The Front Project’s latest survey of over 1000 parents and carers highlights how COVID-19 has reinforced the value of early childhood education and care in families’ minds. The latest survey results show that 80% of respondents say early childhood education and care is very important to their family. Parents commented on the challenges of juggling […]
Beth Sebesfi is an early childhood teacher and mother of three daughters aged 5, 3 and not-yet-1. From time to time she shares with us the professional insights arising from her personal experiences with children at work and home. Today’s story is a reflection on the impact of seeing children through a lens of ‘cuteness’. […]
We open Beth Sebesfi’s story about screens today with a reminder of the recently updated World Health Organisation guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep, for children up to five years old. Keep reading the article for Beth’s take on the reality of screen time in the lives of the young families educators’ are […]
A new writer for Amplify, Ruth Harper, this week shares her view about the growing number of services with closed circuit television cameras (CCTV) to monitor activity inside the service during the day, not just for security out of hours. Ruth, of East West Childcare and Kinder in Fitzroy, Victoria, tested out her views on […]
Previously, Niyati Prabhu has written for us about a local research project she led which connected parents, educators, schools and children in order to improve her service’s school readiness programs. In the next three weeks, Niyati is sharing a range of educator-wellbeing strategies employed at Cherry Bridge Station, Lane Cove, where she is the nominated […]
Quality area 6 inspires us to connect and collaborate with children’s families and communities, and one crucial time for doing that is when children are moving from early learning to school. Niyati Prabhu is a nominated supervisory and educational leader at a children’s service on Sydney’s north shore. She writes for us today about a […]
Starting school in Tasmania Our next stop in the Around Australia starting school is the Apple Isle, Tasmania, where debate has raged for 18 months around the government’s plan to lower the school starting age from 5 years (on 1 January) to 4.5 years, and to open its free, public school kindergartens to children as young […]
NSW is set to abolish conscientious objection to vaccination. We will update this story as new information arises from Parliament, NSW Health and Department of Education.
Acacia Ridge is a south-western suburb of Brisbane. It has a large industrial zone, an ice skating rink, and no public library. About 20% of children were starting school in that area without the basic language skills they needed to do well. Read this story sent to Amplify by The Benevolent Society about how their early […]
Early childhood educators know we need to collaborate to support inclusion for young children with developmental delay or disability, but it isn’t always easy. Emma Pierce’s last blog explained how the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) relates to educators. In today’s post, Emma talks about some potential challenges that can emerge in the context of […]
