Capturing the voice of the child: the 'Reaching Out' project

To coincide with the 2015 ECMS conference theme ‘Reaching Out’, ECMS introduced a project at our kindergarten and long day care centres to document what the term ‘Reaching Out’ means to children. 

Educators introduced the topic by asking questions and then collecting evidence of children’s conversations, ideas and comments. These were submitted in the way of photos, video footage and pictorial representations of the children’s ideas. 

There was no one way to carry out the project and it was important that it was led by the children. The response was a diverse range of answers, some children interpreting the concept as being kind to others, lending a helping hand and a consistent theme throughout was the importance of family. 

Take a look at the end result on the video below. 

Thank you to the educators from the following services who collaborated with the children and families to collect this information. 

·         St Vincents Early Learning Centre 

·         Watts St Children’s Centre 

·         Keon Park Kindergarten 

·         Brookside Preschool 

·         Newport Gardens Early Learning Centre 

·         Oakhill Family Centre