Program Design

4/12/2020
Assessment Event 2 –ECTPP202A
DOCUMENTATION, PLANNING AND
ASSESSMENT 2
Assessment Event 2 Documentation, Planning and Assessment

Section I. Explanation of my understanding of the EYLF planning cycle, theoretical

underpinnings and the curriculum approaches that are influencing my approach to the

program design

Planning children's activities and learning are part of the significant role given to early
childhood educators. It involves constantly working in partnership with the children,
families and the community. As educators gather rich information and make meaning of
this information, educators start to develop knowledge and more profound
understanding about the children. The educators' knowledge about the children
combined with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) can assist them in planning a
program that will help foster children's learning and well-being. The Early Years Learning
Framework (EYLF) planning cycle provides educators with a structured and
comprehensive guide to all early childhood educators in developing their program or
curriculum for children in early childhood. The planning cycle includes five steps. The
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) (2010) cited
the steps as gathering information, questioning, planning, acting and reflection is a
continuous cycle of curriculum decision making (p. 10). Therefore, an educator's
interaction and response with the children play a crucial part to gather children's ideas.
An educator needs to learn to be flexible to adapt to plans accordingly as well. However,
in an instance of spontaneous learning occurs, an educator's ability to respond is critical
in promoting children's learning and play. It is also essential to take note, that even
though educators follow children's lead, they should also need to consider ways to
extend children's ideas because these can be part of an ongoing programming cycle.

When considering children's development, a play-based approach has been proven to

be effective in promoting positive understanding and disposition in learning as well as

1
Assessment Event 2 Documentation, Planning and Assessment

critical skills. The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) (n.d.) stated, "Play provides
opportunities for children to learn as they discover, create, improvise and imagine." (p.
17). During play, children learn how to socialise, decision making, investigate and use of
critical thinking. According to Kearns (2017), learning through play is the main
foundation philosophy of early learning childhood education (p. 43). However, children
do not learn by engaging in a wide range of play-based experiences alone. There should
be active participation and engagement of educators as well to help children extend and
challenge their thinking.

Some theories help educators to explore different perspectives. These theories give
them guides on how to best foster children's learning and development. One of the
theoretical perspectives is the Developmental perspective. The Developmental
perspective was defined as (Arthur et al., 2017) "set of knowledge established through
scientific observation of specific groups of children, with the implication being drawn for
all children and all time" (p. 232). The theorist of a well-known developmental theory
called Cognitive Developmental Theory is Jean Piaget. Piaget suggested (cited in Kearns,
2017) three stages of play which are the functional play, symbolic play and games with
rules. Piaget believed (cited in Kearns, 2017, p. 44) that "children practice their
understandings or schemes through pretend play". Sara Smilansky supported this theory
of Piaget as she added the fourth stage of play, the constructive play. Smilansky proved
(cited in Kearns, 2017, p. 45) that when children engaged in sociodramatic play, they
developed a range of social skills that include self-regulation, cooperation, negotiation,
problem-solving and sharing. Both of Piaget's and Smilansky's theories made an impact
on how the world embraced play as a primary tool of children to learn skills such as
investigating, problem-solving, and exploring. Another theorist that impacted
educators'approach in designing program is Lev Vygotsky. He believed that (cited from
Mooney, 2013, p. 101) children learned language through play as they use language

2
Assessment Event 2 Documentation, Planning and Assessment

constantly during imaginary play when they talk about roles, object and direction. The
concept of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (cited in Kearns, 2017, p. 46) is, in
fact, used by educators to support, guide and extend children's learning as they engage
in imaginative play. It is evident that children that are still learning new ideas can benefit
if they have a positive engagement from their educators and peers.

3
Assessment Event 2 Documentation, Planning and Assessment

Section 2: Daily routine

`
Pre-school Daily Routine 9 April 2020

Time Activity We are learning…

7:00 am – 8:00 am Arrival/breakfast
During the arrival of children and families,
the morning routines start. Personal
belongings put in the locker, login, and
children practice self-serving as they pour on
their milk to their Weetbix. This time is also
the time to say bye to their family and
engage in play with other children in all age
group.
8:00 am – 8:30 am Table activities Children are in the designated room per age
group. They group themselves and engage in
various table activities such as construction,
building blocks, and investigation. Here they
learn literacy, pre-writing, math, science,
imaginative play, and fine and gross motor
skills.
8:30 am – 8:50 am Music and Children sing various songs while playing
movement their instrument and dancing. Music ignites
children development to learn different
languages, practice gross motor skills, and
overall literacy. This time also indicates the
transition to going outdoor.
8:50 am – 9:30 am Outdoor Free Children go to the outdoor activity area and
Play engage with other children in other age
groups. Children learn to explore their
natural environment, practice social skills
and motor skills, and participate in
imaginative play.
9:30 am – 10:10 Morning tea Children line up to go to the handwashing
am area in preparation for morning tea, and
they go back outside and sit down to the
mat designated for their age group. They
learn self-care and healthy eating habits.
10:10 am – 10:50 Journals and Free Children go back in line to their respective
am play rooms. Children log in by tracing their

4
Assessment Event 2 Documentation, Planning and Assessment

names in the log in the book. They also

engage in free play with other children using
the resources and learning materials freely
available for children on the table, such as
play-dough. They learn concepts of writing,
print, letter and sound and practice fine
motor skills.
10:50 am – 11:40 Group time Children engaged in planned experiences
am such as reading, experimentation,
imaginary play and physical activity. Children
practice social skills, science, health and
wellness, and literacy.
11:40 am – 12:20 Lunch Children head to the handwashing area in
pm line. They practice self- help and
independence in getting their food, scraping
their leftovers and putting their bowls and
utensils in the “for washing” container.
12:20 pm – 12:30 Handwashing and Children wash their hands, go to the toilet
pm toilet and help to prepare their beds in
preparation for rest time.
12:30 pm – 2:00 Rest time/ quiet Children take a rest. Other children can
pm Activities engage in quiet time activities with the
educator to enhance various skills such as
drawing or writing.
2:00 pm – 2:15 pm Learning skills Children help putting away their linens and
bed.
2:15 pm – 2:45 pm Free Play (indoor) Children engage in free play with other
children using the resources and learning
materials available for children such as
cutting material, magazines and loose parts
that they can manipulate. They learn
concepts of print, letters and sounds,
practice fine motor skills as well as social
skills.
2:45 pm – 3:00 pm Handwashing and Children line up to the toilet and wash their
toilet hands in the handwashing area in
preparation for afternoon tea.
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm Afternoon tea Children sit at the table and practice self-
help in getting their afternoon tea.
3:30 pm – 4:00 pm Group time Children participate in group time such as

5
Assessment Event 2 Documentation, Planning and Assessment

reading books or watch a presentation on

the television. This time is the transition
going outdoor.
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm Free play Children engage in play with other children
(outdoor) like running, playing tag and riding a bike.
5:00 pm – 5:20 pm Late afternoon Children wash their hands in handwashing
tea area and help themselves to get their fruit
or biscuit.
5:20 pm – 6:00 pm Free play/ Pick up Children engage in play while waiting for
time their parents to pick them up. Families log
out their children from the centre.

Figure 1. Indoor and Outdoor Learning Environment

6
Assessment Event 2 Documentation, Planning and Assessment

Section 3: Daily Program (Draft)

Date: Room: Educators:

EYLF Learning Outcomes:
EYLF Principles:
EYLF Practice:
Routines/Transition:

Construction Home Corner Group Book Corner

Time/Music/movemen
t

Project and Art/craft/sensory Table (Fine Spontaneous/Investigation/

child’s Motor/Cognitive) Nature Corner
interest
Outdoor play

Children’s Voices
Family Input:
Where To Next?:
Critical Reflection & Evaluation

What works well?

What could have done better?

Why did you choose this learning experience?

What pedagogy used to foster learning?

How did you coordinate with your team

7
 Assessment Event 2 Documentation, Planning and Assessment

Section 4: Daily Program

Date: 9 April 2020 Room: 3-5 years old Educators: Natasha and Kim
Intended Learning Outcomes: To provide children endless amount of opportunities for
children to explore, engage, discover, create and imagine from the diverse learning
experiences provided.
Routines/Transition:
 Signing in by writing their names in the class log book
 Transition song : Time to Pack Away and Line Up Chant
 Washing hands before and after mealtime
 Children helps in setting up the table and serving food for themselves

Link to: LO1 Children feels safe and supported

Construction Home Corner Group Pre-Writing, Language and

Natural wooden Zeta, Jim, and Time/Music/moveme Literacy Corner
lego blocks, build aBryan engaged nt Favourite books sharing,
tree, buildings and in role play as Rain clouds in a jar writing the letter of the
bridges. Jim, Leah they cooked and (follow-up interest of week, and writing our
and Xavier. served the food Frankie 7/4/2020) names on the Smart TV
for each other.
Link to: LO1 Link to: LO1 Children Link to: LO5 Children
Children feels safe Link to: LO3 have a strog sense of engage with a range of
and supported. Children become identity. texts and gain meaning
LO2 Children strong in their Link to: LO4 Children from these texts.
become aware of social and develop a range of Link to: LO5 Children use
fairness. emotional skills and processes information and
wellbeing such as problem communication
solving, inquiry, technologies to access
experimentation, information, investigate
hypothesising, ideas and represent their
researching and thinking
investigating.
Project and child’s Art/craft/sensor Table (Fine Spontaneous/Investigatio
interest y Motor/Cognitive) n/ Nature Corner
Sustainability Mud painting, Science experiments Flour sensory bin with
Children hand print such as distilling water, measuring cups (Sarah,
interest in (primary and mixing colours, oil and Leah and Oli interest)
recycling secondary), and water, sensory balls,

8
 Assessment Event 2 Documentation, Planning and Assessment

and dot painting volcano board Link to: LO1 Children feels
sustainabilit safe and supported.
y Link to: LO1 Link to: LO4 Children
Children feels transfer and adapt
Link to: LO2 safe and what they have
Children are supported. learned from one
connected context to another
with and LO5
contribute
to their
world.

Outdoor play
Sandpit: Shovels and spades, excarators and trucks following Austin interest OBS 6/4/2020
Undercover Area: Musical instruments refer to Jamie’s observation 23/3/2020
Gross Motor Skills: Rolling balls (Justine’s follow-up interest 7/4/2020), ball throwing
(Eliana’s interest 6/4/2020), riding a bike (Xavier’s follow-up interest), and watering of
plants and removing weeds (follow-up Eana’s interest).
Cubby House: Reading Handa’s Surprise book (follow-up interest Hamish OBS 7/4/2020),
Imaginative play “Three Little Pigs” (Amy’s interest)

Link to: LO1 Children feels safe and supported.

Link to: LO4 Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation,
confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity

Children’s Voices
“The water is now brown with all the colours in it.”
“I want to make my own paper.”
Family Input:
Today, Xavier’s Granfather, a veteran, shared how he will celebrate ANZAC Day.

Where To Next?:
We will continue to support children emerging knowledge and interest in sustainability and
recycling. We will plant seeds in the garden and will check the growth every day by
measuring the length of the plant. We will provide recycling materials such as can, empty
cartons, soda cap and natural resources that children can use to create a new object out
from it. We will encourage families and community to bring their recycling materials that
children can use for recycling.
Critical Reflection & Evaluation

9
 Assessment Event 2 Documentation, Planning and Assessment

What works well?

 Children were able to participate and shared their thoughts in various learning
experiences done today.
 The children learnt the meaning of the word “sustainability” and “recycle”.
 Children felt a sense of belonging during every conversation, as their opinions and
suggestions were acknowledged.
 Educators were able to interact and promote children’s emergent learning.
 
What could have done better?
 The educators should have separated the children in a small group during the
Sustainability and Recycling activity.

Why did you choose these learning experience?

 The children showed an interest in sustainability and recycling when they were asked
to separate biodegradable from non-biodegradable.
 Practising writing on the smart tv is part of the school readiness program.
 The “Rain Clouds in a Jar” was a follow-up activity of a child’s interest. 

What pedagogy used to foster learning?

 Intentional teaching and learning through play
 Educators asked questions to the children during each learning activities to discover
their interest.

What are the changes made for the learning environment?

 Natural resources such as dried leaves, twigs, pine cones, wood chips and barks of the
tree are added to the “Sustainability Area”. 

10
Assessment Event 2 Documentation, Planning and Assessment

References

Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2017). Programming &
planning in early childhood settings (7th ed.). Cengage Learning Australia.
Retrieved 11 April 2020, from
www.proquest.com

Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority. The Early Years Learning
Framework for Australia. Retrieved 12 April 2020, from
https://www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-
02/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_early_years_learning_framework_for_au
stralia.pdf.

Dept. of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. (2010). Educators:

Belonging, being & becoming [Ebook] (p. 10). Dept. of Education, Employment and
Workplace Relations for the Council of Australian Governments. Retrieved 11 April
2020, from
https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/educators_guide_to_the_e
arly_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf.

Kearns, K. (2017). Frameworks for learning and development (4th ed.). Cengage Learning

Australia.

Mooney, C. G. (2013). Theories of childhood: An introduction to Dewey, Montessori,

Eriksin, Piaget & Vygotsky (2nd ed.). Redleaf Press. Retrieved 12 April 2020, from
EBSCO eBooks

11
Assessment Event 2 Documentation, Planning and Assessment

12