Think back to your earliest years of memory – at home, in preschool or in school. There’s a good chance that one of your most enduring memories will be in song. 

Gabrielle (Gaby) Flavin is a new contributor to Amplify and brings us a six-legged story of bug-care in early and middle years services.

Louise Grigg has been a teaching director in preschools and long day care services for 23 years. A new guest writer, today she shares her story of achieving a learning goal for many early and middle years services: embedding authentic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in the curriculum.

In recent times, outdoor classrooms have been in vogue. They are seen as innovative and creative: they connect children to nature and allow educators to extend their pedagogy and look “outside the box” of intentional and play based learning.

The Land Cruiser Workmate Emma Fenton and her colleague Vicki take on outback roads for a month at a time is packed to the brim with the resources they need for early learning and play sessions with children scattered across a 220,000 km square western NSW region that also touches Victoria and Queensland.

Following a meeting on 8 February 2018, we the undersigned, call on federal, state and territory governments to accept and implement the recommendations of the Lifting our Game1 report to achieve sustained educational excellence in Australian schools, by increasing participation of all children in quality early childhood education for at least 600 hours per year for two years before school.