BUSHkids Annual Report 2019-20

ANNUAL REPORT 2019–2020

eKindy

BUSHkids continues to be the third-party provider of standalone care in the Department of Education’s eKindy pod pilot program and 2020 marks our third year of facilitation of eKindy pods in rural and remote primary schools in Queensland. Our local facilitators this year moved quickly to providing virtual catch-ups with their children and parents. ZOOM training was provided and used with the children. Beautiful packs were created for the children to continue with early years activities.

BUSHkids eKindy facilitators provide five-hours of care for four children on a kindy day. We are responsible for the quality of care, safety and wellbeing of children within the eKindy pods. Qualified kindy teachers located in various schools across Queensland offer distance education support to our facilitators. The qualified kindy teacher is responsible for planning each day’s play-based learning in line with the Queensland kindergarten learning guideline (QKLG) . Our eKindy facilitators are local people who we support to develop the kindy in their community. Some have been with us even prior to the official launch of the pilot program: Theresa Green at the eKindy pod in Bell, for instance, has been with us for four years!

Feedback is collected at the end of each day, as well as at the end of term via phone calls to parents. One hundred percent of families report that they are very happy with the quality of the service provided by the BUSHkids eKindy Facilitators. All parents reported that their children felt very safe with the BUSHkids eKindy facilitator. Some were very pleasantly surprised as their child had experienced separation anxiety before kindy. Parents also report significant levels of developmental improvement, with a majority noting that social and emotional development is the most significant positive change. The Department of Education is currently reviewing all feedback and data from the pilot program.

TOPIC SECTION 25 EX ANDING POD COUNT eKINDY

Pods per location

Region

Location

2019

2020

Anakie

2

2 –

Gladstone, Capricorn, Central Highlands

Arcadia Valley

1 1

Bauple

1

Southern Queensland

Bell

2 – 2

3 2

North and North West Queensland Gladstone, Capricorn, Central Highlands

Bloomfield

Bororen

1

Southern Queensland Wide Bay - Burnett

Bowenville Brooweena

1

–

–

1 1

Bymount East

1 1

Gladstone, Capricorn, Central Highlands

Comet

–

Daintree

–

1

North and North West Queensland

Forrest Beach

1 1 1 1

2 2

Gladstone, Capricorn, Central Highlands North and North West Queensland

Goovigen

Gumlu Karara

1

–

Southern Queensland

Kenilworth

–

1 1

Gladstone, Capricorn, Central Highlands

Keppel Sands

1 1

Kindon Leyburn

–

Southern Queensland

– 2 2

1

North and North West Queensland

Mount Garnet

2 2 2

Wide Bay - Burnett

Proston Seaforth Stanwell Talwood Thallon

North and North West Queensland Gladstone, Capricorn, Central Highlands

1

–

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1

Southern Queensland

–

Tiaro

1

Wide Bay - Burnett

Wartburg Wowan Yarwun Yelarbon Total pods

–

1 1

Gladstone, Capricorn, Central Highlands

Southern Queensland

2

28

34