the extended family they had come to love and we wanted to make sure that each of the children knew that they hadn’t been forgotten, how important they were to our community and that we couldn’t wait to have them all back together again. The response to the letters has been amazing with parents and children reporting that they felt incredibly special that their teachers took the time to write to them individually,” Mel said.