CCSA CONNECTIONS
FOUR | SEPTEMBER 2020 THE RESILIENCE ISSUE
Welcome to ISSUE FOUR
Welcome to issue number 4 of Connections – a publication specifically targeted to early childhood service providers working in rural and remote locations across Australia.
In this issue we focus on the resilience that all early childhood services, and particularly those in rural, remote and regional areas, have shown in facing the challenges of drought, bushfire and COVID over the past 12 months.
Despite the difficulties and hardships some have suffered, the services we talked to have all demonstrated strength and adaptability to work within the conditions they faced, as they continued to provide valuable educational outcomes for children and communities. Read their stories to be inspired, and learn more about the strategies they used to cope in challenging times.
We also have an interview with Uncle Ralph Naden, who some of you will have had the pleasure of meeting at the Rural and Remote Forum earlier this year. Uncle Ralph talks to us about Aboriginal perspectives on early childhood learning and the importance of connections and relationships.
We are currently organising our 2021 Forum to be held in the Blue Mountains from 21 to 23 March 2021. Recognising the year of rapid change and uncertainty we have all experienced, the theme for this Forum is Reflect, Restore, Refocus.
A slower-paced event with more time for discussions and networking, the Forum is an opportunity for you to reflect on what you do well and share those experiences, restore your enthusiasm, and set goals and plans as you move forward into a new year. There will also be time for some well-deserved rest and self-care!
Go here to find out more and register to join us http://wwwccsaruralandremoteforum.org.au/ Enjoy reading Connections,
Meg Mendham, CEO CCSA
CCSA
7 Gang Gang Street
Katoomba NSW 2780
office@ccsa.org.au
www.ccsa.org.au
Phone 1800 991 602
or (02) 4782 1470
In this ISSUE
CONNECTIONS + RELATIONSHIPS
Delegates at the 2020 Rural and Remote Forum had the very special and unique opportunity to meet Uncle Ralph Naden, a Wiradjuri elder dedicated to sharing knowledge and culture to communities across centralwest NSW and beyond. Uncle Ralph also mentors young people at Yalmambirra Boogijoon Doolin, a cultural school he built right next door to his home.
Recently he talked to Connections about Aboriginal perspectives on learning in early childhood.
Connections: Tell us about the importance of storytelling in Wiradjuri culture?
“ Singin’ and dancing is part of our storytelling and that’s part of our education about the culture.
“ I didn’t have a real good education, reading and writing, I wasn’t real good at. But I could track a goanna and get berries, cos that’s learning skills I learnt and I had to work hard at it.
“ We tell stories instead of reading books and, just like at school, in Aboriginal culture you have to try hard to be good at things.
“ That’s why I go into schools to tell children that you need to try hard to be good at something.”
Connections: How do you engage with young people when you go into schools?
“ When we go into the preschool, we mightn’t identify who is aboriginal, but even at a young age they have a connection. For a Koori kid in the preschool, they can identify with the storyteller. They can make that connection to identity. They might not say anything but when they get home, they can make that connection and feel that respect.
"We tell stories instead of reading books..."
“ I might walk in with my bit of bark and I can sing a lullaby, like when you walk with a pram singing to the babies, that’s the connection to the world. The kids understand what we are talking about and how can we understand the traditional Aboriginal culture in today’s society.
About
Uncle Ralph
For decades, Ralph Naden has dedicated his time to improving the lives of disadvantaged children. As well as founding Yalmambirra Boogijoon Doolan – an Indigenous place of learning for young people – Mr Naden also volunteers with Mission Australia and Uniting Care Burnside. In 2019 Mr Naden was awarded an Order of Australia medal for service to the Indigenous community of western NSW.
" we need to make real connections and build real relationships" .
“ When we go into the preschools nonAboriginal staff might feel intimidated or don’t want to cross the line but if someone can make the connection, that Aboriginal person will give them permission to respect.”
Connections: So once you have made the connection, how do you build the relationship?
“At the end of the day Aboriginal people are living in a white society. When our mob hang out at home with each other it’s different to when we are in the wider community. We adapt to meet society.
“ We are code changers - we have to change to fit into this world and meet expectations, and some Aboriginal people can do it better than others. If a white fella doesn’t understand that they will impose that on others.
“ I connect with kids to build up good relationships to adapt to the world today. We need to give Aboriginal kids identity from a young age, they need to know who they are to have a sense of belonging.
“ Tokenistic stuff isn’t what we are about, we need to make real connections and build real relationships. When I work with services, I’m going to talk black AND white - it’s not about black versus white. It’s about us working together. It all fits in with being, belonging and becoming”
CONNECT
Ralph Naden Cultural Centre 20 W Mialla Rd, Balladoran NSW 2831
FORUM
Together with a range of professional development activities and facilitated discussions, the Forum focussed on the latest research on brain development with keynote addresses from experts in the field including Marc de Rosnay and Nathan Wallis.
Robyn Moore delivered an entertaining and inspiring presentation on our perceptions of communication, and the Forum saw ABC TV’s Laura Stone launch the ABC Kids dedicated webpage for early childhood educators.
Networking experiences included a unique cultural tour with Uncle Ralph and a rousing Forum wrap-up singing session with Jonathon Welch from the Choir of Hard Knocks.
150
Delegates
“Thank you for such a wonderful forum, this was our second year and I just love it. What a privilege!!!”.
Robyn Moore.
“I had an absolutely wonderful three days of networking. I met some amazing people and had the majority of my current perceptions on life flipped on their head”
“Thank you for organising this event, it's amazing, keeps us rural and remote folk connected and inspiring into the future”.
Nathan Wallis .
Jonathon Welch from the Choir of Hard Knocks.
Going the
Distance
rural and remote services deliver in
record-breaking drought
There aren’t many services that cover an area bigger than the UK and continue to do so in the worst drought ever recorded in regional Australia. Far West Children’s Services did just that, providing childcare in a period of unprecedented community and financial hardship, and maintaining a broad range of remote and flexible teaching services that helped keep the community together.
According to Karen Lennon, Children Services Manager at Cobar Shire Council, a solely centre-based care model is impractical for many families in the outback. Also, as the drought continued to deepen, families felt the financial pinch impacting affordability of childcare. She describes the stress and strain on families, educators, and especially on young children.
“As families began walking off properties and moving to towns for work, children were disrupted by living in unfamiliar places, and educators experienced more demanding situations with families facing increasing strain and stress. Children were also having to look after siblings and help out more on the farm, losing their childhoods and playtime.”
THE RESPONSE:
"The In-Home Care program provided remote families with the opportunity to access childcare in their homes with their own educator and flexibly delivered through online learning.
“To help families connect and share stories we encouraged them to communicate through Facebook and School of the Air community. That also gave parents a chance for downtime and a break which was important as a stress reliever.
“At Farwest, we kept our communications open and invited parents to call at any time where they could debrief. The educators could also access their own sessions to support them away from work such as a hat making workshop via School of The Air.
"We encourage families to communicate through Facebook and the School of the Air community".
“We also capped our fees and offered additional childcare hours to support families.
“One thing that seemed to help the most was our connection to the communities and our focus on staying in touch. Where possible, we arranged extra activities and events to bring communities and educators together to provide a short reprieve from the hardships we all were facing.
Far West provide Family Day Care in Cobar. They have 25 educators providing care to 200 children, and another 140 children and almost 50 educators participate in the In-Home-Care program online.
Far West also manages a remote preschool at Louth for 3 children, and their Cobar COOSH and holiday childcare service is licensed for 30 children per day.
CONNECT (02)6836 1156
Facebook.com/Far-West-Family-Day-Care
RURAL + REMOTE FORUM RESERCH FINDINGS
What works in the city... doesn’t always work in the country.
This story reports on the findings from a workshop conducted at the CCSA Forum in Dubbo in 2020. The workshop was the first stage of a research project being jointly conducted by researchers from Macquarie University (Sandie Wong, Loraine Fordham & Belinda Davies), Charles Sturt University (Helen Logan) and CCSA, that explores children’s access to high quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in regional and remote areas.
We know that access to high quality ECEC has a range of benefits for children’s longterm development and learning outcomes. Indeed, the Australian Government has committed to increasing participation in ECEC, especially in the year prior to school. However, access to high quality ECEC in regional and remote areas remains problematic. As we shared at the workshop, whilst we know about some of the barriers to, and supports for, children’s access to ECEC generally, little is known about what works to support access in regional and remote areas (see NSW Department of Education, 2017a & b; Whiteman et al., 2018).
To better understand this issue, we asked participants at the Forum to share their first-hand knowledge with us.
Over 70 Forum participants contributed their ideas about what are the barriers to children’s access to high quality ECEC, as well as shared their expertise on what might be done to better support children’s access. We analysed their data and identified a number of themes including:
• Barriers to children’s participation in ECEC in regional and remote areas.
• Demographic challenges to service provision in regional and remote areas.
Prepared By:
Associate Professor Sandie Wong (MQU)
Dr Loraine Fordham (MQU)
Dr Helen Logan (CSU)
Dr Belinda Davis
• Challenges for educators working in regional and remote areas that impact on children’s participation in ECEC.
• Factors that support children’s participation in ECEC in regional and remote areas.
Whilst the barriers to children’s access to high quality ECEC in regional and remote areas, identified by participants, are similar to those found more generally – including family poverty; transport difficulties; lack of ECTs; and difficulty in accessing professional learning -these challenges are amplified in regional and remote areas. For example, poverty can be exacerbated by the high cost of food in remote areas. As one participant said: “Families can’t afford lunch for children. Living in rural areas – shops don’t have food some days for the community. And kids are kept home.”
Barriers to children’s participation in ECEC in regional and remote areas:
Financial barriers such as ECEC service fees and the costs associated with living in regional and remote areas – such as higher costs for groceries.
Transport barriers such as long distances, the cost and availability of transport, and a lack of public transport.
Demographic challenges to service provision in regional and remote areas:
Population fluctuations that occur in rural and regional areas can lead to a lack of services, such as health care and specialist educational services.
High levels of poverty with low socio-economic status (SES) often being ‘hidden’ within current Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) codes.
Challenges for educators working in regional and remote areas that impact on children’s participation in ECEC:
Professional learning: lack of professional learning opportunities in regional areas and/or difficulty accessing due to distances.
Workforce issues: Difficulty attracting qualified educators – especially early childhood teachers. Pay and condition inequities which see early childhood teachers move to the school sector.
Perceptions of early childhood education: Educators struggle with poor parent and community perceptions about the value of early childhood education compared to schools.
Factors that support children’s participation in ECEC in regional and remote areas:
Additional Government funding for fee relief and transport costs.
Funding for 3-year-old children.
Greater flexibility in funding rules for regional areas.
Access to support services – especially allied health services for children with disabilities, or children who have additional needs.
Educators developing meaningful relationships with families.
Attracting and retaining qualified early childhood teachers.
Likewise, public transport in regional and remote areas can be non-existent, and/ or travelling long-distances can be costly. And whilst there is a shortage of ECTs across Australia, trying to attract or retain ECTs in regional and/or remote areas can be particularly challenging. Similarly, it is far more difficult to access professionally enhancing PD in regional and remote areas than in metropolitan areas.
The main factor that participants identified as supporting children’s participation to high quality ECEC in regional and remote areas was adequate funding for services and families – and especially the expansion of funding for three year old children. What came across particularly strongly in the data though, is that funding for ECEC in regional and remote areas needs to be flexible. As one participant said: “One size doesn’t fit all.” Other factors included access to support services, and the ability to attract and retain qualified early childhood teachers. The final factor identified reflects the critical role of relationships in ECEC, regardless of locationparticipants noted the importance of educators’ developing meaningful relationships with families: “Connecting with locals. Knowing the people and families” “Understand families – walk in their shoes.”
We are very grateful to all the participants for sharing their knowledge and expertise. It has given us some rich data. What we need to do next is determine how widely these views are shared across eductors working in regional and remote areas, as well as ascertain if there might be any additional factors at play.
Our next step is to develop a survey based on these findings which we will send to services in regional and remote locations. Please look out for a link to a survey in early 2021! We look forward to receiving your ideas.
Make Maths Child’s Play
Let’s Count is a practical and tangible online professional development opportunity that integrates the basics of numeracy into children’s play and their every-day.
The principles of Let’s Count are to empower those who work with young children and parents to encourage the children to notice, explore and talk about numeric concepts.
In helping to prepare pre-schoolers for school, it is important to lay down the foundations for numeracy in later life. Let’s Count is evidence based, aligns with the EYLF and meets NQS requirements.
References:
NSW Department of Education. (2017a). Regional and remote early childhood education: Literature review. Retrieved from: https://education.nsw.gov.au/media/ecec/pdf-documents/2017/Regional-and-Remote_Literature-Review.pdf
NSW Department of Education. (2017b). Regional and remote early childhood education strategy: Ensuring every child in regional and remote NSW gets the best start to life. 2017-2022. Retrieved from: https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/ main-education/early-childhood-education/operating-an-early-childhood-education-service/media/documents/Regional-andRemote-ECE-Strategy.pdf
Whiteman, P., Harrison, L. J., Cheeseman, S., Davis, B., Degotardi, S., Hadley, F., Wong, S., & Waniganayake, M. (2018). Early childhood education participation of children from low socioeconomic backgrounds: Literature review. Conducted for a project funded by the NSW Department of Education.
Let’s Count is practical, tangible and fun!
Registration and all resources are free. Go to: letscount.thesmithfamily.com.au/register
NSW Department of Education
BUSHFIRE RELIEF strategy
The early childhood education sector is an important part of the NSW Department of Education Bushfire Relief Strategy, which was established after the catastrophic 2019/20 bushfire season.
More than 200 public school communities, many associated with early childhood education providers, were affected by those fires; three schools were destroyed, scores of others damaged and 50,000 students directly affected by multiple school closures, emergency evacuations and respiratory issues caused by thick smoke.
While the loss of lives caused by the fires was tragic, it was clear to the Department that many survivors needed support across a range of areas to begin recovery from the devastation.
The Bushfire Relief Strategy Directorate was created to help develop in those schools and their local communities the confidence and ability to prepare, respond and recover from bushfires or other emergency situations.
Strengthening and sustaining educational outcomes for young people from early childhood to post school is a key principle of the Strategy, as is ensuring such support is flexible, scalable and designed to meet the needs of each community.
Representatives from the early childhood sector are among the key stakeholders being consulted in the Strategy’s development and implementation.
One of its first initiatives in the sector was a partnership with Wollongong University to produce Early Childhood Education strategies and practices that support children and communities impacted by bushfires.
The report, Bushfire response: Restoring a sense of safety and security, along with its associated resources is available at the University of Wollongong website. The NSW Minister for Education and
Early Childhood Learning is committed to continuing to do everything the State Government and the Department can to support those learning communities affected by the bushfires.
First-hand knowledge is important to ensuring the Strategy learns what each bushfire-affected learning community needs to revive and thrive.
“The effects of the bushfires on local communities vary widely, that’s why it is so important to hear from people on the ground about what they need to help them recover and how the Strategy can work with them to help deliver it,” Kathy Powzun, Executive Director, Bushfire Relief Strategy, said.
“I’m keen to develop even closer links with the early childhood education sector to ensure the Strategy retains a strong focus on supporting particularly young children and the dedicated staff who care for them in these traumatised areas.”
Since starting in February, the Strategy has worked with local communities and key stakeholders on a range of achievements, including:
• Improved counselling services delivered through schools.
• Partnered with mental health experts Headspace to develop programs that meet the needs of children, staff and the community.
• Initiated collection by the Department of a range of data from bushfireaffected schools to improve decisionmaking by principals and local management.
“I welcome the interest of CCSA members in the Bushfire Relief Strategy, and we can be contacted at brs@det.nsw.edu.au or by joining the conversation on Twitter at #BushfireReliefDoE,” Ms Powzun said.
CONNECT
Kathy Powzun
brs@det.nsw.edu.au
Twitter: #BushfireReliefDoE
A PRESCHOOL SAFEHAVEN.
Rocky Hall Preschool offers a safe haven for families traumatised by fire
At the start of 2020, four bushfires surrounded isolated communities in the Bega Valley Shire for almost two months, eventually impacting Rocky Hall and surrounding townships.
At the height of the crisis, the Border Fire, Big Jack Mountain Fire and the Postmans Trail blaze were all elevated to emergency level and alerts sent out to residents and the fire crews rolled in. After the smoke cleared, the Rocky Hall Preschool in the Towamba Valley remembered how the preschool responded with services for isolated families under threat.
Jodie Dickinson is a Director and Leading Educator at the preschool for 9 children in an isolated area of the Bega Valley. According to Jodie, there is no mobile coverage and access is limited to dirt roads and subject to flooding.
THE EVENT:
“During the fire disaster earlier in the year, every family lived in a state of hyper vigilance. There were 5 evacuations, with families displaced and sleeping along with animals in their cars or looking for accommodation.
We were also hyper vigilant, and every time we evacuated, important documents and computers would be loaded into my car along with whatever else would fit, and I drove around for weeks with these not knowing where to safely store them.
“The fire burnt a main timber bridge and torrential rain followed. We had no communication for two months and were totally isolated”.
THE RESPONSE:
“During the fire threat, I left the preschool back door open with supplies of food and water for community members to escape to if they had to flee their homes. When the preschool finally reopened and families returned, we went into recovery mode. We created a safe place for families to come and have coffee and tea in the lounge so they could talk and share their stories. The children were pleased to have contact with friends and community.
“I worked as a volunteer with other organisations to run a Recovery Centre supplying basic needs, and financial and counselling support. We helped the community access grants as many in the community had no income for months.
“When we dealt with families that had undergone ongoing trauma and fire threat and isolation, we responded with sensitive and non-judgemental support and care. We gave them a cuppa, and a space to talk, share and recover their mental health.
“Sadly, COVID came on the back of fires and families chose to isolate at home.
"We started providing online Storytime, music, counting and literacy videos each preschool day and shared these on Storypark with Zoom providing parents with a social connection.
"Today our focus is still on recovering the mental health of children, parents, staff and the community.
CONNECT
Phone: (02) 6494 2095
rockyhallpreschool.webhive.com.au/
Everyday activities designed to help young children with their maths learning
Let's Count
FACEBOOK MESSENGER BOT
Leading Australian education charity The Smith Family has launched a new tool to support young children with emergent maths skills.
The Let’s Count Parent bot on Facebook Messenger is an interactive platform that uses everyday activities and objects to suggest ways in which parents and carers can support their children’s maths learning. The tool works just like Facebook Messenger, with a series of activities suggested by the bot which the user can weave into their everyday life to help their child notice, explore, and talk about mathematics.
These can include counting steps on a walk, ordering fruit by weight whilst shopping or comparing the shapes of street signs during car journeys.
Quotes from parents that have used the bot: “Maths can be anything, from cooking to shapes, it all helps”
“The tool gave me ideas and words to use with my kids and made overwhelming tasks like tidying their room fun and educational by sorting and matching”
Try it for yourself:
CCSA, in collaboration with researchers from Charles Sturt and Macquarie Universities, is presenting an online workshop package exploring wellbeing in the context of early childhood.
Focusing on educators, we will go beyond Work Health and Safety, to look at what physical and psychological wellbeing in the workplace really looks like, and consider how leaders can influence better outcomes through their interactions, support and advocacy.
Presented over 2 sessions, the live webinars will be interactive to allow sharing and collaboration, and participants will be provided with tools and templates to support reflection, self-assessment and planning for the future.
Participants will gain a holistic understanding of well-being and responsibilities for educators and teachers wellbeing, as well as educators and leaders roles in supporting it.
ONLINE SESSIONS Thursday 22 October 2020 –10.00am to 1.00pm + Thursday 26 November –1.00pm to 4.00pm
Flood Damages Kindergarten
BUT NOT SPIRITS
Heavy rain, damaging wind and a fallen tree cut powerlines and closed Terrey Hills Community Kindergarten in Sydney’s Northern Beaches. Without power, ventilation, refrigeration and phones, the Kindy became non-operational and staff had to rethink their power and emergency disaster planning.
Terrey Hills Community Kindergarten is surrounded by native bush and located near an oval, local shops and a library. The service took advantage of a community grant and upgraded an outdoor area where the children enjoyed many hours of the day before the service was hit by massive storm damage.
THE EVENT:
After flooding rain and damaging wind hit the Kindy, sections of the classroom roof began to leak, and a large tree fell onto powerlines knocking out power to the entire street for 4 days.
from power loss and the lack of ventilation, the carpark had one entry and exit and there was a risk from limited visibility in ongoing heavy rain of accidents. Access to the storerooms where tools and resources were kept became difficult.
THE RESPONSE:
“Parents were continuously informed via text message using the Kindy mobile phone. We got hold of a small generator to power the fridge and a fan for some ventilation, which was a step forward.
“The generator posed some additional risk because we had to use petrol to run it, and there were fumes and noise.
“We implemented a power outage policy following the event so we could have clear guidance on what to do if it happens again in the future.
“During all of this we talked to our educators, the Kindy’s Management Committee, CCSA and the Early Childhood Education Directorate and took advice on our situation.
“We learned through the experience to have some items ready for power outage, and our list includes flashlights, spare batteries, charged Kindy mobile, books and games available to children, bottled water, blankets, food that doesn’t need to be kept cold, first aid kit, and a battery operated fan. Now we have a Kindy Power Outage Policy ready for action.”
A risk assessment determined the Kindy unsafe for operation. Apart
CONNECT
www.terreyhillskindy.com.au Facebook.com/terreyhillskindy 02 9450 1039
WILBERFORCE PRESCHOOL
Preschool helps steer the course in early pandemic responses
Picture this – It’s mid-March 2020, and the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The country is recovering from the devastation brought by unprecedented bushfires and unending drought. Authorities are trying desperately to respond to the emerging pandemic threat, and you’re trying to manage your service’s response as best you can in an environment of uncertainty and change. Then suddenly the COVID risk become very real.
Jody Baird, Director of Wilberforce Preschool describes what happened from the time the staff member took the test, and how the service’s COVID-19 plan was enacted.
“Staff and educators discussed our options - we were in unknown territory and attempts to contact government authorities failed. After contacting our President, we decided to close the preschool while we waited for the results. This meant advising parents face to face, that we were not going to open as they were coming into preschool to drop their children off and they would have to leave with their children.
“We had 38 new children who were still getting to know each other and staff building relationships with their family members. Having to explain to parents that we potentially had a member with COVID-19 was understandably met with fear, concern, and panic by parents. They were however grateful that we were taking this precautionary measure.”
The preschool also closed for the following day while they waited for the result.
Then things took a turn, “the local public health unit called to inform us that our staff member had tested positive for COVID-19 and due to the structure of our one-unit preschool we were advised that all children and staff were considered close contacts and
“At the time the limited information that was available was constantly changing as the situation was ever changing and ever evolving. We thank the team at CCSA for their support provided during this stressful time. Answering our emails and phone calls they continued to provide us with updated sector information on the ever-changing situation and checking in on staff wellbeing”.
would need to self-isolate for 14 days.”
Jody recalls “looking back on this event now it all seemed a bit surreal, we were going to have close our service for two weeks and this was going to affect 44 children and their families. They would not be able to come to preschool and see their peers, they would need to be kept at home with no visits to the park or activities like swimming lessons or gymnastics. This caused a ripple effect with many families also choosing to keep older siblings at home from school as well. Staff also had their own families to think about. It was a stressful and difficult time for everyone involved.”
“The situation was unprecedented, and at this stage there was limited information, which was changing rapidly in any case” said Jodie. So, whilst the staff were selfisolating at home, they worked with the management committee to identify the hazards associated with COVID-19. A new policy was created with procedures to safeguard the preschool community. This involved contacting various organisations and researching websites to obtain current information.
"Staff used WhatsApp to check in with and support each other, and to collaborate on new procedures and completed online COVID-19 safety training.
“Families were supported during the closure with information and updates on our private Facebook group, along with emails and phone calls, we suggested websites and activities for children during isolation.” In a way, Wilberforce preschool extended its education services as best they could even during their own self-isolation.
“Prior to re-opening, we called all parents personally to answer any questions, discuss the new procedures in place and to check on the child’s and the family’s wellbeing.
“We reopened towards the end of March. At the time the whole of NSW was preparing for a lockdown and parents were advised to keep their children at home and schools were starting online learning. We were facing an uncertain future with less than 5 children on our first day back. It felt quite strange having so few children, however the children were happy to be back. Our regular attendance is usually 20 children a day plus 5 half-day children.
“A raft of new procedures were put in place including controlled pickup and drop off arrangements and take-home packs were made up for children who did not return to the preschool.
“We had lost two weeks fees over our closure period and were unsure if services would be advised to close as the pandemic continued to spread. There was concern about financial viability, loss of fees, loss of wages and if so, how the service would manage these financial risks. This was prior to any information regarding JobKeeper and cash flow bonuses.
“Our AGM was postponed as it was within the isolation/closure period. Committee members whose children had already started Kindergarten continued to serve in office bearing positions for an extended period. We held our AGM via zoom, a new committee was elected, and we successfully continued with monthly committee Zoom meetings.”
At the time of writing, the new procedures remain in place and many are likely to endure well into the future.
www.wilberforcepreschool.com.au/ facebook.com/wilbo.preschool/ 02 4575 1565
MEET Rachael Robertson
We are excited to announce Rachael Robertson as a keynote speaker at the 2021 Rural and Remote Forum. Rachael was chosen to lead the 58th Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition to Davis Station. She was only the second female to ever lead a team at the Station and one of the youngest ever leaders.
With an understanding of the challenges of leadership, and the added complexities around working remotely and in isolation, Rachael will share her experience share her experiences in building and leading teams and her insights around the importance of mindfulness, reflections and self-care. Read an exerpt from her book here.
INTRODUCTION
RESPECT TRUMPS HARMONY
-By Rachael Robertson
In 2005, I was chosen to lead an expedition to Davis Station, Antarctica. I was the second woman to lead the station, and one of the youngest ever leaders. It was an extraordinary experience that tested me in ways I could never have predicted.
I had no input to the selection of my 17 team members. Like most jobs, I was presented with a group of people I had never met. Yet somehow I had to turn a group of random and diverse individuals into a high-performing team – because in Antarctica our lives depend on our teamwork. So I set about developing a culture that would allow us to speak up, speak out, raise issues, deal with them and move on.
I started presenting what I had learned and the tools that I used during the expedition, at conferences and events. It was only an event here or there at the start until things just took off. I now present internationally at over 100 events a year, all around the world. And while the content has been refined, and it changes according to what I believe are the current hot topics, the fundamental tools I used remain the same.
In fact, there were so many common questions coming up at every keynote presentation that I decided to write a book and answer those questions.
The book, Leading on the Edge, achieved best seller status in 6 weeks and has been optioned to Netflix. It is still selling incredibly well – not because its anything particularly mind-blowing. But because it’s practical, real and most importantly it’s proven. It’s not the ‘what’ or ‘why’ –it’s ‘how’.
I have had countless messages over the intervening 15 years from people sharing their stories of implementing my leadership and teamwork tools. Without exception, every person has revealed how the tools have helped. In some cases, it was a tweak. But for other people it had a significant impact on their work and consequently their life.
"Because respect trumps harmony, every time."
It intrigued me that across the 1500 teams I had worked with – corporate teams, public sector, not-for-profit, schools, volunteer groups – the challenges were the same.
We all agree that diversity is great, and the evidence is unequivocal that it has an impact on the bottom line. But as our teams get more and more diverse we won’t always see eye-to-eye, we won’t always agree on things. So how do we create a culture where that’s OK? How do we encourage debate and robust discussion? How do we address issues directly and professionally?
Every team wants 3 things – respect, performance and harmony.
Every business especially strives for results… this is not the premise of this book.
This book is about how to balance respect and harmony so that results are possible.
To research this book, we surveyed almost 200 teams who had implemented these tools already, and conducted follow-up interviews to gather further insights. I wanted to know what worked for them? What didn’t? and What changed as a result of implementing the tools?
The 3 tools are:
1) No Triangles – a tool to stop gossip, improve accountability and quality of feedback, and drive innovation
2) Bacon Wars – a gentle circuit breaker for calling out dysfunctional behaviour
3) Lead without a title – how to develop personal leadership in your team, so that responsibility and initiative is shared.
These tools are the 3 pillars that hold up the respect trumps harmony culture. It’s totally OK if we don’t like each other, but we need to respect each other if we’re going to get results.
No one can seriously expect a team made up of people chosen for the unique set of skills and capabilities they bring, to all like each other, and all agree on everything.
As the results show, implementing these tools has an immediate and positive impact on teams. Of the 200 teams surveyed 100% said the tools improved morale, 89% of respondents said a culture of No Triangles had a significant
impact on productivity freeing up to 1 hour a day. Further, 100% of respondents said the tools made their teams more creative and innovative.
When a team strives for harmony 3 things happen: poor behaviour continues, innovation is stifled and people turn a blind eye to safety and risk concerns.
We don’t all have to love each other, in fact we don’t even have to like each other, but we do need to treat each other with respect. Because respect trumps harmony, every time.
CONNECT
2021 Rural and Remote Forum
www.ccsaruralandremoteforum.org.au
