Get in early to create yearning for learning
The Australian - Tessa Akerman - January 16, 2020
To engage young children, it’s important to be creative but future early childhood teacher Charlotte Henderson knows intellectual stimulation is just as important, with 90 per cent of brain development occurring by a child’s fifth birthday. The number of children enrolled in preschool ...
ECEC sector meets with Tehan seeking more support to manage bushfire crisis
The Sector - Freya Lucas - January 16, 2020
Representatives from the early childhood education and care sector met yesterday with Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan seeking clearer guidelines on when to send children home during future bushfires, asking for emergency concessions to allow fire-affected children...
How Canberra's childcare centres are coping with the smoke
The Canberra Times - Dan Jervis-Bardy - January 16. 2019
Canberra's childcare centres are limiting outdoor play in an attempt to shield young children from the hazards of bushfire smoke. With kids considered especially sensitive to the effects of air pollution, childcare centres are taking extra precautions to limit...
True-blue disposable nappies fill void left by Huggies
Herald Sun - John Dagge - January 16, 2019
The only disposable nappy maker in the nation to bear the Australian Made logo says sales are on the rise as parents and carers seek out a locally made product for young loved ones. Mater Group says sales of its nappy range are growing by 20 per cent a year...
Childcare centres want guidelines on when to send kids home in bushfires
Sydney Morning Herald - Fergus Hunter - January 15, 2020
The childcare sector wants clearer guidelines on when to send children home during future bushfires and has called for emergency concessions to allow fire-affected children to continue to access childcare. Representatives from early childhood centres...
Camp Australia rallies to ensure vacation care is supported during bushfire crisis
The Sector - Freya Lucas - January 15, 2020
Outside school hours care (OSHC) provider Camp Australia has announced that it will support those communities devastated by the recent and ongoing bushfires by providing free holiday care for all Australian emergency services personnel and volunteers...
New research yields framework, best practices to support strong ECEC workforce
The Sector - Freya Lucas - January 15, 2020
Two studies have been produced by the Learning Policy Institute (LPI), aimed at exploring the connection between successful outcomes for children entering school, the preparation of educators entering the workforce and the effective policies and practices needed...
Intensive new research finds no coeliac risk for kids in play items despite parents’ concern
The Courier Mail - Jackie Sinnerton - January 15, 2020
Many Australian parents worry that their coeliac children are at risk from the gluten in common play materials used in child care, but intensive new research shows their fears are unfounded, Coeliac Australia has revealed. “We get calls all the time from parents who have small children...
Protest causes traffic chaos on suburban Perth street
Stirling Times - Laura Pond - January 14, 2020
Drivers have caused traffic chaos on a suburban Stirling street in protest of a proposed childcare centre. The proposal is to transform a home on the corner of Spoonbill Road and Cedric Street to a childcare centre catering for up to 52 children and eight staff members at any one time...
No Jab, No play now in effect at ECEC settings across South Australia
The Sector - Freya Lucas, January 14, 2020
As a number of parents return to work after a break for the festive season, South Australian Minister for Health and Wellbeing Stephen Wade has issued a reminder to ensure young children are vaccinated, with the No Jab, No Play law now in effect at ECEC services across the state...
LDC attendance hits new record in Q3 2019 according to latest DET report
he Sector - Jason Roberts - January 13, 2020
The total number of children attending long day care (LDC) services in the three months ended September 2019 reached new records according to the latest release of the Department of Education’s Child Care in Australia Report. The report, which is issued quarterly and aims...
Tetris-led consortium wins $470m SA contract
Australian Financial Review - Michael Bleby - January 13, 2020
The South Australian government is hoping to draw a line under the state's over-budget and much-delayed new Royal Adelaide Hospital project, with the awarding of a $470 million-contract to build and run two schools ... and will include community facilities such as child care as well as...
Why G8 Education and these ASX 200 shares have crashed lower in recent months
The Motley Fool - James Mickleboro - January 10, 2020
The G8 Education share price has lost 31% of its value since this time last year. The childcare centre operator’s shares have come under significant pressure since the release of a trading update at its investor day in November. G8 Education’s update revealed that a greater than forecast ...
The Mayfield Childcare (ASX:MFD) Share Price Is Up 11% And Shareholders Are Holding On
Yahoo Finance - Simply Wall Street - January 10, 2020
On average, over time, stock markets tend to rise higher. This makes investing attractive. But if you choose that path, you're going to buy some stocks that fall short of the market. Unfortunately for shareholders, while the Mayfield Childcare Limited (ASX:MFD) share price is up 11%...
Residents question ‘glut’ in new north shore childcare centres
The Daily Telegraph - David Barwell, North Shore Times - January 10, 2020
Residents are questioning a sharp rise in childcare centres planned on Sydney’s upper north shore amid concerns over traffic, noise impacts and a “glut” in the market. Ku-ring-gai Council is considering four new planning proposals for childcare facilities in the region including two centres...
Epic Holiday Camps in Mornington closes suddenly
Herald Sun - Lucy Callander, Mornington Peninsula Leader - January 10, 2020
Hundreds of Mornington Peninsula families were left scrambling for childcare options after a popular school holiday program was cancelled just days before it was due to start. Epic Holiday Camp has told up to 300 families that the business was closing and summer sessions expected...
Proposal for another child care centre at Gillieston Heights
Donna Sharpe - The Maitland Mercury - January 10, 2020
A development application for a $1.1 million child care centre and out of school hours care (OOSH) at Gillieston Heights has been lodged with Maitland City Council. The proposal for 29-33 Cessnock Road, was lodged late December and is currently under assessment. If approved, the 124-place centre...
FDC educator in small country town fights to stay in Australia and continue giving care
The Sector - Freya Lucas - January 10, 2020
Mungindi is a small country town straddling the New South Wales/Queensland border. It’s the place UK national Rebecca Ellison has called home since 2015. Mungindi is also a town in danger of losing a vital childcare service if Ms Ellison’s appeal for permanent residency is again rejected.
Rio Tinto to develop ECEC facility in Tom Price, in partnership with Council
The Sector - Freya Lucas - January 10, 2020
Anglo-Australian multinational metals and mining company, Rio Tinto, has committed funding to support the Shire of Ashburton to develop a new “state-of-the-art childcare centre” in Tom Price, Western Australia. The proposed facility will have capacity for 96 children and is projected...
Childhood anaemia doubles the risk of learning difficulties, study finds, with more dietitians needed in remote communities
ABC News - Marian Faa - January 10, 2020
But more than 60 per cent of babies in remote Far North Queensland, where Zekaniah was born, have a blood disease that new research has linked to developmental disadvantage in young children. The James Cook University (JCU) study found 46 per cent of babies...
Goodstart goes in to bat for Australia’s volunteer firefighters, offering free care
The Sector - Freya Lucas - January 9, 2020
Goodstart Early Learning CEO Julia Davison has circulated a message to the broader Goodstart network, indicating the intention of the provider to offer “special support to the nation’s active volunteer firefighters”. “From today any volunteer firefighters who live or work...
Artarmon: Guardian childcare centre launches sustainability workshops
The Daily Telegraph - David Barwell - January 9, 2020
Children of a north shore childcare centre have learnt new tips on how they can support the environment in an effort to curb the impacts of climate change. The Guardian Childcare Centre in Artarmon held the first of a series of DIY sustainability excursions...
Centre to boost child care
The West Australian - Shannon Beattie - January 9, 2020
Families in Tom Price are set to have more options when it comes to caring for their little ones after Rio Tinto and the Shire of Ashburton announced a new childcare centre for the town. The proposed facility would have capacity for 96 children and is projected to be open in 2021...
Angle Vale and Aldinga school plans revealed, with work to begin within months
7news.com.au - Tim Hatfield - January 8, 2020
The designs for Adelaide's newest schools have been revealed, with the projects being touted as revolutionary learning centres. Both sites will cater to babies through to year 12. They will also include 100 spaces for students with disabilities and 75 child care places...
Children at TG's Child Care, Riverbreeze, Wauchope recycle water
Wauchope Gazette - Letitia Fitzpatrick - January 8, 2020
Tiny tots at TG's Childcare in Wauchope are learning about recycling water. The children at the Riverbreeze centre have started using buckets to collect the water from their new hand-washing troughs. "They then use it to water our very thirsty gardens. Every drop counts," ...
Investigation in to Marsden kindy after boy left in locked minibus
The Courier Mail - Judith Kerr, Quest Newspapers - January 8, 2020
An investigation is under way after a five-year-old boy was left unattended in a locked kindy bus for more than 40 minutes on a day when temperatures hit more than 28C. Tyler Walton fell asleep in the Marsden Kindergarten and Child Care Centre bus after a kindy outing ...
Lucky escape as scaffolding crashes into Croydon childcare centre
Herald Sun - Kiel Egging, Maroondah Leader - January 8, 2020
Children were napping and had a lucky escape when scaffolding crashed into the play area of a Croydon childcare centre. Worksafe is investigating the December 30 early afternoon incident at Platypus Junction Childcare Centre. About 45 children and staff were inside the centre...
Southeast childcare centre delivers truckloads of much-needed support after post goes viral
Herald Sun - Brittany Goldsmith, Chelsea Leader - January 7, 2020
Aspendale Gardens resident Shannon Hardy said she was “amazed” by the power of social media after a call-out for help on her daughter’s childcare Facebook page exploded online. And in a classic display of community spirit, the Goodstart Early Learning Aspendale Gardens group...
ACECQA 2019 Parent Survey gives insights into ECEC selection approach and more
The Sector - Jason Roberts - January 7, 2020
In the recently released 2019 National Quality Framework (NQF) Annual Performance Report, the Australian Children’s Education and Care Authority (ACECQA) shared the results of their 2019 family survey in which parents were asked a range of questions including but not limited to...
Leading ECEC voices share their hopes for the sector in 2020 – and beyond
The Sector - Freya Lucas - January 7, 2020
As we move into a new year The Sector has again put out a call to prominent voices from across Australia’s early childhood education and care (ECEC) community, as we did in 2019, to ask what they were hoping the coming year would bring to our sector. We hope you enjoy reading...
