Webinars

A Holistic Approach to Early Childhood Education and Care

Ross Nassif: Well, good afternoon all. Welcome to the 4th webinar in the series, Careers at Council Local Legends Community Career Stories. My name is Ross Nassif and I’m the Manager of Workplace Relations here at Local Government NSW, and I’ll be your host for the day.
We’re excited to have you join us for an insightful and engaging session, but before we begin our webinar, I’d like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which certainly on the land on which I sit this afternoon, which is the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and I also acknowledge the traditional custodians and the lands on which we all meet today.
In doing so, I extend my respect to elders past, present and those that are emerging, and indeed any who may be with us today on the webinar.
The 4th webinar of the series will explore how a holistic approach to early childhood education and care can transform this important and really critical service to our respective communities, and in that regard, we’re really pleased to welcome our guest speaker today, Natalie Hemingway, the Director at Harbour View Children’s Centre, which is operated by the Northern Beaches Council.

Natalie’s going to share her experience and her insights into creating and nurturing an inclusive and quality environment for children, families and educators. Her expertise and insights will undoubtedly provide us with an understanding of how the ECE services provided by Northern Beaches Council are designed with a consideration of the needs of the local community, ensuring every child receives quality care and education.
Throughout the webinar, we’re going to encourage you to actively participate by asking questions and sharing your thoughts. You can submit those questions using the Q&A feature, and we’ll address those questions during the designated Q&A session towards the end of the webinar.
But before we plunge into our discussion, I’d like to introduce you to Careers at Council.

Careers at Council is created by councils for councils. It’s an initiative of the local government associations of all the states and territories.
And was established by the industry to inform and attract future workforce, the future workforce of local government. Make no mistake, Careers at Council is so much more than just a jobs board. Careers at Council can be opened up through the website www.careers at council.com.au. And it can also be accessed through a portable touchscreen device and a smartphone. Careers at Council has a dedicated LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram page, and an active YouTube channel for sharing videos of various job roles in local government.
All our webinars that are part of the Council Webinar Series and the Candidate Webinar Series are recorded and available for councils and job seekers to watch and if so desired, to read the transcripts. Certainly the previous three webinars in this particular series and their respective transcripts are all now available, so if you missed them and you’re keen to learn about apprenticeships in the outback or the talent attraction approach taken by Port Macquarie Hastings Council, for example, then all you need to do is hop onto the dedicated webinar page on Careers at Council.
All member councils are provided with the opportunity to shine a light on their exceptional work and achievements through what’s known as the Council Spotlight section. This section covers a range of topics, including innovative projects, community initiatives and success stories that highlight the positive impact councils have on various local government areas. The aim of the stories found in Council Spotlight is to inspire and inform current and prospective employees as well as community members about the valuable contributions made by dedicated teams.
Careers at Council job alerts registrations are growing and we’re now at 10,107 total job alert registrations. So in the 12 months to the end of July 2025, job alert registrations grew by a whopping 42.3% which equates to about 2,000 or just under 3,000 registrations. So put another way, member councils of Careers at Council have access to a talent pool in excess of 10,000 candidates.
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Joining the Careers at Council community is a great way to explore job opportunities and connect with local government communities across Australia. You can sign up for job alerts, you can attend the webinar series, you can view what’s known as vodcasts. You can peruse Council Spotlights join the Careers at Council member network, and you can connect on social media and become part of the Careers at Council community. So now I think it’s time to hear from Natalie and we head into our interview and we’ll come back with the Q&As after our short discussion with Natalie.

So Natalie, just by way of an introduction, I mean just explore a little bit your role, walk us through your role as the Director at Harbour View Children’s Centre and how it fits into the broader early childhood services offered by the Northern Beaches Council.

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah, of course. Absolutely. I guess there’s many aspects to my role, which means every day looks a little different, which is nice. One part is to manage the day-to-day operations of our centre, make sure we’re providing a nurturing environment for children and families.
A big part of what I do is making sure that we are compliant, working within the laws and regulations and standards relating to our industry. I have to make sure that not only I’m up to date with any changes, but also able to relay these changes and communicate them to my team.
Another part of the role involves working alongside other directors and managers. Other specialist teams to ensure our policies and procedures are reflective of these laws and regulations, and again that the educators understand and can confidently implement what is in these policies.
On a different level, and probably without a doubt, my most favourite part of the role is being able to mentor and work alongside my team of educators, that helps them deliver an engaging program and by supporting them and holding space for them to build and nurture relationships with children and families, we’re ensuring best outcomes for everyone. What that looks like in practice is taking time to discuss or look at what resources they might need, any professional development that they’re interested in, having conversations about challenges and possible areas for critical reflection. But also acknowledging and celebrating those moments where things go really well and watching them just grow confidence as educators. That’s yeah, the best part of my role for sure.

Ross Nassif: It’s like a really broad role.

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah, yeah, definitely. And I guess, yeah, the other part of the question was how we fit into the broader services. I think we do that by aligning with Northern Beaches Council’s values around inclusive, community focused care and education.
And that’s a huge part of what we do at Harbour View.

Ross Nassif: Let me take a step back, and there are a couple of parts to the next question. What, what, what led you to pursue a career in local government, what brought you to local government?

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah, it’s a good question. I guess I wanted to work in a place where I knew that my philosophy would kind of match and be complemented. I also wanted to ideally work in the community that I was living in. I’m really passionate about giving back and being part of a community, so that’s probably what yeah, led me to working for local government in my area.

Ross Nassif: So tell us something unique, something surprising about your job, that that most people wouldn’t know.

Natalie Hemingway: I think… unique or surprising. Maybe something people don’t realise is when you’re in a role like mine, it’s obviously about running a service and mentoring educators. But also I see it as creating a safe place where people can come together. I think often as the director, I can be the first person that a new family will connect with or come in contact with. It could be their first child or they’re new to the area, so I think I play a really big part in helping them feel welcome and again, that’s another part of my role that I really enjoy. Yeah.

Ross Nassif: We talk about a holistic education approach. What does a holistic approach to early childhood education look like in your centre’s daily practice?

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah, for sure. I think for us a holistic approach means looking at the whole child, not just their learning, but their well-being as well and seeing them as individuals. I think it’s supporting every part of their development, the emotional, social, physical, cognitive. We know that when children feel safe and valued, they develop a strong sense of belonging. And that, for me, is the foundation for everything else to fall into place.

Ross Nassif: And the risk of going off script a little bit is, is there a challenge in bringing parents along for the for that ride in terms of a holistic approach and parents aren’t always just focused on the education piece that, that they understand that there’s a holistic approach?

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah. Look, I think that you know, our role is obviously educating children, but a huge part of our role also is educating the families. And I think when those strong relationships are there and they truly believe that we are, you know that their child is at the forefront of everything that we do, I think we can kind of, you know, show them that there are many other aspects of children’s learning, not just, you know, literacy and numeracy, but yeah, but all of the other components as well.

Ross Nassif: So how do you integrate into that approach, the emotional, the physical, the cognitive development into your programs?

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah. So we have a play-based program that’s really grounded in intentional teaching and a lot of critical reflection and reflective practices. So this includes everything from project work, small and large group experiences. You have your planned experiences and things that are a little bit more spontaneous. I think there’s a huge amount of research showing how beneficial play is for children’s development. I think sometimes people might think that play has no real planning or structure, but that’s definitely not the case. We know that children learn best through play and by taking their interests through, you know, observations or conversations, we create the experiences that support all the areas of development. And I think when children feel connected and engaged, they become active participants in their learning and feel that you know that they’re supported every step of the way, but also part of where they’re headed.

Ross Nassif: Don’t think that’s actually limited to just children. I think we’re all we’re all wired that way, I suppose. But turning to nutrition and sustainability. In preparing the brief for this, I’ve got a note here that council’s food program is a standout feature.

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah.

Ross Nassif: Can you share with us a bit about the council’s food programs, how are they designed, and what impact they’ve had on health and learning for children?

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah, absolutely. So we’re really fortunate to have a team of dedicated cooks. They meet regularly and share ideas and collaborate on menus and really discuss ways to engage children and families and educators in supporting their nutrition.
So it’s more than just cooking the meals and putting them out into the rooms. Our cooks have freedom to decide what to prepare for the services with their choices obviously being guided by the nutritional guidelines, feedback from children and families. They have, yeah, huge amount of knowledge about children’s health and nutrition and that expertise I think really shines through in the menus that they create and the engagement that the children and families have with their cooks at their centres.
So not only do they share menus and recipes, but often information about what’s in season, both with each other and also with families. And they, you know, they are included in our service, so they’ll often be out in the rooms or in the garden, you know, planting, harvesting, doing cooking experiences with the children. So yeah, I think our cooks play a really vital role in each service. Also to the educators. We have lots of educators who are passionate about children’s health and safety as well, and they also offer cooking experiences as just an embedded part of the program. So most services have a little kitchen garden program and I think they’re a fantastic way to help children learn where food comes from. And we’ve seen since introducing these initiatives that the willingness to try a new food, whether that be eating it, touching it, smelling it, has really grown and that’s really exciting to see.

Ross Nassif: It’s a long way since when I was in childcare way back in the 70s and we were faced with regular fish finger meals, but that sounds exciting.

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah, we’ve definitely evolved.

 

Ross Nassif: We have evolved.

 

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah, yeah.

Ross Nassif: You touched on sustainability practices a little bit, so how do you, you spoke about how our children are involved in gardening. What about waste reduction? What, how are they involved and educated in that important component?

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah. Look, I think children are intrinsically drawn to nature and the outdoors, so that definitely helps with the engagement. So our waste program involves composting and worm farms. The children absolutely love being part of that. They collect the food scraps, they feed it to the worms, they put it in the compost bins. I think you know, you can often hear when that’s happening, even if you’re not in the space, because once that lid’s open and they see the worms, there’s laughing and squealing. And I think when children are able to care for something, even worms, it gives them a real sense of responsibility and purpose. So in our program the families also contribute, so that connection between home and the service is there and that also helps. And whether that be, you know, donating coffee grounds for the compost or old cereal boxes and muesli bar boxes, there’s absolutely nothing that a child can’t turn into something crafty. So I think, yeah, that involving them in that they get to use their imagination. So it is also making sustainability, you know, an everyday kind of fun activity.

Ross Nassif: To something that’s contemporary and very much in the news at the moment, child safety and culture. Can you talk to me about the culture, the ‘see something, say something’ culture, and can you explain how it’s embedded in your team’s mindset and their operations?

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah, so the ‘see something, say something’ culture has been part of who we are for a really long time now. It’s woven into everything we do. It’s understood by everyone, it’s upheld by everyone who works in our services. We talk about it regularly, whether in staff meetings, one-on-ones, daily interactions and it’s been embraced by all the educators. So basically at the forefront of every interaction we have, we’re, you know, looking at the way that we’re speaking to children, we’re looking at the way other educators are speaking to children, the way that we’re interacting with each other and children. It’s yeah, about protecting children’s safety, both emotionally and culturally and socially and physically. And I think it is so ingrained in our teams and the way they operate because they know that when they do speak up their concerns are taken seriously, they’re listened to, supported and then the right actions are always taken.

Ross Nassif: So in terms of training, what sort of systems or training’s in place to ensure that child safety is constantly upheld and at the and at the forefront?

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah, so from I mean right from the recruitment stage, we have very clear expectations that we are a child safe organisation. All of our educators hold up-to-date child protection training before they can start working with us.
Beyond that, there’s policies and procedures around how we engage with children and young people. We provide annual refresher training, regular policy quizzes to make sure everyone stays current and I think more importantly, that child protection remains an ongoing conversation, not just a certificate or a piece of paper that sits in a folder. And of course, yeah, as we mentioned the ‘see something, say something’ culture is constantly upheld by everyone. And I think it’s about keeping that conversation and actions around child safety really visible and active in our daily practice and that makes sure that it’s embedded in our professional growth and not just treated as a one-off kind of requirement.

Ross Nassif: Like a ticking the box kind of thing.

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Ross Nassif: Looking now towards work, workforce development, sorry, as I get tongue tied, how does Northern Beaches Council support trainees and new educators in developing confidence and developing competence in this area?

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah, so we offer a really supportive environment for trainees and new educators from the very beginning. When they join us, we provide a really thorough onboarding and orientation process to just really gradually kind of make them feel comfortable.
So often when a new educator or trainee start, there’s a bit of like a week or two where they’re like an additional part of the team, so they can just sit back and observe how we do everything, have the opportunity to ask questions. We really try and not throw people in the deep end too quickly because it’s just not best practice, doesn’t kind of make somebody feel comfortable. We have mentoring and buddy systems in place so that new team members always have someone that they can turn to. Ongoing training, professional development is really strongly encouraged and supported.
And I think too just those regular check-ins, feedback sessions helps keep everyone kind of on track. And I think we foster a really inclusive supportive team culture. So making people really feel from day one that they’re already part of our team.

Ross Nassif: Excellent. Now you, in the introduction you said the favourite bit of your job was the mentoring part. So what mentoring opportunities have been most effective in building your dedicated teams?

Natalie Hemingway: Oh I think, yeah one of the greatest things about Northern Beaches Council is the amount of professional development opportunities that are available to us. And I think this, you know, leads to educators feeling valued and supported to continuously grow and remain up to date with what is current.
You can sort of see when an educator attends a training session, whether that be as a team or individually, they just ignite some kind of spark again and I think they always come back feeling really inspired and excited to share what they’ve learned.
You hear lots of reflections going around in the rooms, and I think this approach and support for educators to attend these, you know, development sessions creates this sort of shared purpose and fosters a culture of growth. And I think that’s what keeps our educators inspired and keeps them passionate and committed to the work that they do.

Ross Nassif: Looking at the community and engaging with the community, how do you collaborate with families in the local community to ensure your services are not only responsive but also inclusive and even stays ahead of the field, so to speak.

Natalie Hemingway   24:35
Yeah. Look, I think from the very beginning, you know, starting with orientation. Involving families is so important and definitely leads to building strong collaborative relationships. We make it a priority to give families time and space to share information when they first come into our services. I think that’s a really key step in creating those relationships and connections we recognise and I think it’s really important to recognise that families are the absolute experts when it comes to their children, so we include them in every decision that affects their child.
One part of this is in practise together we set learning goals and aspirations that they have for their child. This may be solely done by the family or maybe we work together to set these goals. And they’re visited regularly throughout the year, so I think that helps us stay responsive and inclusive when planning learning experiences.

I think also ongoing communication with families is something we really value.
And I think this helps build a genuine sense of community, because you know that saying, it really does take a village. So providing those formal and informal opportunities for families to come and discuss their child with us if anything’s changing or, you know, just to kind of touch base, being able to havethose conversations, I think is really important. So we can all stay up to date on what’s going on and all be part of where we’re headed next. And I think we’re also really unfortunate, sorry, fortunate not unfortunate, to have a lot of local inclusion specialists that visit our services. They also support our teams in tailoring our approach so that we can meet each individual child’s needs. So I think that kind of team approach of specialist family educators all working together creates really good outcomes.

Ross Nassif: So you just referred to local inclusion specialist, but can you give us an example of a community initiative or a partnership that that’s enhanced your centre’s impact and it might be a local inclusion specialist for example but, yeah, can you give us, can I press you for an example?

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah, sure. So I think I’m gonna sort of go back to our sustainability gardening thing because it does tie into inclusion as well. That bringing any sort of local community sort of based thing into your service is really beneficial for everyone this year. We’ve been really lucky to work with Kimbriki, who is our local waste and recycling centre. So with their help we’ve installed our two compost bins and our worm farm. They provide ongoing visits and resources to get everything up and running, and now that is a fully embedded part of our daily program and I think that really complements our involvement in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden project. So we’ve got multiple garden beds and barrels filled with herbs and fruit trees and vegetables that are all kind of used in our meals and woven into our learning experiences.
Children absolutely love being part of these projects and have really taken ownership and pride in caring for them and you know, it’s wonderful to see, and I think these initiatives have created a really hands on meaningful opportunity for children to learn about the world around them.
I see quite often that if we’re having, you know, our speech therapist or the occupational therapist come in working with some of the children that we have a lot of their time is spent in the garden. I think the children who attend our service are really proud of what essentially they have created.

So I think yeah, that’s how it kind of all works together with all different people from a community coming together. I never really thought a speech therapist and someone that worked at a local, you know, waste reduction centre could sort of find themselves in the same space, all being there for the same reason to educate and support children.

Ross Nassif: In my role managing a team of industrial advocates, my interaction within the ECEC space has been kind of limited to dealing with gender under evaluation and the fact that ECEC employees really aren’t paid very well, and I’ve been gobsmacked at how poorly they’re paid. So it’s affirmed in my mind that they do this as a calling and because they love what they do. So can you share with us one of the moments in your career that kind of affirmed your passion for early childhood education?

Natalie Hemingway: Wow. Yeah. There’s oh, there’s so many. I think. I think it’s yeah when you see a child discover something new for the first time, children are so inquisitive and can find joy and delight in the smallest thing. And I think there’s sometimes things that we can miss as we get older and busier.
An example, like a snail moving along the ground, leaving its little silvery trail behind it. When a child sees that they just find it so magical and they’ll come and get you and they’ll point it out. And it really forces you to stop and look. And I think then you find yourself in this sort of shared learning experience of just watching and being and you know this whole little brief encounter might lead to a whole project around garden creatures and I think yeah, children are just so eager to learn and experience everything they can and being part of that is an absolute privilege and I feel very, very lucky, but I think it’s, yeah, just children finding wonder in almost anything. I think it’s really inspiring.

Ross Nassif: When you think about it, to be involved in in such an experience, as you said, it is such an honour to be able to share that with an individual. So what advice would you give someone who’s considering a career in, particularly a council-run early childhood service?

Natalie Hemingway: My advice would be, yeah, you absolutely, you won’t regret it. It’s such a supportive and inspiring environment to work in. I feel I’m truly part of a wonderful community that genuinely cares.
I think there’s so many opportunities for both personal and professional growth in Northern Beaches Council and any local government, I’m sure. I think, yeah, with so many different options, it can feel overwhelming to know where to go and where to start, but honestly, you know, hand on heart, I can say that council-run services definitely put their children and families and educators first, and I think you can really feel that. And that’s why I’m still here and hope to be here for a really long time.

Ross Nassif: Can I kind of conclude my questions with, by asking you to kind of crystal ball gaze a little bit and look into the future and how do you see the future of early childhood education and how would it, how could it possibly evolve further within the local government setting?

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah. Look, I think where we’re headed would be more collaboration, more innovation and deeper recognition that early childhood education is the absolute foundation for a thriving community.
I think local councils are uniquely placed to respond to those specific needs of their communities so that, yeah, includes shaping, accessible, inclusive, early childhood education services.Ross Nassif: OK.

 

Natalie Hemingway: It’s my prediction.

 

Ross Nassif: So no, no, I won’t hold you to it. I won’t hold you to it. Let’s, let’s quickly kind of look and see what questions we might have for you and I kind of think you’ve done a pretty good job here, Natalie, because…Natalie Hemingway: Thank you.

 

Ross Nassif: …I can tell you that there aren’t any questions. So thank you so much for your time. Thank you for your insight.Natalie Hemingway: You’re so welcome. Yeah. Thanks for having me, Ross.

 

Ross Nassif: It’s been fabulous. Thanks, Natalie.

 

Natalie Hemingway: Yeah, no problem. Thank you.