G8 Education notes supply exceeds demand
Finance News Network - Rachel Jones - April 20, 2018
G8 Education (ASX:GEM) has released details from their 2018 Annual General Meeting. They noted increased supply of childcare places and their focus on growing occupancy. In 2017 the level of supply growth exceeded demand growth by around 2.5 per cent. While the supply/demand...
Childcare subsidy form wrongly asks parents why their 10-year-olds can't stay home unsupervised
ABC News - Kathleen Ferguson - April 19, 2018
The Department of Human Services has been forced to apologise to parents seeking childcare benefits, after it asked them why they were not prepared to leave their 10-year-old children at home alone. It sparked concerns among some parents on social media, including from people in...
Language lessons to be taught at kindergartens under $60m State Government Budget plan
Herald Sun - Alex White - April 17, 2018
VICTORIAN kindergartens will teach children languages for the first time under a new $60 million education package announced by the Andrews Government. Children at 120 early learning centres will be given access to language classes under a $17.9m funding commitment...
Why will our kids eat healthy food in childcare but not at home?
Riot Act - Rachel Ziv - April 18, 2018
It's a common parental frustration. The child who will reject anything but Vegemite sandwiches at home, happily tucks into multiple serves of chicken chow mein or pumpkin and pea risotto at daycare. 'But whyyyy?' wail the parents. Rebecca Sleeman, Director of Artemis Early...
G8 Education Could Perform Better By 2019
Share Cafe - Eva Brocklehurst - April 16, 2018
G8 Education ((GEM)) is withstanding headwinds in its business, amid increased supply of childcare places. The company has renewed its management, board and operating perspective and, having raised new equity, is now focused on growing occupancy. Channel checks suggest the supply...
Blue Sky cuts profits, pledges better transparency, but shares drop another fifth
The Courier Mail - Liam Walsh - April 16, 2018
The company, which earns fees overseeing 80 funds investing in projects from student accommodation to childcare, on Monday also tried to address concerns by announcing an independent review of its heavily scrutinised valuations for every asset. It would also examine financial disclosures...
These are the Aussie jobs you need if you want a higher salary and a shorter working week
News.com.au - Alexis Carey - April 16, 2018
Time-rich, cash-poor workers put in less hours each week but also earn less money. They include jobs in childcare as well as receptionists, secretaries, packers, call-centre workers, hairdressers and waiters. For example, receptionists work an average of 40 hours a week and earn...
Services to focus on Indigenous culture
Coffs Coast Advocate - Greg White - April 15, 2018
This program is another way we, as a community, can not only continue to put emphasis on the importance of entrenching Aboriginal culture into our children's everyday learning but also help remove barriers for families in accessing early childhood education,” he said. "This hands ...
Want to boost the economy? Give the underpaid a wage rise
Sydney Morning Herald - Michael Short - April 14, 2018
The pay parsimony is curious, given everyone seems to agree these professions are economically and socially crucial. It is a huge responsibility to care for a babies and toddlers, to educate a child, to salve the sick, to tend the elderly. Everyone, of course, agrees about that – until...
What happened after my childcare letter went viral
News.com.au - Chloe Chant - April 14, 2018
Climbing the career ladder of early childhood education sometimes feels more like treading water. In a sector that's yet to be fully professionalised, it's a matter of seizing hold of haphazard opportunities to assume additional responsibility. Okay, I hear you say, you chose this path...
Commercial Property: Rutherford childcare asset sells for $3.375 million at a yield of 6.13 percent
Newcastle Herald - April 13, 2018
The $3.375 million sale of a Rutherford childcare centre before its scheduled auction shows assets of its kind remain popular for commercial investors, according to one of the selling agents. A NSW buyer bought the property at 125 Grand Parade at a yield of 6.13 per cent. The property...
Australian Child Care Alliance warning over subsidy activity test
The West Australian - Phoebe Wearne - April 11, 2018
The Federal Government's childcare overhaul could wreak "chaos" on family budgets, with many parents facing inconsistent payments week to week because of the new activity test, a peak industry body has warned. About 1.2 million families with children in care are being urged...
Materials that make heat worse for our kids demand a rethink by designers
The Conversation - Abby Mellick Lopes , Matthew Blick & Sebastian Pfautsch - April 11, 2018
Our preliminary study over the record-breaking summer of 2017-8 assessed the thermal characteristics of outdoor play spaces in three childcare centres in Western Sydney. We discovered that summer temperatures can vary dramatically, depending on the materials and...
Boys tend to get marked harder by teachers
The Courier Mail - Jackie Sinnerton - April 11, 2018
Playful males in early learning years are often considered rebellious or disruptive by childcare staff and teachers, but the girls are not viewed in the same way - setting boys up for low self-esteem as they head into formal schooling years. The report has been published...
Police investigate allegation of after-school care abuse
Courier Mail - Emma Schafer - April 10, 2018
Police are investigating a claim of child abuse involving a four-year-old in after-school care at an Ipswich school. An allegation against a childcare worker employed by Camp Australia, which is currently contracted by 10 government schools across Ipswich, has been reported...
Daycare rorting: where there's easy funding, there's a feeding frenzy
The Australian - Rick Morton - April 10, 2018
The more observant might have been able to predict what would happen when the childcare rebate was unleashed on the then well-respected family day care sector. More than $2bn was siphoned off by new providers who discovered the low-overhead, low-document nirvana...
NDIS service linked to daycare rorting
The Australian - Rick Morton - April 10, 2018
A family daycare operator who had her taxpayer subsidies terminated for producing false statements and documents is also the director of a company that has at least four clients under the $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme. The case of Anizia Inyasio...
Call to parents to update childcare detail
9News.com.au - April 10, 2018
Do you use childcare? Parents with children now in care will not automatically be rolled into the new fee subsidy system starting in July, but the government hopes its new ad campaign will make sure they realise this in time. The Turnbull government is combining existing subsidies for...
$5.4 million in taxpayer funds claimed in alleged childcare fraud
Sydney Morning Herald - Patrick Begley - April 8, 2018
March 13 looked like a red letter day for iGrow Family Day Care as it signed 1775 children onto its books. Listing its head office as a small white weatherboard home in Sydney's west, iGrow recorded the supposed torrent of new bookings in July - and then backdated each entry...
New childcare rebate needs new parent info
SBS News - April 8, 2018
Parents who want to keep their childcare costs as low as possible have three months to fill in an online form if they want to keep receiving government subsidies on their fees. The new system of taxpayer subsidies starts from July 2 but the 1.2 million families who are now receiving...
SA Ombudsman defends decision to scrap family day carer from register following raft of complaints
The Advertiser - Matt Smith - April 7, 2018
A FAMILY daycare worker who was accused of telling a boy in her care to "grow some balls" has been removed from the State Government-approved carer register – but is still able to care for children. The unnamed woman, who operated a family daycare service from her home...
New interactive map shows the best childcare services in South Australia
The Advertiser - Matt Smith - April 7, 2018
ONE in 10 childcare providers in South Australia is yet to reach industry best-practice standards, despite big improvements across the sector in the past year. New figures from the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority show 89 per cent of SA's approved childcare providers...
Some directors of Blue Sky Alternative Investments have been buying up stock with prices hitting three-year lows
The Courier Mail - Liam Walsh - April 6, 2018
But some directors of Blue Sky Alternative Investments this week have also been buying up stock with prices hitting three-year lows. The fund manager has been under fire for its level of disclosures from California-based short-seller Glaucus – which makes money from share prices...
G8 Affinity takeover charges: Mary-Anne Greaves, David Burke charged following ASIC probe
The Courier Mail - Liam Walsh - April 6, 2018
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has been probing Gold Coast childcare giant G8's failed attempt to buy rival Affinity Education in early July 2015. The Takeovers Panel that year ruled G8's bid involved unacceptable circumstances and breaches of disclosure...
Two thirds of young children do not do enough physical activity
The University of Western Australia - April 6, 2018
The largest global study to examine physical activity in children aged between two and five years old has found 66 per cent of children are not getting the nationally recommended three hours of daily physical activity needed for their growth and development. The PLAYCE...
Program Focused on Aboriginal Culture Welcomes in Clarence and Richmond Valley Childcare Centres
Heartland Magazine - April 6, 2018
Several childcare services in the Clarence and Richmond valleys will have access to the appropriate resources to embed Aboriginal culture into everyday activities and engage with the local Aboriginal community, Clarence Nationals MP has announced. Mr Gulaptis said the NSW...
SIDS danger: Some babysitters, carers unaware of safe infant sleep practices
The Courier Mail - Jackie Sinnerton - April 6, 2018
A STARTLING number of infants who die in their sleep are being looked after by relatives and babysitters who place them in unsafe sleeping positions. A new study shows babies who are not with their parents are often put down to sleep on their stomachs or in dangerous locations, such as couches...
Teachers distressed by 'demise' of play-based learning in era of NAPLAN testing
ABC News - Nadia Mitsopoulos and Emma Wynne - April 5, 2018
Parents and early childhood educators have voiced their concerns about what they see as the decline of play-based learning in schools. They blame NAPLAN testing and the pressure to succeed for making modern-day school unnecessarily stressful for young children...
Play alone not answer to solving kids' maths, says expert
The Advertiser - Martina Simos - April 4, 2018
PLAY alone is not enough for young children to learn mathematics, an academic says. Edith Cowan University early childhood studies senior lecturer Dr Marianne Knaus says that instead basic concepts such as counting, shapes, sorting and matching should be taught explicitly and introduced...
Australian dads are staying at home to raise kids more than ever before, new study reveals
The West Australian - Dylan Capron - April 5, 2018
Australian dads are staying home to raise their children more than ever before, new research by the Australian Institute of Family Studies to be released today reveals. The study, using 2016 census data, found about 80,000 Australian families have a stay-at-home dad at the helm, rising from...
