Early Edition Winter 2015

EarlyEdition WINTER 2015

The Importance of Creative Play How you can create a safe environment Jobs for Families Childcare Package Publishing images of children online

NEW LOOK, SAME GREAT ASS OCIATION.

Solving the Childcare Puzzle What is my centr wort e h?

What is the best way to sell?

How do I attract a buyer?

Who are the buyers and what are they paying?

What is the best time to sell?

What is due diligence?

How can I minimise disruption to daily operations?

What information should I provide?

What regulatory processes need to be followed?

If you are contemplating selling your centre and need help solving the childcare puzzle, contact John Wall and his team today for a no obligation, completely confidential discussion. Phone 1300 851 331 or email john.w@totalchildcaresolutions.com.au www.foundationearlylearning.com.au

www.totalchildcaresolutions.com.au

EarlyEdition WINTER 2015

Cover Photo: Perfect Beginings Child Care Cetre Mitchelton.

ACA Queensland

Contents

Location: 11/6 Vanessa Boulevard, Springwood Mailing: PO Box 137, Springwood QLD 4127 Telephone: (07) 3808 2366 Fax: (07) 3808 2466 Toll Free: 1300 365 325 (outside Brisbane) Web: www.qld.childcarealliance.org.au Email: qld@childcarealliance.org.au

President’s Report

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CEO Report

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Guiding Challenging Behaviours: Replacing a behaviour

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Teaching Children Through Music Today to Create a Better Tomorrow

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Disclaimer: Articles published in this magazine are published as a service to readers and should not be substituted for specific advice in relation to any issue.

While advertising in this magazine is encouraged, ACA Queensland accepts no responsibility for the contents of the advertisements. Advertisements are accepted in good faith and liability for advertising content, goods or services supplied is the responsibility of the advertiser.

How YOU can create a safe environment The Importance of Creative Play

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How you can be getting REDDY for Red Nose Day 2015

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Jobs for Families Childcare Package

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Educator in profile

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Environmental Awareness & Sustainability in Childcare

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Publishing images of children online

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Early Learning Languages Australia trial commences at Goomboorian Playalong Activity Centre

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Are you being driven crazy by constant whining?

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Embedding Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Perspectives in Early Childhood

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Associate Member Directory

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MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE Executive

Committee Members

ACA Queensland Office

President - Jae Fraser

Linda Davies

General Manager - James Blake

Vice President - Brent Stokes

Majella Fitzsimmons

Senior Office Admin - Jen Smyth

Treasurer - Linda Davies

Kerrie Lada

Office Admin Assistant - Rachael Boatfield

Secretary - Debra North

Peter Price

KASS Project Manager - Linda McConville

CEO - Gwynn Bridge

Prue Turnbull

Project Officer - Claudette Cabilan

EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015

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President’s Report Welcome to the Winter 2015 issue of the ACA Qld Early Edition magazine. There is never a dull moment in the world of childcare and early education and you can be confident that ACA Qld does not rest. Your association and management committee have been working tirelessly for the last few months to advocate for all members, families and children all across Queensland. It certainly has been a busy time with the Productivity Commission (PC) report recommendations and Federal Government budget being released.

We have been actively working with our State Government throughout the last few months, with multiple meetings with Minister Kate Jones (whose portfolio includes Education and Small Business) and Deputy Director General Gabrielle Sinclair to discuss prep early entry, 2016 ratio changes, Kindergarten Advisory Support Service (KASS) success and other items relevant to our sector ensuring that our strong relationship with the State Government continues.

We have sent out many information emails in relation to the federal budget and how this could impact our sector and this has been discussed in detail at our recent members meetings.

ACA Qld has confirmed its support for a number of measures in the 2015-16 budget, but we are disappointed it will not support families enduring the current affordability crisis triggered by workforce participation pressures and the consequent demand for high quality education and care for their children.

The Australian Government has rejected the median ‘benchmark price’ model recommended by the PC in favour of a new model which will see an hourly fee cap for families much more reflective of actual costs. The benchmark price effectively rolls all current payments, such as the Child Care Benefit (CCB) and Child Care Rebate (CCR) into a single, streamlined payment.

Members meetings have recently been held all across Queensland from the Gold Coast to Cairns and west to Toowoomba and all have been well attended. These meetings are a great network opportunity and

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EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015

also a brilliant opportunity for us to discuss as a group all of the issues that are affecting our members out in the field. Thank you to all that attended. Keep your eyes on the ACA Qld website for the next round of meetings.

When writing this report there is less than 50 days, 21 hours and 57 minutes left until we all come together for the early childhood education and care event of the year, the ACA Qld 2015 National Conference. It is nearly a sell out with close to 1000 delegates attending on both days, we have over 70 exhibitors and we have also added additional speakers and workshops on Sunday to enhance the program and ensure it exceeds all expectations.

Our conference theme is “Don’t Stop Believing” and as you will note we have an array of exceptional speakers and workshops dedicated for educators, early childhood teachers, and approved providers. Our services are a significant part of our individual lives where many of us spend the majority of our day. It is important that we maintain our passion for the role we play and continue to believe in the contribution we make to the lives of young Australians.

Our national two-day conference provides valuable opportunities for delegates to interact with sponsor and exhibitor representatives, and is an important forum for educators to network and reflect on current thinking and practice.

We welcome all delegates and we can assure you that our speakers and presenters will provide each of you, in whichever capacity you are involved in the sector, with a valuable weekend of professional development.

Be sure to hop on the ACA Qld website and check out the array of professional development training that we have available for all levels of the sector including ECT network meetings, child protection, sustainability and behaviour management training.

Early Childhood Educator’s Day is an annual celebration that acknowledges the important role long day care educators play in educating and caring for the next generation of Australians.

The event is held every year on the first Wednesday in September, and this year’s Early Childhood Educator’s Day will be held throughout the nation on Wednesday, 2 September 2015. We encourage all members to get involved and services to plan and host various events to celebrate the occasion, including dress up days, luau celebrations and distribution of thank you notes – whatever is done, remember the event is held to ensure that educators can receive well deserved recognition and appreciation for their efforts.

This month we say farewell to our General Manager James Blake who has made the decision to go back to full time study and complete his MBA. We wish James all the very best with this study and we congratulate him on his work and contribution to ACA Qld during his tenure. Thanks James and all the very best!

Kind regards

Jae Fraser - President

CEO Report You association, both state and national, have been actively meeting with members across Australia to determine views on the Budget, especially the Jobs for Families childcare package.

It is vital that you express your views as we head towards our advocacy days in the Australian Parliament House from 22 – 23 June to present our position to key members of parliament and senators.

Australian Childcare Alliance has had considerable discussions with the Minister for Social Services, the Honourable Scott Morrison MP and the Department in the lead up to the release of the Jobs for Families childcare package. Combined with other peak groups, all issues proposed were analysed and considered. As with all negotiations, some of our proposals were not adopted, but we are supportive of most of the proposals set forth by the Government. This package will be laid before Parliament in the near future.

We believe that the increase in the subsidised fee from $7.41 per hour, as recommended in the Productivity Commission Final Report, to $11.55 per hour more accurately reflects the cost of provision of care and the tapered rate of funding ensures that families will receive financial benefit in most cases.

ACA Qld held member meetings in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Townsville and Toowoomba and members have expressed an overall acceptance of the package.

Issues raised that ACA will take to key politicians include: • Concern that the implementation date (1/7/2017) has not addressed the immediate need for families to receive financial relief. Families will be faced with additional increased fees during the next two years resulting from the introduction of the 2016 ratio changes, the review of the Modern Award and the Equal Remuneration Order wage case.

• Members were supportive of the “stepped” activity test but expressed considerable concern for the children who would no longer be afforded subsidised care.

Concern was also expressed for the children who attend a Kindergarten service who will be entitled to only 12 hours of care.

Important dates to remember:

• There was considerable discussion on the introduction of a subsidised nanny sector. Issues raised encapsulated concern of overlapping in mainstream hours, unqualified staff, misuse of the hours e.g. determining work and pleasure. We await the guidelines to enable us to make a clearer judgement on this point.

• 1 July 2016 – Inclusion Support changes to be implemented

• The Safety Net subsidies were welcomed but with concern for grandparents who may have to find the gap fee. This issue raised many concerns in areas where there is a high indigenous population.

• Lack of planning for new services.

In all areas members reported underutilisation, with Mondays and Fridays being exceptionally low, followed by a reduced demand for baby places. All areas reported a high number of applications for the construction of new services by developers. We constantly hear reports of shortages of childcare places and ACA is calling on the Government to examine the information they collect each week on vacancies. We ask that the Government take control of the situation to prevent oversaturation.

• 1 January 2016 – implementation of ratio changes • 1 January 2016 – nanny pilot commences • 1 January 2016 – Immunisation changes commence

• 1 July 2017 – Jobs for Families childcare package introduced Please engage as many families as possible to participate in our annual What Parents Want Survey. It is imperative to gather the voices of our families to ensure that we are representing them as we put forward our views to government.

We will keep you updated through newsletters and member updates as the policy decisions on the Jobs for Families childcare package are determined.

We farewell James Blake, our General Manager, at the end of June. We will miss James and thank him for the great work he has done for ACA Qld over the past three years. James will be studying his MBA full time and we wish him all the very best in his future.

Kind regards,

Gwynn Bridge - Chief Executive Officer

EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015

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EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015

Guiding Challenging Behaviours: Replacing a behaviour Peter Melrose > Third Circle Counselling + Support & Extreme Behaviour Mechanics

Dealing with challenging behaviours is a complex and lengthy process. Occasionally, some of the children in our groups will have different needs. These needs could be related to the child having a physical disability or developmental delay or issues. Sometimes, these additional needs are related to behavioural issues. The challenge is, how do I respond to this child and their different needs, while also being ‘fair’ and treating all the children ‘equally’?

The answer is, you cannot both respond to the different needs of each child AND treat all the children equally. If our focus is on being fair and equal, then we are likely to tie ourselves up in knots trying to do the right thing. On the other hand, if we focus on ‘equity’, a just approach to engaging environmentally, then we are in a better position to respond to children individually.

So then, in the first instance we need to recognise that each child has different needs and may need to be responded to in different ways. This all sounds good, until we get into the room and have numerous children to deal with, all with different needs and behaviours. This will require a different focus as well.

It is an important point to note that every moment is not a learning moment. The child may be tired, hungry, angry, busy; any number of factors will disrupt any child’s ability to learn the thing that we want to teach them in that moment. If we are talking about learning new behaviours, then this will be even less likely to occur often.

We have only a limited amount of time in the day to teach children new behaviours; sometimes as little as a few minutes per day, when the child is settled enough and the environment is right enough and the child is listening and engaged enough.

The trick is, to plan our intervention before we implement it, and to practice the behaviour before the child needs to engage in the behaviour.

Lets assume we want a child to reduce their biting.

A) Planning our intervention.

We often assume that children will simply learn to behave, and for the most part that is reasonably true.

However, sometimes a behaviour is so effective that the child is not motivated to change. Biting is a great example of a highly effective behaviour, for the biter. Biting means that the biter need not waste time with words, that often don’t work as well as biting people does.

We need to do two things at the same time.

1. Give the child another behaviour (replacement behaviour) to do instead of biting that will get the same result for the child, i.e. the thing the child wants. You might tell the child, “if you ask me, I will get that for you, if someone is using it, we will play together until it is your turn”.

2. At the same time, make sure that biting behaviour does not get the response the child wanted. You might tell the child, “if you bite and take this thing, I will take it from you, you won’t have it and you will have to sit with me, because your behaviour is too dangerous to play with other people right now” (or words that the

child you work with will understand, but you get the picture).

What you are doing is positively reinforcing a new behaviour that you must make work, asking you for the toy, while at the same time, negatively reinforcing the biting behaviour, so it does not work for the child; positive and negative reinforcement working together.

B) Practicing our intervention before we need it: Fire Drill Training One very effective way to assist children in this regard is to practice the new behaviour BEFORE you need to use the new behaviour. Much like fire drill training, where we practice leaving an environment in a crisis to better learn how to behave in such a crisis, we need to practice new behaviours often as well. Remember, if you want something badly enough, you will do what it takes to get it, children are no different.

Think about how you might practice leaving a space, you sit with the child; you stand up, and walk together out of the space, not pushing people over, or taking things off the table. Practice makes perfect. www.thirdcircle.com.au

SEE ME AT THE CONFERENCE EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015

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Teaching Children Through Music Today to Create a Better Tomorrow Galina Zenin > Bonkers Beat

I caught a train in the city and was on my way home after another interstate trip. I felt excited and couldn’t wait to see my children and my family. Since I was a little girl, I loved trains and remember the time when I was traveling from Moscow overnight to see my grandma. It was the best!

It was nearly 6pm in Melbourne and the train was busy with people coming back home… Suddenly, I heard a tiny voice: “Daddy, my kinder teacher said that we need to eat fruit and healthy things.” “That’s right,” said the father while checking his mobile phone. I looked at the girl and smiled. She was standing on her knees looking out of the window. Her head was moving from side to side as she was following the cars, other trains and her eyes were alive with excitement. Then she continued her conversation. “She also said, that carrots are good for my eyes.” “That’s right,” the father replied again and continued checking his messages. The girl’s young toddler sister was sitting in a pram watching something on her iPad.

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EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015

The girl started singing softly and then she said: “Today I was playing with Tessa and we made a long tower.” “That’s good,” said the father.

After a few minutes the girl sat next to her sister and said: “Daddy, can I have my phone please?”

Fifty minutes passed. My stop was next. Both girls and their father were still sitting deeply engaged with their own devices.

Today’s world is different. Tomorrow it will be even more so…

As the world becomes more and more technologically advanced, it becomes obvious that within the next five to ten years, our world, including our economy, will change dramatically.

Many jobs and occupations will disappear or will be replaced with new

opportunities, opportunities which don’t even exist yet. The children who are growing now will be creators of our future and will need to develop a range of skills, which allow them to succeed in life on different levels.

It’s no secret that many of us have crazy schedules and stressful long days, so when children are ‘busy learning’ and occupied, the parents can get on with their housework and other ‘adult’ tasks. It becomes the norm to see a toddler or a young child on a laptop, iPod, iPad, iPhone everywhere and a vast majority of parents are proud that their children are ‘developing’ while playing ‘educational games’ on their devices.

Many families truly believe that their children benefit from early access to technology and underestimate the lack of building foundation, which is crucial for their future. Some parents even say that it’s necessary for a child to grow in time with technology, to learn how to navigate and find their way around it.

I am not against technology and have to admit that I spend a lot of time myself working, writing, checking, googling, posting, blogging and so on.

But today, I would like to raise a few questions about our future, the future of young children, and especially the children between one and five years of age.

So, my first question is: What is the main purpose of education?

I personally believe that the main purpose of education is to help children to find their purpose in life.

And if we look much deeper into this question, the answer would be as simple as the words of the great Dalai Lama: “The Purpose of our lives is to be happy.”

The next question that comes to my mind is: How should we teach children today so they are better prepared for tomorrow?

Recent studies show that: “One in six children have a diagnosed developmental disability, one in six are obese, and 14.3 per cent have a diagnosed psychiatric disorder.

Diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, coordination disorder, sensory processing disorder, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders can be causally linked to technology overuse and are increasing at an alarming rate. As children are connecting more and more to technology, society is seeing a disconnection from themselves, others and nature. Family over-use of technology is not only gravely affecting early attachment formation, but also having a negative impact on child psychological and behavioural health” (Cris Rowan ‘The Impact of Technology on Child Sensory and Motor Development’, www.sensomotorische-integratie.nl/ CrisRowan.pdf).

The future is exciting, but only if our children will be happy and healthy.

The modern world will require not robots, but creative, confident, passionate people, who will be able to identify new opportunities, investigate and create new jobs. The modern economy will require people who have strong identities, multiple intelligences and well-developed verbal and written communication skills. This range of qualities will set these young people apart from others. As a result of this progress – the modern world will require new educational systems and dramatic changes within curriculum and assessment.

And the last, but one of the most important questions: How can music help children to be happy, improve their wellbeing and find their purpose in this world of rapid change?

Singing, dancing and music making affects children in many positive ways, boosts their brain development, improves academic results, but most importantly, enhances their wellbeing.

I truly believe that music lends itself to our mental health and the key to happiness.

The main purpose of teaching music is not to play an instrument in a band or to sing in an opera…

The main purpose of teaching music is to enrich the whole child, develop their cognitive abilities, increase their learning capacity and enhance quality of their life.

Music is powerful… Music is magic! www.facebook.com/BonkersBeat www.BonkersBeat.com

Music is one of the few activities that involves the use of both sides of the brain, which stimulates creativity, maximises learning and the retention of information. Music connects with children on every level, from the physical to the emotional and intellectual, engaging the whole brain.

SEE ME AT THE CONFERENCE

EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015

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How YOU can create a safe environment

SEE ME AT THE CONFERENCE

Christie Boucher > Guild Insurance

The early learning sector has gone through a number of changes over the past few years. This has placed an increasing number of challenges and expectations on staff and businesses. Unfortunately this can mean that even the best centre may find themselves experiencing the stress of a complaint should an incident occur.

Guild Insurance has been insuring early learning businesses for almost 50 years. This experience has provided us with a great understanding about the complaints faced. It also helps us to understand the stress experienced when faced with a complaint and the toll it can take on the business and individual staff members.

The most common complaint we see relates to children being injured.

All centres would be well aware of their obligation to provide a safe environment for children. And it isn’t doubted for a moment that everyone works very hard to ensure this happens. Yet despite this effort, many children still experience injuries whilst attending early learning centres. It may be easy to think that children will be children and will always find a way of injuring themselves. This may be somewhat true. However, there is a great deal which can be done to reduce the likelihood of these injuries occurring and the severity should they occur. Yet unfortunately our many years of claims analysis suggests these risk reduction strategies aren’t always being put into place as well as they could be.

Common incidents and injuries To be able to reduce the likelihood or severity of injuries to children, you must first have an understanding of the types of incidents which commonly lead to injuries. Below are examples as seen in claims managed

by Guild Insurance.

• The tip of a child’s finger has been amputated when it was caught in a closing door. This led to surgery being required and the child possibly facing long term damage to the finger.

• A child has fallen awkwardly when going down a slide. When landing at the bottom of the slide he suffered a fractured arm.

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EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015

• A child’s hand has slipped whilst climbing a climbing frame. She’s fallen forward and bumped her mouth on the frame, breaking a tooth.

• A child has tripped whilst running and bumped his head on a wooden planter box. He required stitches to his forehead.

• A baby has rolled whilst on a change table and has fallen off.

The child hit his head on the ground and suffered concussion.

• A child left the centre by walking out the front door. The child was found half an hour later by a member of the public trying to cross a main road.

How these incidents occur When trying to understand why an incident has occurred, at Guild Insurance we focus on ‘contributing factors’. This is because there’s rarely one main cause for an incident but more likely a number of factors which have contributed to it occurring.

Addressing these factors can assist in reducing the likelihood of incidents occurring. Below is a list of the common contributing factors identified in claims seen by Guild Insurance.

Play equipment and furniture. A large number of injuries occur when children fall off or trip over play equipment and furniture. Therefore it‘s important staff think about the type of play equipment and furniture in the centre, the condition it’s in and where it’s placed.

• Not noticing a potential risk before an incident occurs. For example, if the planter box mentioned above was in an area where the children regularly run, this should have been seen as a potential risk which could lead to an injury.

• Whilst the planter box didn’t cause the child to trip, its placement potentially contributed to the severity of the injury.

• Being distracted. It’s easy to become distracted in a centre, there’s a lot going on at any one time. However these distractions can cause staff to not be as attentive as they should be. The child falling off the change table may have occurred due to the staff member being distracted.

• Reliance on other people. When there are a number of people working in a centre at any one time, it may be easy for staff to think that someone else, especially someone more senior, will notice and address any risks. However all staff have a responsibility to contribute to reducing risks.

• Other children, staff or parents.

Other people can contribute to incidents occurring. Children have fallen off play equipment when numerous children are playing on it at the one time. Staff have accidentally lifted a child awkwardly and injured the child.

Children have left a centre, as with the case above, when a parent has accidentally left the door open.

Guild Insurance Limited ABN 55 004 538 863, AFS Licence No. 233 791. This article contains information of a general nature only, and is not intended to constitute the provision of legal advice. Guild Insurance supports your Association through the payment of referral fees for certain products or services you take out with them.

Who can you call for free legal advice?

When something goes wrong, or an incident occurs where you need legal support, you can always count on us. With Guild Insurance you have one of Australia’s leading insurance lawyers, Meridian Lawyers, by your side. With extensive experience defending early learning businesses they will be there to take care of you.

It’s rare to get something for free these days… Unless you are with Guild Insurance.

We provide you with free legal advice by telephone if an incident occurs that may lead to a liability claim being made against you or your centre. On top of this you also receive two hours free legal support and advice on matters regarding employment related liability or regulatory matters. Guild gives you peace of mind and one less thing to worry about so you can stay focused on the thing you do best – looking after the children in your care.

1800 810 213

guildinsurance.com.au

Insurance issued by Guild Insurance Ltd, ABN 55 004 538 863, AFSL 233791 and subject to terms, conditions and exclusions. Guild Insurance supports your association through the payment of referral fees. This document contains general advice only and doesn’t take into account what you currently have, want and need for your personal circumstances. It is important for you to consider these matters and read the Product Disclosure Statement.

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SAVE THE DATE Early Childhood Educators Day Wednesday, 2 September 2015

The Importance of Creative Play Pam Maclean > Child’s Play Consultancy

Creative play in the early years involves far more than “messing about with paint and paper.”

Creative play happens when children make decisions about how they play and the materials used, rather than doing so at adult direction.

This largely unstructured, selfdirected play encourages mental development and allows a child to practice management and expression of emotions. It offers different experiences and challenges for children to navigate, utilising an infinite range of materials. The play based learning programs we offer under the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) lend themselves to creative play.

The educator’s role is to facilitate learning through provision of materials and choices based on knowledge of each child’s interests, ability and need for challenge. Adding loose parts play to the program provides another layer of opportunity for children to demonstrate they have agency and to practice creative skills required for later success.

Research shows that children exposed to a variety of creative materials are more likely to be open minded and contribute to advances in technical, artistic and social areas as they are able to “think outside the box.”

Skills acquired in creative programs enhance concentration, problem solving, maths and scientific analysis, collaboration, cultural understanding, vocabulary, decision making and hand eye co-ordination. Finger strength is promoted, enabling children to confidently direct a pencil, pen and other necessary tools for learning and work. They also learn to persist when difficulties are encountered and to categorise, measure and experiment with confidence.

The creative process in early childhood programs allows children to practice sharing ideas and feelings in a safe, supportive environment. Children experience success, satisfaction and gain confidence in their own abilities to express themselves and manage challenges.

Creative play promotes fun, encourages the use of imagination and helps children become confident, competent learners. Skilful educators intentionally guide everyday play towards adventures in learning. It’s work . . . and it’s fun!

Why not encourage families to be creative at home? It only takes a nook and table, inspirational books, perhaps a few images to examine and discuss, and some basic stationery items.

Explain how families might use a ‘creativity box’ containing recyclables.

Suggest they share any created marvels with your centre. Build strong relationships with families and community members as you share in the sourcing and use of creative materials and recyclables.

If you have a surfeit of raw materials in your store rooms, you could share these with your families. Just imagine the range of amazing repurposed items arriving back at your service.

Children will gain confidence and increase their ability to explain their ideas and thinking processes through “show, explain and discuss” sessions – potentially far more interesting than many of the usual show and tell items.

Successful creative programs allow time for the creative process – don’t rush imagination. Guide children through the process by open ended questioning, not by giving answers.

Children may need to leave their work and return, at a later time or date, to complete the project. Sometimes time is needed to mull over a problem or think about a different way to achieve what the mind imagines. Allowing time for this process will enhance the outcomes achieved. We live in an increasingly visual world and children learn more from graphic sources than ever before.

Be prepared for a little or a lot of mess. “Creative genius isn’t always tidy”. Celebrate and display the resultant work together. Priceless!

Creative thinking and play based learning are vital to children’s future success. As well-known anthropologist Margaret Mead says, “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”

Enjoy being creative with children and help them to develop and increase their understanding of the world and their place in it. Who knows where your creative program may lead them? www.childsplayconsultancy.com.au

EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015

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How you can be getting REDDY for Red Nose Day 2015 SIDS & KIDS

SIX WAYS TO SLEEP SAFELY SIDS and Kids’ Safe Sleeping guidelines are straight forward and easy to understand: Six ways to sleep baby safely and reduce the risk of sudden and unexpected death in infancy 1. Sleep baby on the back from birth, not on the tummy or side

Red Nose Day – this year on Friday 26 June – gives Australians the opportunity to show their support for SIDS and Kids, the Australian charity that provides vital safe sleeping education to expectant mothers, their families and healthcare professionals all around Australia, as well as providing crucial bereavement support to those affected by the death of a baby, and has contributed more than $16.5 million to research into causes of infant and child death.

This Red Nose Day SIDS and Kids would like to reiterate to parents the ‘Sleep Safe, My Baby’ guidelines to reduce the risk of sudden and unexpected infant death.

“When you’re a new parent, there’s often information overload and trying to process everything whilst feeling exhausted can be daunting. We believe it is important for parents to be provided with clear information to help guide the infant care practices they use,” says SIDS and Kids Australia CEO Associate Professor Leanne Raven.

Providing a safe sleeping environment night and day is often an area which causes confusion to new parents, with many products still available that are not recommended.

SIDS and Kids guidelines are:

2. Sleep baby with head and face uncovered

1. Safe Sleeping environment night and day

3. Keep baby smoke free before birth and after

2. Choose a safe cot which meets Australian Standard AS2172

4. Provide a safe sleeping environment night and day

3. Ensure a safe mattress which is firm, clean, flat and right size for cot

5. Sleep baby in their own safe sleeping place in the same room as an adult care-giver for the first six to twelve months

4. Tuck blankets in firmly or use a safe baby sleeping bag

6. Breastfeed baby

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Each year more than 3,500 Australian families still experience the unexpected death of a baby or child from a range of causes including fatal sleeping accidents, drowning, motor vehicle accidents, sudden onset illness, stillbirth and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015

5. Do not use a pillow, cot bumper, lamb’s wool, soft toy or doona in the cot day or night

This year Red Nose Day is providing the opportunity for childcare centres and kinders across Australia to get behind Red Nose Day by hosting their own event, through the introduction of the Little Rockers Red Nose Disco. A first of its kind, this fundraising event encourages childcare centres across the country to not only put on their dancing shoes, but their red noses as well and host their own discos event within their centre on Red Nose Day. The event will run from 10 – 11am AEST (or 2.30 – 3.30pm AEST) with Little Rockers Radio providing childcare centres with a fun-filled hour of children’s dance music for the little red nosed rockers to dance their hearts out to in support of Red Nose Day. All centres need to do is visit www.rednoseday.com.au/child_care_centres/ and register their centre for the event. Centres will then receive an events pack including posters, merchandise, colouring competitions and Red Nose Day headbands.

Also new for 2015 is the introduction of a schools program that provides information for teachers to share with students on the cause behind Red Nose Day and importance of getting involved. It also includes fun educational activities where you can become a scientist for a day, a colouring competition and a Wiggles DVD. Schools are encouraged to fundraise by ordering Red Noses and wristbands to sell on the day, hold a cake stall, casual day or a teacher baby photo competition. Schools can sign up for the program online at www.rednoseday.com.au with hundreds of schools already registered in the first year.

During the month of June SIDS and Kids are encouraging Australians to get behind their cause by purchasing any Red Nose Day product, making a donation or by setting up your own Everyday Hero fundraising account.

This year’s Red Nose Day products include the introduction of a new jewellery range featuring a delicate necklace and bracelet, with a subtle and stylish red nose design. For the kids Red Nose Day is staying with their ongoing Australian theme and introducing new plush toys including a Galah (Billy), Rosella (Rosie) and Crocodile (Croc) who’ll join last year’s favourites koala (Kevin), kangaroo (Robby) and snake (Charlie) to complete the cute cuddly toy line up.

Red Noses and Red Nose Day products can be purchased either online at www.rednoseday.com.au or from Big W, Target, Spotlight, Anaconda, Terry White Chemists, Soul Pattinson, Pharmacist Advice, news press, and Nextra.

Summary of how you can support Red Nose Day: • Buy any Red Nose Day product • Donate via the website at www.rednoseday.com.au • Register your child care centre at www.rednoseday.com.au/child_ care_centres/ • Register your school at www.rednoseday.com.au • Set up an online fundraising page at www.everydayhero.com.au/event/rednoseday2015 For more information on Safe Sleeping, visit www.sidsandkids.org/safe-sleeping.

EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015

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Jobs for Families Childcare Package

Gwynn Bridge > ACA National President

As you would be aware, the Australian Government has now released the 2015-16 Budget.

Disappointingly there is no sign of any immediate relief for families facing the current affordability crisis of workforce participation and securing high quality education and care for their children.

The Productivity Commission Report was commissioned by the Government in 2013 to examine the affordability crisis that families had been experiencing for several years and still are struggling with today.

The freeze on Child Care Rebate (CCR) has already been in effect and hurting families for six years. By 2017-18 the Government will recognise the devaluation of Child Care Benefit (CCB) over eight years, but families are still expected to wait until 2017 to receive the proposed funding.

The measures announced in the budget are outlined below: National Partnership on Early Childhood Education

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As previously announced the Australian Government will provide $843 million to extend payments to the states and territories for a further two years until December 2017 for the provision of Universal Access to kindergarten/preschool.

We are continuing to advocate for a more equitable approach to implementation of the agreement, as we have members in some states and territories that do not receive any Universal Access funding at all, despite them delivering preschool programs in a long day care setting, meeting all of the requirements in the National Partnership agreement.

National Partnership on the National Quality Agenda The Australian Government will provide $61.1 million over three years from 2015-16 to extend the National Partnership Agreement on the National Quality Agenda for Early

Childhood Education and Care.

Funding for this measure includes $57.2 million, which has already been provisioned for by the Government and an additional $3.8 million. The National Partnership Agreement will support the delivery of an integrated and unified national regulatory system for child care. As you are aware, ACA lodged a detailed submission in response to the Regulation Impact Statement on the National Quality Framework last year, where we recommended a number of sensible changes that would see a more streamlined and nationally consistent approach. Government’s response to sector feedback has not yet been announced, but we are continuing to work hard on this issue.

Child Care Subsidy (CCS) The Government will provide an additional $3.2 billion over five years from 2014-15 to support families with

flexible, accessible and affordable child care so they can move into work, stay in work, train, study or undertake other recognised activities.

A new single Child Care Subsidy (CCS) will be introduced on 1 July 2017.

Families meeting the activity test with annual incomes up to $60,000 (2013-14 dollars) will be eligible for a subsidy of 85 per cent of the actual fee paid, up to an hourly fee cap.

The subsidy will taper to 50 per cent for eligible families with annual incomes of $165,000. The CCS will have no annual cap for families with annual incomes below $180,000.

For families with annual incomes of $180,000 and above, the CCS will be capped at $10,000 per child per year. The income threshold for the maximum subsidy will be indexed by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) with other income thresholds aligned accordingly. Eligibility will be linked to a new activity test to better align receipt of the subsidy with hours of work, study or other recognised activities. (Government’s words) The hourly fee cap in 2017-18 will be set at $11.55 for long day care, $10.70 for family day care, and $10.10 for outside school hours care. The hourly fee caps will be indexed by CPI. Additional support will be provided to eligible families through the Child Care Safety Net. Eligibility will be strengthened to more closely align with work, training or study undertaken.

Child Care Safety Net will provide $869 million over the next four years to better support education and development outcomes for genuinely disadvantaged families and children.

We have sought clarification on a number of these measures and are working hard to ensure your concerns are understood and addressed over the coming weeks.

Home Based Carer Subsidy Programme A new Interim Home Based Carer Subsidy Programme will subsidise care provided by a nanny in a child’s home from 1 January 2016. The pilot programme (two years) will extend fee assistance to the parents of approximately 10,000 children (4000 nannies). Families selected to participate will be those who are having difficulty accessing child care with sufficient flexibility. Support for families will be based on the CCS parameters, but with a fee cap of $7.00 per hour per child.

The CCS will replace the current child care fee assistance provided by the Child Care Benefit, Child Care Rebate and the Jobs, Education and Training Child Care Fee Assistance payments which will cease on 30 June 2017.

Further information on the Interim Based Carer Subsidy Program can be found in the press release of 28th April, 2015 issued by the Minister for Social Services.

Note; in 2017-18 the family income thresholds will be $65,710 (maximum

subsidy) and $185,710 (minimum subsidy) and $185,710 (application of the annual cap of $10,000).

The annual cap will be indexed by CPI from 1 July 2018.

Child Care Safety Net The Australian Government will provide additional funding of $327.7 million over four years from 201516 to provide targeted support to disadvantaged or vulnerable families to address barriers to accessing child care. The assistance will be provided through the Child Care Safety Net, which consists of three programs: • Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) • a new Inclusion Support Programme (ISP), and • Community Child Care Fund (CCCF).

The ACCS will provide additional assistance to supplement the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) for eligible disadvantaged or vulnerable families.

The new ISP will assist families with children with additional needs to access child care. The ISP will provide more funding for services to get the necessary skilled staff and equipment to support children with special needs.

Actual subsidy amounts for the ISS worker have not yet been revealed.

The CCCF will provide grants to child care services to improve access to child care in disadvantaged communities, increase the supply of child care places in areas of high

EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015

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Jobs for Families Childcare Package (cont) demand and low availability, and improve affordability for low income families in areas where the average fees are greater than the CCS fee cap.

end-of-year supplement unless their child is up-to-date with all childhood immunisations. Exemptions will only apply for medical reasons.

These measures will complement provision in the CCS to provide 24 hours per fortnight subsidised access for families on incomes below the income threshold for the maximum subsidy ($60,000 per annum in 2013-14 dollars) who do not meet the activity test.

Small Business Tax Concessions

The Child Care Safety Net and provision for base funding within the CCS will replace the existing Inclusion and Professional Support Programme which will cease on 30 June 2016, and the Community Support Programme and Budget Based Funding Program which will cease on 30 June 2017.

We will provide you with important details on these initiatives as soon as they are released, as we know that many of you have children at your service that would fall into this programme.

No Jab No Pay The Australian Government will ensure that children fully meet immunisation requirements before their families can access certain Government payments, which will result in a saving of $508.3 million over five years.

From 1 January 2016, families will no longer be eligible for subsidised child care or the Family Tax Benefit Part A

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The Australian Government has announced the following tax measure for small businesses (that is, turnover of less than $2 million per annum): 1.5 per cent tax reduction (new tax rate will be 28.5 per cent down from 30 per cent). This will apply from 1 July 2015. The ability to write-off assets valued up to $20,000 (increase in the threshold from $1,000) effective immediately. This $20,000 applies to each individual item. Small businesses can apply this $20,000 rule to as many individual items as they wish.

The government will reduce red tape within the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) system by expanding the FBT exemption for work related portable electronic devices. This will help small business employees stay connected to the digital economy. Small business will also benefit from Capital Gains Tax rollover relief when changing their legal structures but keeping the same owners.

Unincorporated small businesses The Australian Government will provide five per cent tax discount to unincorporated businesses with annual turnover less than $2 million from 1 July 2015. The discount will be

capped at $1,000 per individual in an income year and it will be delivered as a tax credit in their tax return.

The Treasury has also indicated in Budget Paper 3.20 it expects Child Care Rebate and Child Care Benefit payments to decrease by $135 million in 2015-16 ($552 million over the four years to 2017-18), largely reflecting lower than expected utilisation of demand driven child care services, both in terms of number of children in child care and hours claimed, following a period of several years of continual upwards variations due to higher than expected growth. From 1 July 2017, the Child Care Rebate and Child Care Benefit will be replaced by the new Child Care Subsidy.

ACA believes that this is evidence that the Australian Government is well aware of the current position of affordability for families and the difficulty they are experiencing maintaining their workforce participation. Our recent member survey revealed average occupancy levels across Australia at 76 per cent.

ACA will be discussing this particular statement with members of Parliament at our day of advocacy in June and will continue our claim that a planning model be reintroduced.

We will keep you updated.

KASS Webinar Series Date

Topic

Thursday, 25 June 6:00 - 7:00 pm

Inviting Play Spaces

Thursday, 30 July 6:00 - 7:00 pm

Hands on creative play to enhance literacy and numeracy learning

Thursday, 27 August 6:00 - 7:00 pm

Loose Parts Play

Thursday, 17 September 6:00 - 7:00 pm

Developing social/emotional resilience in children

Presenter Justine Walsh and Nicole Bourke Journey into Play Gwen Raynor Butterfly Wings Early Years Consultancy Marion Hayes Early Childhood Teacher Presenter TBA Pathways to Resilience Trust

You can view past webinars on the KASS website. Past webinar topics include: • Strategies for managing daily routines in kindergarten: Tips on how to tackle the Top 4 most challenging routines • The Documentation Dilemma – Too little, Too much!

• Maintaining play-based learning in kindergarten

Need more Kindy support?

Call 1300 4 KINDY or email info@kass.net.au

Proudly funded and supported by the Queensland and Commonwealth Governments

www.kass.net.au/webinars

Educator in profile

Alicia Sturges is the kindergarten teacher at Charters Towers Childcare Centre and the network leader of Charters Towers Early Years Network. Alicia talks about falling in love with play-based learning and the challenges of teaching in a small remote community.

What inspired you to forge a career in early childhood education and care?

After leaving school in year 11 and entering an apprenticeship in cooking, I knew quite quickly that it was not the lifetime career I wanted. I felt the need to make a difference in people’s lives. I had discussed my discontent with my fiancé and spoken of my ideal career path as a teacher. One day I opened the mail and found a package from a university filled with information about studying a Bachelor of Education, my fiancé had secretly sent it for me. From that point on, I knew I was going to become a teacher and opted to major in Early Childhood Education as I knew of the importance of those formative years. I just assumed when I completed my degree I would become a teacher in schools, however it was during my practicals in childcare services that I fell in love

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with play-based programs and the flexibility these programs offered to the children and educators.

experiences. I work hard at bringing the families and community together to benefit the education of the child.

Why are you passionate about early childhood? How would you describe your early childhood philosophy?

What do you find is the most enjoyable and rewarding, working in the early childhood sector?

I believe early childhood education is the foundation of a child’s future education. If we don’t lay that foundation right, the rest will be more difficult to build on.

Watching the awe as a child discovers something, and the excitement of sharing their knowledge with their peers. Nothing beats watching that amazement on a child’s face and the pure enjoyment of the moment.

The service in which I work has recently taken on a Reggio Inspired philosophy which fits in well with my own philosophy of child initiated, playbased enquiry. I offer a variety of open ended materials and activities and allow the child to explore and learn at their own pace. I often adapt the environment to extend the interests of the child and scaffold their learning through their own knowledge and

What is your biggest challenge as an educator? What strategies do you put in place to manage these challenges?

Time! Finding a balance between work and family life would be my biggest hurdle. I am a mum to three boys under eight, I find it hard to switch off from work as everywhere I look I see opportunities for my Kindy program. I

think we can all relate in needing more hours in the day for paperwork!

Another challenge in a small remote community has been the availability of Professional Development. Most of the opportunities require a three hour round trip to Townsville, which is not always practical for work or family commitments. Last year Linda McConville from Kindergarten Advisory Support Service (KASS) facilitated the start-up of our Early Childhood Teacher (ECT) Network which I am leading and we are working hard on bringing more PD opportunities to our community. So far this year we have been successful in providing a Teacher Talk PD delivered by our local Speech Pathologists, and at our next meeting we have a presentation from Vicky McCaffrey from Transitions and Partnerships Office.

How has the challenges you face helped you to grow as an early childhood educator?

As much as I complain about not having enough time to do everything, I love doing it! I know deep down I don’t switch off because I love finding new things for my students to do and new ideas to bring back to our educator team. My constant thirst

for knowledge helps me grow as an early childhood educator because I am always researching new trains of thoughts, or different ways of doing things.

What is the most important skill you hope to develop in the children you care for?

I hope to encourage children to become inquisitive thinkers that enjoy learning, and know how to research and find answers to their questions. I am certainly not the teacher that will ensure a family that their child will be counting to 50 and know their ABC backwards. Rather their child will have the skills to adapt to the schooling system and be able to flourish within.

What role do families play within the program you deliver? How do you engage them?

I am open in my communication with families and value their input into the program in any way they can. I post photographs and updates on social media and take note of their comments and suggestions, as well as keep them updated through quarterly newsletters. I make sure my families know that they are welcome in the room at any time during the day and their contributions, no matter how

small they may seem, are invaluable to the children and the program.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Doing the same thing! I hope to be a little bit like Bev Bos‌ being in the same place for many years and eventually teaching my current Kindergarten children’s children!

What advice would you give to someone wishing to start a career in early childhood education and care?

It is definitely not a career to take on if you are only in it for a pay cheque. To do well in this career and do justice to those children in your care, you need to have a passion for children and their care and education.

It is a tough job that not only pulls at the heart strings but takes its toll physically and mentally as well.

However, it is also one of the most rewarding careers you could imagine.

One smile from a child can make everything else seem insignificant.

If you want your outstanding educator featured in our next magazine, contact us on 07 3808 2366 or send an email to qld@childcarealliance.org.au.

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Environmental Awareness & Sustainability in Childcare The Natura Education Team

Sustainability and environmental awareness are big talking points in the childcare sector at the moment. Since the implementation of the National Quality Framework (NQF), many services are finding themselves torn between trying to grasp these, sometimes new, concepts and trying to implement the right changes in order to make their service ‘sustainable’.

In reality, the big question on everyone’s mind is “What is sustainability?” and “How on earth do we implement this as part of our service?”

We are privileged to be working with children of all ages who are so very open to the concept of connecting to the environment around them and how to change the way we do things in order to sustain it. We started to consider how we could help and support early childhood educators to start loving sustainability instead of feeling panicked about squeezing it into an already complex set of requirements.

The best part is that children are so easily inspired, and the natural world is simply brimming with opportunities to do just that, all we need to do is go outside!

Of course there are many little things that can improve the sustainability of your service, such as energy efficient light bulbs, using less paper and purchasing environmentally friendly cleaning products, but the power to change ultimately lies with lighting a spark in the minds of the children.

A dedicated and passionate educator can create opportunities that will inspire the children in their care to think, act and play in a way that embraces a sustainable lifestyle, and have fun while they do it! It may seem like a big ask but the reality is quite simple, and we would like to give you some ideas you can easily do and with minimal budget to get you started.

Let’s start small with...

• Creating a herb garden. Children love to watch things grow and they can touch, smell and even taste these!

• Introducing recycling bins and encouraging the children to use them daily and discuss what they are about.

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• Going for a ‘discovery’ walk outside. Take magnifying glasses and encourage the children to look for treasures and things of beauty.

• Introducing natural materials such as river stones, driftwood and seed pods into the rooms as resources for the children’s free play. The children will astound you with what they create!

Then maybe we can work towards some bigger ideas like...

• Introducing a compost or worm farm. The children can become custodians of their small recycling friends and ensure their food scraps help to feed them rather than be wasted.

• Having a litter less lunch week with lots of discussion explaining why this is important and providing information for the parents.

• Taking the children out to the local park and plan activities that will trigger their senses such as a treasure hunt (for natural treasures of course!) that encourages them to find items that look, smell, feel or sound a particular way.

• Inviting an incursion or wildlife show to visit your service to help inspire the children and educators to start the ball rolling with environmental awareness.

• Holding “Water Week” where the focus is on: What water is used for at our service? How much are we using each day? How can we use less? What creatures and habitats need water to survive?

And of course, never be afraid to think big with things like...

• Creating a vegetable garden and dedicating days where the children create a ‘feast’ that has come solely from their garden.

• Working together with the children to create a ‘habitat’. This can be as small as a rock garden, through to a pond habitat, a secret garden of native flowering shrubs to attract birdlife or even a mini rainforest.

• Visiting a local forest or creek.

Again, the opportunities to explore and experience the wonders of the natural world will be all around, and each child will see or experience something different that will be valuable to all as they share it with the group.

Finally, as an educator, and a human being, take the time to stop and look around you at the wonders that surround us all. By you being inspired, it will in turn inspire the children.

Once you spark an idea the children will amaze you by taking it miles ahead of what you ever imagined possible.

We truly hope that some of these things have helped to inspire you and your team. We love seeing the amazing work and ideas that the people in the childcare industry are coming up with. If you have implemented some sustainability practices at your service we would love to hear what you are doing!

Maybe you can share it on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ NaturaEducation).

With all of these ideas, and the many more you will come up with yourself, the children in your care will, over time, shift their thought patterns and behaviour to embrace sustainability and a love of the natural environment as part of their daily lives.

How lucky are the children in this and future generations to be encouraged to focus on sustaining our environment? After all, isn’t that what we should all be trying to achieve? www.natura-pacific.com

Publishing images of children online Claudette Cabilan > ACA Qld

Does your service have a code of practice in regards to posting images of children online?

Quality Area 2, Standard 2.3 of the National Quality Standard states that “the service ensures that all aspects of children’s safety are protected”.

Facebook, blogs and e-newsletters have become common communication tools for many services. Facebook, especially, has become an important platform for services to communicate to parents what their children have been learning and doing throughout the day.

These online communication tools are undoubtedly excellent and effective, but we have to be diligent in what we post online. There are laws and classification regulations that we need to be aware of and consider when posting images of children online: • Privacy law – Be aware of the Commonwealth privacy laws relevant to the unauthorised production and publication of a person’s image through the Privacy

Act 1988. These laws regulate the publication of personal information that conveys the identity of a person or allows their identity to be determined.

• Obtaining consent - Before we take or post any photos of children online, we have to gain the consent of the child and their parents or guardian. Have a consent form available at your service for a parent or guardian to sign. The form needs to explain the reasons for taking and posting the image and how the image will be used.

• Child protection legislation – Be aware of the laws that protect the children and young people involved in child protection, family court, or criminal proceedings as victims or offenders.

• Classification of images - Images of children can sometimes depict them in an inappropriate manner or in a context that can constitute images of abuse. Through Commonwealth, state and territory legislation, it is illegal to produce, distribute, possess or view these kinds of images in Australia.

A number of industries and organisations have produced their own codes of conduct in relation to producing and posting images of children online. The following practices have been adapted by the Australian Institute of Families Studies from the Australian Sports Commission’s best practice guidelines for obtaining and displaying images of children (Australian Sports Commission, 2007).

Best practice guidelines for taking and posting photos of children • Develop and clearly display the organisation’s policy on obtaining and publishing images of children, including what is considered appropriate behaviour when obtaining photographs using a camera, mobile phone or video.

• Obtain permission from the parent or guardian and clearly outline the purpose of using the image, how it is going to be used and for how long. If the image is going to be taken in a venue away from the organisation’s usual venue, make sure the parents or guardian agree to be present.

• Inform parents if the organisation wants to film children or the group for analysis purposes and to improve performances.

• Make sure professional photographers are aware that

any images taken will remain the property of the organisation and cannot be used or sold for other purposes. Any negatives must also be destroyed or handed over to the organisation.

• Do not allow photographers to be unsupervised or with individual access to children.

• There should be no identifying personal information accompanying photographs, such as the child’s name, address or telephone number.

Group photographs reduce the risk of identifying individual children.

• Only use images of children that are relevant to the organisation’s activities and services, such as children participating in an activity specifically associated with that organisation. Particular care needs to be taken when using images

of children for an organisation’s activities that involve minimal clothing, such as swimming groups or gymnastics clubs.

• Do not display information about children’s hobbies, likes or dislikes, school, etc. because these can be used as grooming tools for paedophiles or other persons.

• Decide who will have access to view the images of the children posted to a website. Most websites are public places that any person can access; however, some websites can be more secure by using private pages accessible only to registered members. The practice of using private pages enables members of groups, clubs or other organisations to share information with each other more securely.

A Resource Sheet from the Australian Institute of Families Studies provides more information about safety and good practice when images of children and young people are displayed online. Visit www3.aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/images-children-and-young-people-online to access the resource sheet. This article has been adapted from a Resource Sheet published by the Australian Institute of Families Studies.

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1300 365 899

childcaresuper.com.au

Early Learning Languages Australia trial commences at Goomboorian Playalong Activity Centre Jo Davison and Anna Doyle > Goomboorian Playalong Activity Centre

The Early Learning Languages Australia (ELLA) trial is funded by the Australian Government and was put in place to determine the effectiveness of providing preschool children with early exposure to a language other than English through online learning programs. The trial will assist the Australian Government to determine what approaches are most cost-effective and able to be rolled out to more students in the future. Goomboorian Playalong Activity Centre was one of the 41 services chosen to participate in the program.

Granted an Exceeding National Quality Rating, our team of educators at Goomboorian Playalong Activity Centre is delighted to be chosen to participate in the ELLA trial from 1118 applicants across Australia.

We were extremely happy to be one of the lucky services chosen to take part in the trial which commenced in Term One in 2015.

We were open to the five languages offered which were Arabic, French, Indonesian, Japanese and Mandarin.

Our assigned language for the trial is French.

Our Early Childhood Teacher, delivering our Government approved kindergarten program and one of our educators attended training for the ELLA trial in Melbourne during the month of February this year. During this workshop, they acquired relevant training and information covering the delivery, style and aims of the program as a whole.

Since then, our educators have taken particular interest in understanding the benefits of teaching young children a second language. We have acquired information through independent research which highlights the main benefits of adding this to our existing curriculum. Some of the main benefits include broadening a child’s view of the world, giving children an awareness that they can speak, read, write, listen and think in another way, that children may produce more

advanced reading skills, have greater confidence and will keep building cultural connections.

Research also shows that learning a new language develops children’s overall literacy, strengthening literacy-related capabilities that are transferable across learning areas.

Our educators’ own personal goals in delivering this program to the children attending our service are for the children to become aware and appreciate other cultures and ways of communicating, that children develop an appreciation of French icons and traditions, for children to be able to gain exposure to digital learning and be able to use media in a supportive and co-operative environment. Our long term goal is for children to develop a life-time appreciation and desire to learn a second if not a third language.

The ELLA program is delivered to the children in a fun and interactive way with the use of iPads specially provided by ELLA, with the support and guidance of their educators to monitor their progress and to offer and encourage extensions of their learning experiences.

background. Through play based learning, children will be introduced to words, sentences and songs in French, and will be provided age appropriate experiences to practice the language.

So far, the children involved in the language trial have responded extremely well to the introduction of the program and our educators have been delighted to see their advances in speaking a little French and their extended knowledge and interest in other countries and different ways of communicating.

We are looking forward to seeing how well the children advance in all areas of development due to the ELLA trial.

We are interested to see how this trial will impact the children who use the service.

Our plans for the future after the 12 month trial concludes, is to keep offering language opportunities to the children and their families as part of our everyday curriculum delivery.

The specialised ELLA apps will give children the opportunity to develop recognition of the different sounds and concepts of language other than English or their native tongue as we also have children in the service who come from a non-English speaking EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015 23

Are you being driven crazy by constant whining?

Meg Parkinson > Thrive Parenting

“ I want a drink. Pl-e-e-e-a-s-e, can I have a yoghurt?”

That high-pitched voice, the classic whine, is enough to drive the most patient parents and teachers to despair.

Why do children whine?

Why can’t they just calmly say, “Could I please have yoghurt?”

This is one of the most common questions I’ve heard from parents, teachers and educators over the years.

The answer is simply because it works. Whining causes us to respond.

Let’s face it, when a child asks nicely for something, it’s easy to say no. When they carry on whining no matter what you say, it’s a real challenge to resist giving in.

Whining is a typical child behaviour.

Whether or not it continues depends on your response.

It is particularly common among three-year-olds. Some parents and educators of three-year-olds say that it seems that their child has lost their real voice and simply whines all day long.

So, while you can relax and know there is nothing wrong with your child, you can still teach that this

is not the way to communicate effectively. If this doesn’t happen, whining can become a habit that is fallen back on for decades.

the child in a calm moment and explain that you are not going to give her what she wants if she uses a whining voice any more. Simply say:

Kids learn by copying adults. I know it seems that they ignore most of what you do and say, but in reality they are extremely alert.

“Emma, this is how you ask me if you would like me to give it to you. Could I please have the blue cup?”

Just remember that kids are learning how to use their tone of voice from you. Try to listen to yourself and practice talking about things that you are not happy with in your ‘normal voice’.

A very effective way to treat whining is to prevent it.

Kids do not handle being hungry or tired with any grace or dignity.

Whining is most often the result.

If they are hungry or tired, ignore their tone of voice and deal with the problem by offering food or settling them down for a sleep.

When you can’t prevent the whining you can model appropriate language and tone of voice. Have a chat with

Have her repeat her request and if she gets it right, respond. Be matter-offact in your response. Making too big a deal of her improved speaking voice will encourage her to whine first and improve later. Just say: “That’s right, here’s the cup.”

If the whining continues you could simply turn away and go back to your activity saying: “I’m sure you will remember to use your normal voice next time.”

The fact is, if whining stops working for your child, he or she will soon drop the habit and your peace of mind can be restored. www.thriveparenting.com.au

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Embedding Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Perspectives in Early Childhood Ian Green > Logan TAFE Community Child Care Centre

At my service, we have embarked on a journey to explore and learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and find ways to embed these cultures into our everyday lives.

Myself and another educator attended the EATSIPEC (Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives in Early Childhood) workshops last year and came back to the service full of enthusiasm and new ideas.

Our goal was, and still is, to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture into our programme in ways that are meaningful and not tokenistic.

26

EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015

We have started to build relationships with the local Aboriginal community through making connections with Aunty Robyn and Uncle Barry, who supplied us with lots of resources. We have the Australian, the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander flags hanging in our meal area on the patio.

The day we set them up, a Kindergarten child and his mum came in to Kindy and the mum proudly said

to her son, “That’s the Torres Strait Islander flag, that’s our flag son!” This was a very proud moment for her and her son and gave me one of those warm fuzzy feelings.

As we eat, we talk about the flags, the colours and their meanings. We also have an Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners on the front door of our service as well as in each of our rooms. While at the EATSIPEC workshops, a local Elder, Aunty Robyn, gave us the words to use for our Acknowledgement which makes it quite unique and very special to us.

Each room also has a set of small flags on display where the children can reach them. This way we feel that the children can look at, touch, interact with and discuss the meaning of the flags in an everyday kind of way.

We have two Yarning Circles - one outside and one inside the mat. The inside one is a weaved mat with beautiful Aboriginal artwork that depicts the Yarning Circle with little spots to sit on.

Each day as we sit in either of our Yarning Circles for our morning meeting, I always ask the children to show respect for the Aboriginal people who have lived on this land for a very long time before one of the children “reads” our child friendly Acknowledgement. I also ask the children to show respect for each other as we sit in the Yarning Circle by staying quiet while others speak.

We have made a “yarning stick” where whoever holds the stick speaks.

We made this by giving each child a paddle pop stick, asked them to decorate it how they like and we tied them together with a rubber band, which represents ownership by all.

Wooden stumps were donated to us and discussions between educators and the children prompted us to use them to create the outside Yarning Circle. The children rolled them down the backyard and helped to dig them into place to make seats. This gave the children a sense of ownership and respect for the new space.

On 9th of April 2014, the children and educators invited Aunty Robyn, Aunty Eileen and also EASTIPEC Principal Project Officer Nicole Watego-Gilsenan to acknowledge our Yarning Circle.

The ceremony began with the educators, Kindergarten and Junior Kindy children giving their daily Acknowledgement to the Aboriginal people and the land on which they live and play. Aunty Robyn then gave a Welcome to Country and officially acknowledged our Yarning Circle. She talked to us about the importance of respecting the land and praised the children for the respect they show each day to everyone’s cultural background including the Aboriginal

people. We learnt how to say hello in Yugembeh language - “jingerii”, and now use it every day when we greet our friends.

Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives has been of great benefit to the children, their families and the educators at our service.

The children have embraced the language and gained interest about Aboriginal culture and heritage. Some of the families have really opened up about their own background and proudly shared stories about their own heritage.

When all is said and done, embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into your daily lives begins with creating a relationship with the local Aboriginal community.

When embarking on this journey one must always show respect for the local Aboriginal people by consulting them about things you want to know and do. This way you can steer clear of becoming stereotypical and tokenistic and do some real learning for you, your families and the children.

For more information regarding the EATSIPEC workshops in your area go to http://goo.gl/S1hbhr

EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015 27

Associate Member Directory Company

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Brisbane

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Affinity Education Group

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07 5528 0633

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07 3327 1681

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Samantha Ahearn

Rothwell

07 3204 7767

www.giggletree.com.au

Guardian Early Learning Group

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07 3832 7933

www.guardianchildcare.com.au

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www.icmanagement.com.au

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www.kal.net.au

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Milton

07 3511 4079

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Ready Now Resources

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0410456607

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07 3632 1127

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EARLY EDITION > Winter 2015

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Jardine Architects

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Brisbane

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www.jardinearchitects.com.au

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Jeremy Festa

Albion

07 3262 8233

www.rochelepainting.com.au

The Natural Cleaner Company

Brian Connell

Yatala

0438 728 779

www.thenaturalcleaner.com.au

Sean Murphy

Morningside

1300 367 770

www.qikkids.com.au

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Cannon Hill

0414 559 997

www.physikids.com.au

Expect A Star

Robyn Lee

Brisbane

1300 669 653

www.expectastar.com.au

Randstad Education

Maeve Cawley

Brisbane

07 3337 5230

www.randstadeducation.com.au

Child Care Super

William Ly

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0418 199 279

www.childcaresuper.com.au

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Brisbane

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Milton

07 3238 1267

www.qiec.com.au

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Brisbane

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www.edex.com.au

Modern Teaching Aids

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02 9938 0411

www.teaching.com.au

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Wynnum

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www.absolutesupport.com.au

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Fortitude Valley

07 3257 1972

www.accco.com.au

Careers Australia

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Burleigh

07 5593 4386

www.ku.edu.au

College for Australian Early Childhood Educators

Kiera Field

Springwood

07 3299 5784

www.caece.com.au

Evocca Workplace Training

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Springwood

07 3827 5300

www.evoccawt.com.au

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Gold Coast

07 5581 8280

www.gcit.edu.au

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Doonan

07 5302 7730

www.mia.edu.au

GD Trivett & Associates Pty Ltd

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Fortitude Valley

07 3216 1011

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