Our Gowrie Broadmeadows Valley team share their insights on how to create meaningful, lasting relationships with families from initial contact and beyond.

Our Broadmeadows Valley (BV) service first achieved the ACECQA Excellent rating in 2019, and one reason for this is the strong support in place for the families attending the service; some from vulnerable demographic backgrounds. Michelle (Early Learning Manager), Ebony (Engagement Leader), Ashleigh (Customer Service and Enrolments Officer) and Claudia (Early Years Leader) share their insights around how they ensure families are supported from the first moment they walk through the doors at BV.

The team has worked hard to build an authentic presence in the community, which is a key focus of the service. “People know us, and often they know what we do,” says Michelle. “If you go out wearing your Gowrie lanyard, people will strike up a conversation with you about the service and mention any connection they may have with it.” The staff attend face-to-face professional development and training days, attend as many network meetings as they can, and are in constant contact with partnership organisations such as Hume City Council, Berry Street, Broadmeadows Valley Primary School and MacKillop Family Services.

Because of this community presence, many families feel more confident engaging with the service. “Sometimes we’ll have people just walk in off the street,” Michelle says, “we want them to feel safe and welcomed from the moment they walk through the doors”. Michelle explains that this requires a lot of skill from the admin team, where they are responsive to the different needs of people, making them feel safe and welcome immediately. This means making sure that someone is always sitting at the front desk to greet people and follow up on in-person enquiries.  On the admin team, Michelle says “making people feel comfortable is their superpower” Michelle says.

When an enquiry is received at the service, the team work hard to ensure that there’s a follow-up received by the family in 24 hours, so they can arrange a tour of the service. When holding a tour of the service, Ashleigh explains that they only do this with one family at a time. “The tour isn’t a marketing exercise, it’s an opportunity for the family to gauge if our service is going to work for them”, she says. Ashleigh reflects that the tour provides an opportunity to engage in open discussion, gathering information about the needs of that particular family.

Recently, a family attended a tour at BV, and through conversation it was discovered that their first language was Assyrian. “I was able to introduce them to an educator who spoke the same language, and that meant that the tour was much more personalised for them,” says Ashleigh. “If there was a large group of families on that tour, that’s something which wouldn’t have happened.”

After the tour, the families leave with an enrolment pack. A follow-up is received by the family within 48 hours of their visit to organise an orientation. The team work together to couple the family with an educator who will be able to best communicate with them. “A key part of our philosophy is encouraging the use of home languages,” Ebony says, “so this is something which we want families to see from the get-go. If they can see that we value that, it’s really going to help them with their sense of belonging.” Claudia adds to this, suggesting that “in the beginning, connection is the most important thing; this is what will keep them coming back”.

Families are encouraged to engage in at least two orientations, so that the family and the child can begin to feel comfortable at the service. “That first orientation is more formal so that we can get to know them and they get to know us,” Michelle says. “We’ll often have the child and their family in the garden, and we’ll ask some intentional questions to help us get to know them”. This first orientation also allows the educators to support the family in completing the enrolment paperwork, something which is particularly important for families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. The service has an open-door policy, so some families opt to have a longer orientation period. Ashleigh reflects on this, saying “we want to meet the families where they’re at, and for some families, this means that orientation may take weeks or months.”

The team also uses the primary caregiver approach, so whoever provides the initial support during orientation is typically the primary educator for that child and will support that child for the first six weeks. Families are made aware of this process when they first sit down for the orientation. “It’s an ongoing approach,” Claudia says, “but for the first six weeks, the educator is working really closely with that child, and forming strong connections with the family, so they can get to know the story of the family.”

“We want families to know that we’re going the extra mile. We don’t want them to feel like there’s a bunch of different people who they don’t know looking after their child” Ebony says. This approach takes a family-centric view, where families are supported to become a part of the service, rather than having to adapt and fit into a service which doesn’t cater to the unique needs of each family. “For families who are new,” Michelle says, “they have a point of contact who they’re comfortable with. If they’re feeling nervous, or have a question, that’s the person they’ll go to.”

It’s important for our team to consistently check in with all families, particularly the ones who are new to the service. “By encouraging families to chat to us about how they’re going, it gives us an opportunity to know what they need.” Ebony says, “we might identify during that time that the family are feeling really anxious around something like separation anxiety, and we can link them in with relevant supports and services.”

When asked if there’s any advice they’d give other services, Michelle offers this; “when a new family starts, don’t forget about them. They should be seen as a part of our community, and know that you value them and their child. We want them to be comfortable, and continually build a really strong connection.”

Reflective questions:

  • How can we ensure that our first contact with families reflects the philosophy of our service?
  • How can we personalise service tours to meet the diverse needs of families?
  • In what ways does our service support families who speak a language other than English?
  • What does “going the extra mile” look like in practice at our service?
  • How can we use a key educator or primary caregiver approach to support children’s transitions?