SLEEP – Sleep Learning for Early Education Professionals
Reflective Activity 3

Kookaburras case example

Kookaburras is a preschool room located within a long day care service. The room caters for 27 children aged between 4 and 5 years. The centre opening hours are from 7am to 6pm daily. The room has a scheduled rest time from 1:30pm until 2pm. On the day of observation, rest time commences at 1:22 pm. At this time children are asked “would like a sleep today?”. The educator explains that children who request a sleep are moved to the adjacent room that caters for a slightly younger group of children in which there is an allotted sleep time with beds put out. One boy chooses to go to the next door room for a sleep. At 1:24 the lights in the Kookaburras room are turned off and, when they have finished eating, the children choose a spot on the floor with a pillow. At 1:36 the children are asked by the educator to lie down, take some deep breaths and think about relaxing their bodies. The assistant then turns on the interactive white board and music with colourful shapes are displayed. Some children elect to sit up to watch the video, while others continue to lie down. At 1:56 the teacher turns the video off and the group sit up. The educator reads a storybook to the group. Rest time finishes at 2:04pm. No children, except the boy who has moved to the adjacent room, sleep during this time. 

Total rest time: 42 minutes

Questions for reflection
•	How does this scenario map onto the NQS Quality Areas and Elements?
•	How does this scenario align or not align with current research evidence on sleep for children aged 3 – 5 years?
•	What questions does it raise?
•	What could this service do to improve their current practice?

 The SLEEP program is funded by the Queensland Government Department of Education
 © Copyright The University of Queensland 2017
Queensland Government
The University of Queensland Australia
ISSR Institute for Social Science Research
Sleep in Early Childhood Research Group
QUT