A: In early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings across Australia, mobile phone use by educators is now subject to strict national reforms aimed at safeguarding children’s well-being and ensuring professional presence.

Here’s a clear, sector-aligned policy template tailored for early childhood education and care services, ensuring compliance with the upcoming 2026 NQF reforms and reinforcing your commitment to child safety and educator well-being.

Here’s a curated set of critical reflection questions tailored for room displays in early childhood settings—designed to provoke deeper thinking around pedagogy, child voice, aesthetics, and relational intent. These can be used during planning, team reflection, or documentation audits.

Here's a comprehensive, sector-responsive policy and procedure framework for the safe use of digital technologies—including CCTV—tailored for early childhood education settings. It balances child safety, educator well-being, regulatory compliance, and ethical transparency.

High-quality early education and care is more than preparation for school—it’s the foundation for a child’s lifelong well-being, confidence, and achievement. During Early Learning Matters Week, educators, families, and communities come together to celebrate the transformative impact of play-based learning in shaping enthusiastic, capable learners.

Open-ended play activities are all about freedom, exploration, and creativity—especially powerful in early childhood settings where babies and toddlers are discovering the world through their senses and movement. Here’s a rich collection of examples tailored for babies (0–18 months), with variations to suit different developmental stages and settings.

In early childhood education, the decision to defer a child’s school entry by a year is often framed as “staying back.” But educators across Australia are challenging this language, advocating instead for a strengths-based perspective: sending children when they are developmentally ready.

Thanks to the new National Model Code and upcoming regulatory changes under the National Quality Framework (NQF), early childhood services across Australia must now implement robust policies for the taking, use, storage, and destruction of images and videos of children. Here's a sample policy template aligned with the latest updates, effective from 1 September 2025.

A: Employers must give at least 7 days’ notice for changes to rosters, including meeting times. If the meeting is compulsory, it must be paid. 

In many early childhood settings, art activities have unintentionally become routine tasks—structured, time-bound, and educator-led. Children are often called one by one to complete pre-set crafts, given step-by-step instructions, and quickly ushered away. This approach can lead to disengagement, low interest, and a missed opportunity to nurture creativity and emotional development.