As part of what the state premiers have called as "the greatest chance of early education in a generation," Victoria and New South Wales will implement a new year of play-based learning for children before they start school. The programme, known as "pre-prep" in Victoria and "pre-kindergarten" in NSW, will consist of 30 hours of play-based learning each week for all four-year-olds.
On 21 June, Literacy Hub is conducting a free webinar on Phonological and phonemic awareness: From theory to practice. This webinar is designed to provide teachers with an explanation of these concepts, while also providing practical activities and strategies for use with children.
In response to the Royal Commission regarding institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, The Teacher Accreditation Act 2004 has been amended. From now on the New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA) will be making decisions about teacher accreditation at all levels, including the early childhood sector.
On Tuesday 21 June, a free webinar hosted by Raising Children Network, presented by Dr Fallon Cook will be conducted on a range of strategies that will help babies and toddlers who are having sleep difficulties.
Animal rights activist group PETA, has written to Lego, requesting that their new farm toy set be rebranded as an "animal sanctuary."
Goodstart Early Learning is now included as one of the 43 Australian organisations in the National Indigenous Employment Index, that represent indigenous employment. It is the only early learning provider, which includes a comprehensive snapshot of Indigenous employment representation processes and experiences.
Dharug, the first language of the Sydney Basin area, is among the other Aboriginal languages that are being taught to 16 NSW public preschools across the state.
The webinar helps to recognise the signs and symptoms that indicate a child has been affected by an infectious disease. It provides guidance on recognising and managing occurrences of infectious diseases, and practical information on gastro, respiratory illnesses and other infectious diseases common in children and more.
The early education sector is struggling to find enough staff due to COVID, influenza and burnout. With services failing to achieve educator-to-child ratios due to colder weather, the relaxation of mask rules for staff, and an increase in colds and flu.
In the last five years, at least 68 children have been left on buses in Australia, a rate of more than once per month.
While working at a Canberra childcare service, a 28-year-old man was accused of indecently assaulting two children and physically assaulting another, according to reports.
The NSW and Commonwealth governments are providing fee-free part and full qualification courses for job searchers and existing workers in the early childhood education and care sector under the NSW JobTrainer programme. JobTrainer provides fee-free training that is fully financed by the NSW and Commonwealth governments.
The going wage for a nanny in Sydney, according to nanny agencies and the Find a Babysitter website, is between $25 and $40 per hour, based on experience and qualifications. Casual childcare in the evening might cost up to $45 per hour. While the third year of a Certificate 3 certification, the award wage for a childcare worker is $25.26 per hour.
The NSW Departments of Education and Communities and Justice hosted a workshop on navigating child safety reporting duties on March 28, 2022, which is currently still available to view. The webinar provides information on child reporting obligations and navigating reporting child safety issues or child protection concerns to the relevant agencies.
