New report reveals that nearly one in five NSW children under 14 are living in poverty The New South Wales Council of Social Service (NCOSS) has released mapping of economic disadvantage in New South Wales. The report, and accompanying maps, provides a high level of insight into how families are tracking across the state. The […]
What do plastic lids, bees wax and Qantas CEO Alan Joyce have in common? They were all involved in exciting waste reduction initiatives driven by young children and their educators. Last week was Recycling Week and we profiled the first of a number of services who have embraced environmental protection with projects that have engaged […]
What do plastic lids, bees wax and Qantas have in common? They were all involved in exciting waste reduction initiatives driven by young children and their educators. Since showing respect for the environment became embedded in Outcome 2 of the Early Years Learning Framework (Children are connected with and contribute to their world), services and […]
World Kindness Day occurs each year on November 13. Kindness may be seen as a kind of old-fashioned virtue, but in a world where bullying and mental health issues abound, it’s more relevant than ever. It doesn’t matter what age you are, an act of kindness can put a rainbow splash on the dullest of […]
Author Jasmine Seymour and artist Leanne Mulgo Watson have teamed up to release Cooee Mittigar this month, a beautiful book that aims to teach children about Aboriginal songlines. While the book was written with primary school children in mind, it’s also a great tool for introducing Aboriginal words and culture to preschool children. A songline […]
Recently the CELA office received a moving letter from the Director of a Mobile early childhood service in regional NSW, which is severely drought affected. She raised important issues about the reality of how to manage our own stress and mental health in times of crisis. This week we share her message and story with […]
In this week’s Amplify we share a story from Emma Harrison, the Centre Coordinator for Victoria Avenue Children’s Centre in Sydney. She writes about their wellbeing program MIndfully Me, a healthy community initiative devised as part of their QIP, and how it has positively impacted the staff. Over the past 6 months the team at […]
We don’t think of young children as having ‘mental health problems’ but any educator will have experience of dealing with children who were overwhelmed by their emotions, and have sometimes felt challenged by the behaviour of toddlers and pre-schoolers. In fact the early years are a crucial time when children’s brains are developing the architecture […]
We all love to celebrate Children’s Week, after all supporting children’s happiness and wellbeing and helping them to thrive is the foundation of quality early childhood education. This year’s theme looks straightforward, but it actually contains many layers which we unpack with the help of the National Children’s Commissioner. The Theme for Children’s Week 2019 […]
‘Without substantial efforts to refocus policy and investment on prevention and early intervention, children will continue to be at risk of separation from their families, communities and cultures.’ CELA covers the key points raised in the annual Family Matters Report for 2019, which focuses on ways to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait […]
