Amazing Year comes to an end

The year started with an amazing set of interprofessional Hui hosted by Ko Taku Reo and Deaf Aotearoa for all working in the early years space. It included the First Signs facilitators from Deaf Aotearoa, Advisors of Deaf Children from Ministry of Education, the Hearing House and Southern Cochlear Implant programmes, Deaf Children NZ, and local parent groups. Three hui were held in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch which were wonderful collaborative days where all involved found out how similar their work is, and clarified their services. What struck me was the heart and commitment that all of the organisations and professionals had to make a difference for our DHH learners. We understood our role at the beginning of the journey for the child and their whānau, and how important it is that we work together for the best outcomes for the child. This commitment was a recurring theme in the feedback, and the wishes of all to continue to work collaboratively.

Ko Taku Reo Preschool, Auckland, and the Early Years Whanau Centre, Christchurch have continued to strengthen their programmes and seen enrolments continue to be steady and increase. While the programmes are quite different in how they work with the children and their whanau, we have made the most of having regular meetings with all teachers to share practice. We are working hard at going through a process of a regular internal review, looking at aspects of our programmes and practice, and how we can improve these to provide better outcomes for our learners. Seeing the happy, smiling faces of our children when visiting both programmes is a privilege whenever I am visiting.

We have developed a much stronger relationship at a national level with Advisors of Deaf Children this year. Our regular and ongoing communication has helped us to develop effective working practices. We have been able to offer more Preschool Residential Courses for all preschool families in Aotearoa. These have been really well received and the families continue to value these courses, which are promoted by the Advisors. Alongside this, we have set up new playgroups in Dunedin and Auckland, supported by Advisors and The Hearing House. It is so great to be working in this collaborative space for the benefit of the children.

2022 sees a whole lot of new opportunities for us to expand on, including exploring co-enrolment in an early childhood setting. I am excited about the new possibilities to work collaboratively with more organisations and we provide quality services for our preschool DHH learners.