Appreciation for Early Years Educators

We are sending out our appreciation to all of our early years teams today. For 15 months the early years community has adapted to the global pandemic in order to find ways to continually offer spaces for exploration, wonder and rich learning opportunities.

In partnership with families and children, Compass ELC provides a child centered, play-based inquiry approach that promotes the development of the whole child. Our teams view children as capable, competent and curious about the world around them, and this guides the way in which we design our environments, experiences and interactions. COVID-19 posed barriers as we navigated virtual connections, the removal of soft materials when we returned to programs, and the physical barriers of masks, goggles and face shields. Throughout this time, we have found new ways to connect and have held firmly to our organizational values in order to build trusting relationships and continue to foster safe, caring, joyful environments.

Our belief in equal worth and collective intelligence have taught us to listen to what is needed, and respond with concrete actions that make people feel valued. Our commitment to life-long learning has led us to a deeper understanding of what it means to take responsibility and be accountable to our communities. These values continue to shape the way we carry out our work with each other, with children, families and in our communities, and the result has been that children have continued to be at the heart of everything we do and every decision we make.

We extend our deepest gratitude to the teams at Compass ELC, and all of the children, families and community that has supported them over the past 15 months, and we look forward to a time when we can peel back the masks and see the smiles that have been hiding away, but we know have been there, even amid the hard days.

This week each staff member received a small token of appreciation for all of their hard work. Huge thank you to the to the local vendors who made these gifts possible:

Old Jar Candle Company, Millbrook

Tiny Greens, Peterborough

Thistles and Sticks, Cavan

‘Awesome You’ essential oil roller – Jessica Malouin- Norwood

April and August, Havelock

Candies- World’s Finest Chocolates

Printhub.ink

Joan Wickins – Volunteer who helped prepare the bags