The following sessions can be booked at any time during the year, at a venue and time of your choosing. The cost per participant is $25 (funded) or $50 (unfunded). FKA Children’s Services requires eight weeks notice to organise a session.

Some of these sessions are explained in detail in the calender, others have an explanatory overview listed here. It is possible to negotiate slight changes to the sessions, as so as to make them more relevant to your service. Please contact us for further information or to make a booking.

Customised Topics already listed in the Calender

• Peace in Play: Actively Promoting Peace in Children’s Services – June
• Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Refugee and Migration Experiences – February
• Setting and Supporting Newly-Arrived Families – February
• Thinking about Culture: Avoiding the Tourist Approach – May
• Celebrations in your Community – March
• The Games we Play – February and June
• Supportive Environments for Children Learning English as a Second Language – March and June
•  Inviting Play – June
• Creating Culturally Reflective Resources – May
• Promoting and Marketing Play – May
•  Reflecting Cultural Diversity through Outdoor Play – March

Considering Disability from a Cultural Perspective

Expectations of care and education are influenced by culture and previous experiences. This session will assist participants in their understanding of some of the diverse cultural perceptions regarding disability. A panel of speakers will also offer their perspectives of how disability may be perceived within their culture.

Working with a Diverse Team

Bilingual staff have a crucial role in supporting children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds when they access a children’s service. They can facilitate the settling in period, help maintain children’s first language, assist children in developing a positive identity and incorporate the families’ culture into the everyday life of the service. This session will outline ways to expand the role of bilingual staff at services.

Who is My Community?

Some services and communities may describe themselves as ‘mono-cultural’.
In this session participants will explore the diversity within their service and the wider community. Participants will have the opportunity to explore their own values and beliefs about culture and develop strategies for exploring multiculturalism with children and families who may have limited exposure to diversity.

Music – A Cultural Journey

Music is a part of most children’s lives and culture. The music of diverse communities can be actively and simply included into the daily lives of children. In this practical workshop we will explore ways to encourage staff working with children to make connections with culture by incorporating music into
their programs.

The Art of Storytelling - Connecting with Culture through Stories

Language is one of the most powerful tools for the expression of culture we can pass on to future generations. Throughout time all cultures have communicated cultural norms, knowledge, traditions and significant events to their community through story telling.

This enjoyable workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to connect language and culture through storytelling as a pedagogical approach to enrich children’s creative and linguistic development.

Raising Children – A Cultural perspective

Different values, practices, beliefs and expectations on how children should be raised can create challenges for early childhood professionals when working with families of a culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) background. This session presents a panel of members from a specific cultural* community who will share their knowledge, perspectives and experiences of their community. The presenter will provide approaches on developing practical strategies to incorporate into children’s services the knowledge and perspectives presented by our panel members. 

When booking this session, please discuss which cultural community group/s you would like represented on the panel.