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Learning about animal welfare

At BestStart Inglewood it is important to the teaching team that the children in our care are well connected with and contribute to their community and over the month of May, our children were involved in a centre wide project around animal welfare and the SPCA.

To start our topic the children were encouraged to bring in photos of their pets, share stories about them and create artworks about them. Our community was also invited to bring their pets into our centre, allowing our children to see and touch different animals which included dogs, horses and native geckos. One of the values that underpins our philosophy is courage, and this was also a very powerful way for the children to be brave by touching an animal that they are unsure about for the very first time. It was also interesting to listen to the owners talking about their pets’ personalities and how they looked after them at home.

We were also very proud to host Emma from Inglewood Vets, who very kindly came to the Centre and talked about who Vets were and how they cared for animals who were brought in. The children were able to listen to their heartbeat and breathing through the stethoscope and payed close attention as Emma taught them how to approach animals, especially dogs in a safe way.

To finish of our project, we held an animal dress up day where the children (and teachers) dressed up as their favourite animal and raise funds and food to be donated to the SPCA and we would like to send a big thank you to all the family and community who supported us with this. Our children are now planning a trip to go and visit the SPCA and deliver all these goodies.

Through this month-long project out tamariki are encouraged to become confident and involved learners by further developing their dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity. This is demonstrated in their excitement over each new animal, their willingness to be involved in the activities, and the learning they have display through their artworks, play and conversations with their teachers and friends.

Thank you so much to all the tamariki, whanau and wider community who have made this month of learning fun and special.