Sagewood Early Learning Canning Vale

Quality Area 6 - Collaborative
partnerships with families and
communities

🌱💚 Feed It Forward 💚🌱

As part of our commitment to sustainability and supporting our service community, we proudly introduce our Feed It Forward Program.

Through this initiative, fresh food and pantry items are delivered to our service for families to take home at no cost. This program not only helps support families within our community, but also plays an important role in reducing food waste and encouraging sustainable practices. ♻️🥕🍎

At our service, we believe in caring for both our environment and the people around us. By sharing food that may otherwise go to waste, we are teaching children the importance of kindness, community connection, and environmental responsibility.

A small act of sharing can make a big difference. 💛

Happy 5 Years Tammy 🩷

5 years! sometimes it feels like 10 😉congratulations Tammy, thank you for being the face and heart of Sagewood Early Learning Canning Vale you love the children like they are your own. Lets see what the next 5 brings ❤

Quality Area 4 Staffing Arrangements

🩷Today we celebrate an incredible milestone Caitlin’s 5 Year Anniversary with us at Sagewood Canningvale 🩷

As our wonderful 2IC, Caitlin brings so much care, dedication, and positivity into our centre every single day. Thank you for continuously nurturing, loving, inspiring, and supporting both the children and our team. Your passion for early childhood education shines through in everything you do, and we are so grateful for the warmth and guidance you bring to our community.

Thank you for 5 amazing years of commitment, kindness, and hard work. We appreciate everything you do and look forward to many more years together.

QA2.2.3 Child Protection

Today, some of our Garden Room and Children’s House children joined Assistant Director, Caitlin, to help review our Child Protection Risk Assessment.

Children’s voices are an important part in creating a safe environment at Sagewood.

The children were invited to share what makes them feel safe at our service and how educators help protect and support them each day. Their responses reminded us just how meaningful everyday moments are in building children’s sense of security and belonging.

Some of the children shared:
“They give me yummy food.”
“When my teacher stands at the cubby house and catches me when I fall.”
“We don’t talk to strangers at the gate. We tell a teacher.”
“My teacher makes me safe when I feel sad.”
“We check for snakes.”
“I feel safe when my mummy takes me to school.”

Through our Safe4Kids program, children are supported to recognise safe and unsafe situations, identify trusted adults, and develop confidence in speaking up and seeking help when needed.

These conversations reflect our ongoing commitment to children’s safety, wellbeing, and emotional security, and we are so proud of the confidence and awareness our children demonstrate.

🌸 QA6 Collaborative partnerships with families and communities | Mother’s Day at Sagewood Canning Vale 🌸

At Sagewood Canning Vale, we love opening our doors for special community events that encourage families to come in and engage in their child’s learning environment.

For Mother’s Day, the children enjoyed a beautiful afternoon filled with arts and crafts, including a tea party, role play in our salon area, and creating special bracelets for their mums. We finished the celebration with a delicious afternoon tea shared together.

We loved this recent newsletter from ACECQA highlighting children’s right to rest and sleep, and how important it is for their overall wellbeing 💛

https://www.acecqa.gov.au/latest-news/blog/children-and-young-peoples-right-sleep-and-rest

At Sagewood, we align closely with this approach through our Sleep and Rest Policy, ensuring all children are provided the opportunity to rest for at least 20 minutes each day.

Each child is supported based on their individual needs, routines, and cues, with a strong focus on creating calm and responsive environments.

A period of rest is a time of solitude and calmness, which may look different for every child from having a nap, reading a book quietly, or participating in ELMA animal yoga.

We also follow the safe sleep recommendations from Red Nose Australia, ensuring best practice is embedded into our daily routines to keep every child safe while they rest.

This approach aligns with the 10 National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, particularly valuing children’s voices, respecting their rights, and supporting their wellbeing in a safe and nurturing environment.

By creating flexible, peaceful spaces, we support children to rest, recharge, and feel their best throughout the day 🌿

♻️Our Sustainability Station ♻️

At Sagewood Canning Vale, we are proud to be growing a meaningful and engaging Sustainability Station within our learning environment. This space has been thoughtfully created to support children in developing an understanding of sustainability, responsibility, and care for the world around them.

Our station features a collection of pre-loved books that have been given a second home, encouraging a sense of community through book swapping.
Alongside this, we have been collecting a variety of recycled materials that are repurposed for arts, crafts, and everyday learning experiences. These open ended resources invite children to explore, create, and problem solve, empowering them to express their ideas .
Embedding recycled materials into our program reflects our strong commitment to our service philosophy and is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach.

🍉🍐Children Food Preparation 🍓🍏
QA1- Educational program and practice
QA2- Children’s health and safety

Children are involved in food preparation experiences such as making fruit platters, encouraging ownership over healthy choices.

As part of our daily rhythm, children have been using their practical life skills to prepare their very own crunch platters. Working closely with Sarah in the kitchen, the children are given a voice in their learning as they share which fruits and vegetables they enjoy and would like to include at mealtimes.
Through these experiences, the children are not only building independence and fine motor skills but also developing healthy eating habits and an awareness of how to look after their overall well-being. They are learning that food fuels their bodies, supports their growth, and helps them feel their best each day.

Quality Area 2: Children’s Health and Safety👷🏼‍♂️

Mini Champions at Sagewood Canning Vale

At Sagewood Canning Vale, we are proud to have our team of champions who support key areas across our service and now we’ve extended this initiative to include our Mini Champions.

Our Mini Champions play an important role in capturing children’s voices and contributions within our learning environments, policies, procedures, risk assessments and curriculum. This empowers our children to feel a strong sense of belonging and ownership in their space.
Recently, our Work Health and Safety Mini Champion worked alongside our WHS Officer to complete a maintenance check around the service. After it was completed he spoke to the service director tammy about what he found.
Together, they walked through the environment, identifying areas that needed attention to ensure a safe space for everyone.
Our Mini Champion also took initiative by helping with vacuuming and gardening actively contributing to maintaining a clean, safe, and welcoming environment for all children.
We love seeing our children develop responsibility, confidence, and a sense of pride in their center.

Quality Area 1 – Educational Program and Practice
🌿 Exploring Bunuru ☀️🌊

As part of our Reconciliation Action Plan, the children have been learning about the Noongar seasons and using their knowledge to create a collaborative canvas artwork.

Through discussion and teamwork, the children explored:
- Orange tones to represent the summer sun
-Blue elements for water and coastal life
- Natural textures to reflect the beach
-Hands-on elements such as clay work to add texture and detail.
Children made meaningful connections by sharing their own experiences of visiting the beach to cool down. Using recycled and loose parts, this experience also supported sustainability and respect for our environment.
Throughout the experience, the children demonstrated teamwork, creativity, and a growing understanding of Aboriginal culture.

💬 What do you and your family enjoy doing during Bunuru?