Last week I attended the launch of a NSW Government initiative to provide a visual guide to existing National Quality Standard (NQS) ratings. The graphic, to be displayed at the entrance to early childhood education and care services from January 2020, would reflect the existing rating of each service; information that is already public and […]
Pathways to professionalism and equal status, as well as a nationally consistent approach, are among the aspirations for professional registration of early childhood teachers. ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR MARIANNE FENECH looks at a review of teacher registration in Australia to examine what it means for early childhood teachers and the pay gap and offers educators a chance to […]
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day is held on 4 August each year. The 2019 theme was We Play, We Learn, We Belong. In this piece, we share the importance of Indigenous culture and language in the early years through case studies and the series Little J & Big Cuz. This animation follows the everyday lives of […]
The future of Australia rests on early education. Early Childhood Australia’s (ECA) National President, Christine Legg talks about children’s early development and why Australia needs to invest in and support a high-quality early childhood education system. If you imagine a child’s brain as a five-drawer filing cabinet, research indicates that the majority of those drawers […]
Child sleep in the early years is one of the leading reasons families reach out to health practitioners. Sleep is also a hot topic between families and early childhood educators. In this blog PROFESSOR HARRIET HISCOCK from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) writes about the two most commonly encountered problems: night waking and settling. Why […]
It‘s natural for families to discuss with friends what their young children are doing and learning in early childhood education and care. But it can be unsettling too and it can prompt many questions for early childhood educators, directors and managers. In this blog, DR WENDY BOYD demystifies ‘real learning’ and developmental milestones. She examines ACECQA‘s […]
Australian families most in need of high-quality early learning environments that make a positive difference to development outcomes have access to fewer, and often lower quality, programs. This E4Kids study finding poses particular policy and program implementation challenges related to serving families from low socioeconomic status (SES) neighbourhoods. These families experience a form of double […]
Everyday leadership and lollipops Leadership is a term that has become so common that it is often taken for granted. Often there are also dominant ideas about who can lead and what leadership should look like. Ideas and images from the world of business and corporations often colour our ideas about leaders. Speaking at the […]
Being assessed and rated can understandably be a nervous time for educators. ACECQA caught up with Vashti Hicks, an Authorised Officer with the Queensland Department of Education and Training, to discuss her role and how services can prepare and embrace the assessment and ratings process. Tell us a little about your background I have been […]
Over-attention to documentation continues, often seemingly with more emphasis on quantity than on quality. It would be heartening to hear of a service where practices were rated as outstanding in every respect and at every level, but the National Quality Standards rating was diminished because there wasn’t enough documentation! Many documented observations of children appear […]
