Kyabra limited hours childcare centre: Final evaluation report (December 2018)

Kate E Williams; Amanda McFadden; Cathy Nielson

Executive Summary Introduction Kyabra community association have run a limited hours child care centre for many years. This report provides an evaluation of the services provided by the limited hours child care centre. The purpose of the evaluation was to determine to what extent attending children showed evidence of growth in important developmental outcomes in the short-term (vocabulary and self-regulation); and to explore current parent perceptions about the benefits of attending the centre and past parent perceptions about the role centre attendance plays in relation to school transition for children. Methodology The evaluation methodology employed quantitative and qualitative data collection approaches to measure child development outcomes and parental perceptions. Quantitative measures assessed children’s development at two time points (Time 1 June 2018; Time 2 October 2018). Measures included: • Teacher report of child social emotional skills and self-regulation skills using the Early Years Toolbox (EYT) child Self-Regulation and Behaviour Questionnaire (CSBQ) (Howard and Melhuish, 2016) • Direct assessments of expressive vocabulary using the EYT expressive vocabulary test (Howard & Melhuish, 2016) and visual motor skills using the Design Copy task from the Early Screening Inventory (ESI-R; Harrison, 1990) A facilitated survey with current parents at Time 1 only, collected information about their recent experiences at Kyabra. Qualitative interview data was collected with three past families who accessed the service in 2017 to develop narratives about their transition to school experience following Kyabra attendance. Findings The findings are presented across three key areas, children, parents and the centre, with the family narratives about their perceptions of attending the service a key source of information. Children • At the group level, there were no significant improvements over time in any of the developmental measures. • At the individual child level there were substantial gains for some children in expressive vocabulary and self-regulation skills. Children who showed the most improvements were those who were identified as at-risk by early measures (using comparisons with Australian norms). These are important factors which influence school transition. • Individual growth trajectories showed the equivalent of one to two years of growth through the testing period for these children who were initially at risk. • A number of children moved from the at-risk range in relation to self-regulation and behavioural skills, to the normative range for Australian children in their age group. Parents • Families primarily used the service to support their child’s development, growth and transition to school. • Around half of the families surveyed would not send their child to another ECEC setting such as long day care. Carer to child ratios was considered an important factor in this area. • Families were highly satisfied with the Kyabra service. The Centre • Service is welcoming of diversity. • Service builds trusting partnerships through open communication and collaborative decision making. • Service provides holistic care by understanding the whole child and their connections with their family. • Kyabra is a learning place, a place where parents build parental capacity and learn how to assist their children with transitions such as going to school. • Sense of community created through connections for families and children which transcends generations and socio-economic status. • Connections included links with other family members and parenting services provided including parenting capacity training and playgroup. • The community volunteers and local high school students were strongly valued by past and present families. Recommendations • Kyabra should continue to operate the limited hours service in its current form. • Continue to offer a range of services to support families parenting needs. • Continue with practice of embedding high school work experience and trainee students in the service. • Consider differential pricing structure based on financial circumstances. • Strengthen promotion of the service through positives identified by families. For example, community connections and play based learning with a holistic focus on families and children.

Kyabra limited hours childcare centre: Final evaluation report (December 2018)

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