New preschool for children with cancer opens in Adelaide's south
The Advertiser - Ashleigh Pisani - November 13, 2018
The first preschool for children with cancer in the southern suburbs has opened in Aberfoyle Park. Jolyn Phillipps was inspired to start Lion Hearts Learning in an effort to combat the isolation children with cancer and their families often feel after her three-year-old daughter...
Preschool deal for 2019 signed by state, federal governments
The Advertiser - Jade Gailberger - November 12, 2018
More than 22,000 South Australian children have been guaranteed preschool classes next year. Education Minister John Gardner will on Monday announce that the State Government has signed a deal with the Federal Government under a $28.4 million...
A Tassie trial of free preschool placements to start by 2020
The Mercury - Jim Alouat - November 12, 2018
PARENTS of eligible three-year-olds in Kingborough and the Derwent Valley will be among the first in Tasmania to trial a new free preschool placement program. Last year, the State Government scrapped its controversial plan to lower the school starting age...
Three Hunter preschools were given drought-relief payments
Maitland Mercury - Belinda-Jane Davis - November 12, 2018
A drought-relief payment made to three Hunter preschools has sparked questions about how the state government’s $3 million scheme was rolled out. Hunter Mobile Preschool, Branxton Preschool and Greta Community Preschool have shared in almost $33,000...
Limit your own screen time, parents are urged
The Guardian - Michael Savage - November 11, 2018
Parents need to drag themselves away from their smartphones and tablets and ensure that their young children are ready to learn at school, according to the education secretary. Damian Hinds said that, while a lot of attention had been placed on limiting the screentime of children...
Two more childcare centres knocked back
Courier Mail - Brendan O'Malley - November 12, 2018
TWO controversial westside childcare centre proposals have been knocked back by Brisbane City Council in major wins for residents. A proposed development at 70 Fleming Rd, Chapel Hill, was refused by Council due to its probable environmental impacts. City Planning Chairman...
Up to seven years jail time for people who conceal child sex abuse under new laws
The Daily Telegraph - Emma Partridge - November 12, 2018
Attorney-General Mark Speakman will today introduce new laws increasing the penalty for concealing child abuse from a maximum of two years in jail to five. If the cover-up was for any sort of benefit, the sentence will be as high as seven years in jail. It comes after more than 13,000 people, many of them child sex abuse survivors, signed a petition calling for the change...
'Really shocked': Playground surfaces can hit 90 degrees in summer
Sydney Morning Herald - Jordan Baker - November 11, 2018
Astroturf can hit temperatures of almost 90 degrees Celsius during summer, while the soft fall rubber covering many children's playgrounds can reach more than 80 degrees, a study of Sydney childcare centre playgrounds has found. Plastic toys left in the sun can hit 76 degrees...
Think Childcare and G8 Education out of trough
Financial Review - Simon Evans - November 11, 2018
Australia''s second-largest listed childcare operator has signalled it may have already passed a low point in an oversupplied market, with revenues rising in the last week of October and key metrics such as occupancy rates improving in the September quarter. Think Childcare chief executive...
Kindergarten children learn woodwork, DIY at Guardian Early Learning Centre's River garden
Herald Sun - Ashley Argoon - November 11, 2018
KINDER kids are being taught the DIY skills of how to use a hammer, nails and sandpaper as they go back to basics to express creativity. And for many children aged three to five at the River Garden, a Guardian Early Learning Centre, it's the first time they've been introduced to tools...
Study confirms children attending childcare more psychologically robust
The Sector - Freya Lucas - November 9, 2018
Children who attend a childcare environment staffed by professionals may have better psychological development than those children who are looked after by family and friends, or in other informal arrangements, a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health has found...
These small cap ASX shares are ending the week with strong gains
The Motley Fool - James Mickleboro - November 9, 2018
The Think Childcare Ltd (ASX: TNK) share price is up 9.5% to $1.25 after the childcare centre operator released a market update this morning. According to the update, Think Childcare has agreed to acquire five childcare centres for a total purchase price of $7.7 million. These centres...
What happened to childcare bosses, 10 years since ABC Learning collapse
The Courier Mail - Liam Walsh - November 8, 2018
TEN years after ABC Learning Centres' spectacular collapse and decimation of the sector, some controversial childcare players have still been working with the industry. One is Martin Kemp, a former executive director of failed giant ABC, which collapsed ten years ago this week. He is a director...
Cultural trail for young Australians
Mirage News - November 8, 2018
Pre-schoolers in childcare at James Cook University's Townsville campus will get a new appreciation of Australia's plant life from today. Two new Indigenous Cultural plant trails have been launched next to JCU early childcare centres as part of the Connecting Kids to Country program...
If we're serious about supporting working families, here are three policies we need to enact now
The Conversation - Leah Ruppanner - November 7, 2018
High childcare costs can cripple family budgets and force mothers to reduce work to avoid forking out expensive childcare costs. Research from the US has found that expensive childcare is a major reason why mothers do not start working again. Public childcare enrolment benefits working...
Supply of childcare centres on the rise again, while asset yields remain sharp
Financial Review - Su-Lin Tan - November 7, 2018
The number of childcare centres is on the rise again, a condition which may suppress the value of childcare operators and properties if demand does not catch up, experts say. After a short equilibrium late last year following a steep rise in childcare centres since 2014, 92 daycare centres...
Strathfield childcare centre plans sparks 200-strong petition from residents
Inner West Courier Inner City - David Barwell - November 7, 2018
A PLAN to build an 85 space childcare centre in a residential street in Strathfield has turned into the suburb's most controversial development proposal. More than 200 residents have signed a petition opposing plans by childcare operator Little Zak's Academy to open a $2.1 million facility...
Childcare landlord Arena is a takeover target: Macquarie
Financial Review - Nick Lenaghan - November 7, 2018
Childcare landlord Arena REIT is shaping as a potential takeover target, softened up by recent weaker sentiment in the sector. Analysts at Macquarie - who have an outperform on the stock - have nominated powerful funds manager Charter Hall as a likely suitor in the event...
More strategic research needed to prepare preschoolers for their future
ABC News - Lexi Metherell - November 6, 2018
The workforce that the preschoolers of today will enter is expected to be vastly different from that of their parents, and it's become fashionable to say that so-called soft skills like teamwork and problem solving ability will be important for them to succeed. But the first review...
Dubbo TAFE students have an
Daily Liberal - Craig Thomson - November 6, 2018
Dubbo TAFE students Caterina Buttarelli and Hannah Bass are ready to put their experiences from a once-in-a-lifetime study tour to China into practice. The Dubbo students were amongst nine early childhood education and care students from across the Central West who travelled...
Thousands of Canberra children could receive free preschool
The Canberra Times - Andrew Brown - November 4, 2018
A new program proposed by federal Labor if it wins government at the next election would see thousands of three and four year olds like Charli-Rose access preschool for free. Internal figures show an estimated 12,500 three and four year olds in the ACT would be able to access...
Pru Goward encourages Goulburn preschools to apply
Goulburn Post - November 4, 2018
Goulburn electorate preschools can now apply for a share of a $10 million investment to improve their services. The funding is part of the NSW Government''s Quality Learning Environments program, aimed at improving the physical environment of community preschools...
Why the RBA and politicians are pulling in different directions on prices
Financial Review - John Kehoe - November 2, 2018
There may be another unintended consequence of the higher means-tested childcare subsidy. Millions of workers and pensioners will miss out on hundreds of dollars in pay rises because of the weaker inflation. The average full-time worker who has their wages linked to inflation...
Fair Work Commission will meet to review award
The Sector - Freya Lucas - November 2, 2018
A four yearly review of the Children's Services Award 2010 will take place in Sydney next week, 9 November 2018, on the back of substantive issues in relation to the award as raised in Mentions held 22 October 2018, to vary the Children's Services Award. There was general...
Tax and spend gets us nowhere
The Australian - Simon Cowan - November 2, 2018
Investigating the efficiency of large-scale government spending, such as schools funding or childcare, shows numerous examples of waste or programs lacking the evidence to support them. Yet every big pocket of government money spawns advocacy groups and vested interests...
Childcare subsidy a boost for parents' pockets
Herald Sun - Rob Harris - November 2, 2018
OUT-of-pocket childcare costs for Victorian parents have dropped almost 20 per cent in just four months, following the introduction of the new subsidy scheme. The Australian Bureau of Statistics consumer price index found childcare costs had on average dropped 11.8 per cent for parents...
The "new age" childcare centre making waves in architecture
Architecture & Design - November 1, 2018
To achieve this in the Queensland centre, in-depth research analysis of site plans and use of space was undertaken from existing Reggio Emilia education centres across the world. This was paired with research from early childhood experts who looked at behavioural development from...
Gold Coast 'Containers for change' launch bungled on day one
Gold Coast Bulletin - Kirstin Payne - November 1, 2018
THE first day of the State Government's container recycling scheme on the Gold Coast has been an embarrassing flop, with budding recyclers finding themselves at vacant lots, childcare centres or without a drop-off zone altogether...
Plunging childcare costs drive inflation lower
Financial Review - Patrick Commins - October 31, 2018
A more than 10 per cent fall in childcare costs pushed inflation lower over the September quarter, a boon to households that nonetheless still face relatively rapid increases in prices for essential goods and services. The Australian Bureau of Statistics' consumer price index lifted...
Regional correction: small investors facing losses on service stations, childcare and shops
Financial Review - Larry Schlesinger - October 31, 2018
The weakening performance of regional childcare investments, which have also been hit by oversupply fears, has been clearly seen in the poor clearance rates achieved for these assets at portfolio auctions conducted by agents Burgess Rawson. In September just one out of...
