In this article, the FOOSHC team discusses the Playwork Principles, which the service has embedded in its practice, resulting in strong developmental outcomes for children and awards for excellence. Image: supplied, FOOSHC Forrest Out of School Hours Care (FOOSHC), rated ‘Excellent’ under the National Quality Standard, is a community-based, not-for-profit service in Canberra run by…
ECA: You’re an Inclusion Professional with Early Childhood Australia Northern Territory. What does your job involve? What is an Inclusion Professional? Alex: My job involves a wide range of hats and roles. No one day is the same. You can find me in the office or out at services, both remote and regional. While in…
I was very fortunate to attend the Early Learning Summit hosted by The Front Project in Canberra late last year. On the journey home, I found myself reflecting on the conversations and future visions for our sector along with a lingering question: Why did I choose this career? Photo by Ben Wicks on Unsplash I…
I recently participated in the Early Years Summit, convened by Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth MP and Minister for Early Childhood Education and Care Anne Aly MP, to begin work on the national Early Years Strategy. This summit brought together 100 people—too many ‘big names’ to mention them all—as well as parents, educators, early…
Permission has been granted by the Peek Whurrong People of the Gunditjmara/Maar Nation to use and share their language for this piece. As a South Warrnambool kindergarten community in the south-west of Victoria, we are passionate about and openly engage in the spirit of reconciliation through the sharing of knowledge. The thookay (children) in our…
Early childhood education is a constant revolving door of new information, insightful understandings, complex perspectives and thought-provoking research. Our role as early childhood educators and teachers is to dive headfirst into this pool of information and filter the noise of overwhelming perspectives in our profession, developing our practices. Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash That’s…
Due to increased global mobility and the unprecedented forces of globalisation, the world has become increasingly diverse. We are all witnesses to social, cultural, ethnic, and linguistic diversity in schools and early childhood services. Research on multilingualism and multiculturalism in primary and secondary school settings is well documented (e.g. Baker & Wright, 2021; Esau, 2014;…
In this article, Emily Greaves and Dr Jen Jackson from the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) remind us that some transitions happen every day—like that from school to outside school hours care (OSHC). AERO and its partners are working to enhance this transition to support the learning, wellbeing and development of Australian children. Photo by…