Childcare insight november 2013

Childcare Insight Inside this issue: Message from Executive Officer Sustainability What do worms have to do with anything?

Skin cancer rates in WA remain high!

Christmas Ideas & Websites Love the Earth Improve the way cash flows through your childcare business!

Creating Engaging Learning Environments Reflective Practice Message from the Dept of Education

Some Amazing Facts

1 Million The number of apps on App Store. http://mashable.com/2013/10/22/apple-appstore-1-million/

1 Million The number of trees Nandi County, Kenya, plans to plant to increase forest cover.

Helping Early Learning Educators in leaps and bounds

Over 1 Million

http://allafrica.com/stories/201310231534.html

The number of children in Australian childcares.

1 Million

2014 Childcare Courses

http://www.politifact.com.au/truth-o-meter/ statements/2013/aug/11/kate-ellis/more-onemillion-children-child-care-who-thank/

Over $1 Million The cost for Madame Tussaud’s to create the One Direction wax figures. http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/ madame-tussauds-spent-4000-hours-11-millioncreating-one-direction-wax-figures/story-e6frfn09-1226745281918

The number of fake anti-anxiety pills seized at Zurich airport. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24585099

1 Million The number of parents, grandparents and caregivers the organization Kids First Aid want to teach, so they may save a child’s life. http://www.kidsfirstaid.com.au/blog/2013/10/ national-kids-first-aid-awareness-week/

Childcare Association of WA Inc News 1

Childcare Insight

Childcare Insight Second Edition 2013

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Issued by H.E.S.T. Australia Ltd ABN 66 006 818 695 AFSL No. 235249 Trustee of Health Employees Superannuation Trust Australia (HESTA) ABN 64 971 749 321.

Childcare Insight Contents Message from Executive Officer

4

Sustainability 5 What do worms have to do with anything?

6

Skin cancer rates in WA remain high!

7

Christmas Ideas & Websites

9

Childcare Association of WA Inc

Love the Earth

10

Improve the way cash flows through your childcare business!

13

Creating Engaging Learning Environments

14

Reflective Practice

15

Message from the Dept of Education

19

Helping Early Learning Educators in leaps and bounds

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Telephone: 1300 062 645

2014 Childcare Courses

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Web: www.childcarewa.com

Management Committee President: Lisa Godwin Vice President: Anne Chemello Secretary: Sarah Lovegrove Treasurer: Allan Mullet Committee: Frits Grader, Fadi Dorkhom, Karen Stackpole, David Lyons, Natalie Green Associate Committee: Coral Callan & Jennifer Kenyon

Executive Officer: Rachelle Tucker Location: Level 1/9 Bowman Street South Perth Mailing: PO Box 196 South Perth WA 6951

Email: info@childcarewa.com 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, Childcare Association of WA Inc accepts no responsibility for the contents of the advertisements.

Advertisements are accepted in good faith and liability for advertising content, goods or services supplied are the responsibility of the advertiser.

Childcare Association of WA Inc News - Childcare InsightSecond Edition 2013

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Message from the

Executive Officer Dear WA Services

2014 Workshops:

Hard to believe but another year has almost gone. It has been a year full of many challenges, with the EYQF & National Regulations & Law.

Maggie Dent: CAWA in partnership with CTAS will host two workshops with Maggie Dent in March; CAWA & CTAS members will be get first option to book at a much reduced price.

January 2014 is almost upon us and January 1st is when we will be faced with an issue that challenges us all, “Staffing”.

All services are required to have 50% Diploma Qualified & 50% Minimum Cert III along with an Early Childhood Teacher.

The introduction of the ECT and increase qualifications has many challenges; just to name a few:

Tuesday 18th March – Dare to Be Exceptional: For Early Years Professionals Wednesday 19th March - Real Kids in a Unreal World-Building resilience & Self Esteem in today’s children

• Increase in Fees due to higher staffing qualifications

Full day workshop for owners & frontline managers: Further details to be advised, potential topics; Assessment & Rating, Educational Program & Practice, Physical Environment & Sustainability, Leadership & Team Building along with a panel of ECRU for owners/managers to ask questions.

• Lack of suitably qualified staff applying for positions

See the website www.childcarewa.com for further details.

• Highly qualified staff feeling disillusioned with so much red tape & losing valuable time engaging with the children

CAWA Early Education & Care Awards: We once again will be looking at hosting the CAWA Awards in 2014.

• Rural & Remote services in particular are already struggling with meeting current staffing requirements

On behalf of the committee and our members we would like to say thank you and farewell to our retiring committee; President Evan Hicks & Committee Member Martin Lowell, who have given many years to the association thank you and all the best for the future.

• Not enough ECT’s to meet the demand

All services will also have to ensure that new staff be signed up to a minimum Cert III before commencing work. CAWA has been working hard with local Government to have an amendment to the regulations that will give services and potential staff a 3 month grace period before a new staff member has to be signed up. This is just one of many amendments we are working on and we need your voice to make them a reality.

It is very encouraging to see the current Government looking at addressing these issues that not only services are faced with but for the families that are finding it hard to meet the increasing costs of high quality care, due to increases in fees for services to meet the new requirements.

The CAWA committee continues to meet with the heads of ECRU bi-monthly to raise the concerns highlighted by members, such as the assessment & rating process and the many issues that have arisen from the fact that the regulations can be interpreted in a variety of different ways.

CAWA will continue to meet and address these issues until a mutual agreement can be reached.

We ask for your support through your membership renewal and we would strongly encourage services that are yet to become members to come on board, so that you receive the correct information to assist you with running your service.

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We would like to welcome our new committee for the 2013/2014 year: President: Lisa Godwin Vice President: Anne Chemello Secretary: Sarah Lovegrove Treasurer: Allan Mullet General Committee: Frits Grader, Karen Stackpole, Natalie Green, Fadi Dorkhom & David Lyons Associate Committee: Coral Callan & Jenni Kenyon I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas & Safe New Year, and I look forward to continuing to work with you and for you in the months ahead.

Kind regards

Rachelle Tucker

Executive Officer Childcare Association of WA Inc (CAWA) Contact details: Phone: 1300 062645 Mobile: 0433 498 147 Email: info@childcarewa.com Website: www.childcarewa.com

Sustainability

- written by Jenni Magenta Meerilinga Young Children’s Foundation Traditionally Child Care centres have been a place of vibrant primary colours, children’s artwork displayed on walls, lots of paper, mass produced child sized matching furniture and outdoor equipment, fake soft fall material outdoors and plastic, plastic, plastic!

Today’s buzz word is ‘Sustainability’.

But what does that exactly mean? I looked up one of the many definitions of Sustainability and found this one made sense to the new way of working in education and care services: Sustainability is the ability to be able to maintain something (e. g. life) at a specific level (e. g. quality) for a period of time. This definition seemed fitting for today’s education and care services and describes for us a reason to embed sustainable practices into everything we do.

Educators need to understand why they are asked to implement sustainable practices. Gone are the days where educators ‘followed’ what their service told them to do or what the standards told them they should be doing. Today the ownership is on each individual educator to have a greater understanding of the ‘what’ and the ‘why’.

centred lifestyle in the future. Concepts of recycling, water conservation, caring for the land and the animal life that dwell in it will instill in them a greater awareness of the impact humans have on all of our natural resources and develop a greater understanding and responsibility of the need to protect it.

If the service as a whole adopts sustainable practices this will be reflected in what we provide for the children and our conversations we have with children and their families.

Creating a culture of sustainability is every body’s responsibility.

To embed sustainability into our everyday work environment means that as educators we must believe it is an important issue and we must role model this practice in everything we do. Our conversations with children need to address sustainability. Our environment needs to demonstrate a love and respect of nature and natural resources; our philosophy needs to reflect our belief in protecting the planet; our policies and procedures need to guide us on the how and the why.

To ensure we all develop a culture of sustainable practice we must first reflect on our own values, beliefs and actions.

We must be the change we want to see.

As a team, look at what you are using every day in the workplace. Chemicals, water usage, recycling practices, natural elements, equipment, paper trails.

Sustainable practices should promote resource conservation (materials, energy, water), reduce our environmental impact both as people and as a business and acknowledge that the children we care for today, are tomorrow’s leaders and policy makers.

So is it enough just to have a vegie garden for the children to ‘play’ in? Or provide leaves and bark for the ‘nature collage’? Definitely not! Sustainability needs to be embedded in our programs and our practices.

Teaching children to understand and appreciate their world today will set them up to living a healthier and earth-

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What do worms have to do with anything? - written by Kiri Combi Worms aerate soils and break down dead organic matter in a process known as decomposition. Worms eat and pass organic matter, allowing bacteria and fungi to release nutrients. These nutrients then become available to living plants and for this reason are important in the process of growing food plants. They oxygenate soils and unlock vital nutrients for plant growth. Growing food plants is becoming more commonplace in early learning centres Australia-wide and this is reflective of the general movement towards sustainable practices worldwide. National Quality Laws which govern the Standards and Framework for Best Practices in Early Learning now make the embedding of sustainability mandatory. Out of necessity there now exists a drive towards educating Australia’s educators about sustainability. But what does sustainability look like? What is it comprised of? There are many correct answers to these questions but I think the best answers are those that incorporate Australia’s future adults – today’s children at the coalface of learning.

Yes, we can have solar panels installed and little signs near all the light switches and appliances reminding us to ‘switch off’ but none of these actions actually educate children in sustainability. Most often the children cannot reach or read these signs and switches. These solutions are a good place to start for adults but what if sustainability could reach beyond after market infrastructure and upgrades, extend beyond the realm of the adult and into classroom front lines and become an integral part of service philosophies? What I’m talking about is sustainability in action and in action on a daily basis with policy, practices and systems to support it in an ongoing capacity. Many educators struggle to implement sustainability in line with National Quality Standards, mainly because they don’t know how or where to begin. Macquarie University introduced a unit of study relating to sustainable practice only this year and there are not many resources relating to sustainability available. And what is out there in order to comply with NQS, is characteristically so broad that it is of very little practical value to the educator who is still her/ himself still trying to grasp the concepts of sustainability. And how can one teach what one does not yet have a grasp of?

EcoPreschools Backyard in a Box Series solves these dilemmas and was developed over a 10 year period in direct response to market demands to give children more exposure to the natural world and it has come into its own more recently with the introduction of the National Law. Backyard in a Box exists to assist educators to develop and implement programs to support sustainable practice and links to all 7 Quality Areas with primary areas of influence in the Assessment and Rating Standards 1 and 3, Educational Program and Practice and Physical Environment.

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Click here for a sample Worm Farm Learning Experience incorporating numeracy, fine motor skills lots more.

Worm Farming Series 1 How Many Worms?

WFC1: How Many Worms?

Learning Experience Code:

Learning Experience Name: How Many Worms?

WFC1

Group/Individual Goal: Children manipulate objects and experiment with cause and effect, trial and error using patterns they generate, and contribute to mathematical discussions and arguments.

Principles: (Please Circle) A: Secure, respectful & reciprocal relationships B: Partnerships with families C: High Expectations & Equity D: Respect for Diversity

Practice: (Please Circle) HA: Holistic Approaches RC: Responsiveness to Children LP: Learning through Play IT: Intentional Teaching LE: Learning Environments

Learning Environment: (Please Circle)

Contributor: (Please Circle)

OD: Outdoors

Family

Sensory

BC: Book Corner

Cultural Input

Exploration

Community

Manipulative

GM: Group Mat CA: Construction Area DP: Dramatic Play

WFC1: How Many Worms?

Type Of Play: (Please Circle)

Child Initiated

MC: Music DN: Dance

1

CC: Cultural Competence CP: Computer CT: Continuity of Learning Transitions AL: Assessment of Learning

TB: Tables KT: Kitchen

Learning Experience Description: Visit the Worm Farm. Discuss and predict the number of worms in the Worm Farm. Take a quantity out of the Worm Farm (ask each child to grab a small handful for example). Now, create groups of worms. Use the Maths Mat at the Classroom Resources section of this Box. General Resources

Question/Inquiry: Introduce concepts and language such as; add some, take away, how many altogether?

What happens when? What happens if?

Learning Outcomes: 1.2- Children develop their emerging autonomy, inter-dependence, resilience and sense of agency 1.4- Children learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect 2.4- Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment

Extension:

4.2- Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, enquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating 4.3- Children transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another 5.4- Children begin to understand how symbols and pattern systems work

Place worms here.

1. Make groups of worms on the mat and count their number. Create a large class wall graph with the Graph Chart Resources at the Classroom Resources section of this Box. Use this graph to introduce/ reinforce number concepts and symbols. Reinforce number work with School Readiness Flash Cards.

2. Put one worm in its own group, all alone. Discussion; where are all the other worms? What do you think the single worm feels like? Has this happened to us at school/ home? What do we feel like when this happens? What do you think the worms in the larger group of worms could/ should do? Discuss the idea of community, & inclusive play.

General Resources

020

0-20 Flash Cards

For a product demonstration visit: http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=qe6rZqJPB40 or watch our 4 minute Worm Farming clip and learn how to set up and maintain your own worm farm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeIKMMyaZ6kThere With 7 boxes to choose from including Resource Recycling, Worm Farming, Composting, Guinea Pigs, Chooks, Organic Gardening and Water Recycling we recommend you use our Parent and Staff Surveys to assist with Box selection and of course these will help you fulfill NQF obligations, which can be downloaded on our website: www.backyardinabox.com.au Please see below for the full list of inclusions:

To view out full product range visit: http://www. backyardinabox.com.au/#!shop/cs17 Special pricing for Association members of $250 a box, or if you buy the entire series (7 in total) its $1395 plus delivery.

Skin cancer rates in WA remain high!

Image courtesy of Queensland Health.

While skin cancer rates in WA remain high, the fact is most skin cancers can be prevented and the earlier we start the better.

We know that childhood sun exposure is one of the most significant risk factors for skin cancer later in life. We know that sun exposure in the first ten years of life can determine the potential for skin cancer later in life.

The skin of young children is thinner and more sensitive than that of an adult, and can burn easily. It’s also important to be aware that exposure to UV radiation accumulates over your lifetime.

That’s why it’s important that good sun protection behaviour is established in childhood, to protect young skin and to educate children about how to reduce their risk of skin cancer during their lifetime.

Early childhood environments are ideally placed to play a significant role in the protection of young children from sun exposure. Early childhood centres have a duty of care to minimise children’s exposure and to provide an environment that encourages sun protection behaviours.

The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority’s National Quality Standard requires all childcare services to have a sun protection policy.

Cancer Council Western Australia’s SunSmart Centres Program aims to minimise over exposure to UV radiation from the sun during early childhood development by assisting centres to develop sun protection policies and importantly, put them into action.

Joining the SunSmart Centres Program demonstrates a commitment to securing the future health and well-being of children and staff. SunSmart centres are easily identified by the special SunSmart sign. To find out more about becoming a SunSmart centre go to Cancer Council WA website www. cancerwa.asn.au/sunsmartcentres or phone Cancer Council Helpline on 13 11 20.

UV radiation from the sun is the cause of around 99% of nonmelanoma skin cancers and 95% of melanoma skin cancers in Australia. Being SunSmart is a simple and effective way of reducing exposure to the sun, and reducing the risk of skin cancer.

In Western Australia, the UV levels are high for most months of the year, so it’s important that you become familiar with the SunSmart UV Alert which tells you when you need be to SunSmart on any given day.

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Skin cancer rates in WA remain high! - continued It’s recommended that you use sun protection when the UV Index is 3 or above and when the levels reach 8 or above you should take extra care and stay out of the sun if possible. The alert will help you plan your outdoor activities at the safest times of the day.

Look for the SunSmart UV Alert info at www.myuv.com.au So, if you follow these tips and protect yourself and your children in five ways, you’ll go a long way to reducing your risk of skin cancer;

Seek shade • If outdoors, stay in the shade. Encourage children of all ages to play in shaded areas.

• Be aware that shade does not provide 100% protection. UV radiation can be reflected from some surfaces such as sand, concrete, water and grass.

Slide on sunglasses • Look for:

Slip on SunSmart clothing

o

• Use clothing rather than sunscreen to cover most of your skin.

o Wrap around styles that reduce UV entering from the sides.

• Choose closely woven fabrics and styles that are loose for airflow.

o

• Choose clothing that has a high ultraviolet protection factor (UPF). The higher the factor the better sun protection provided by the fabric. UPF 50+ is best.

• Note that sunglasses sold as ‘toys or fashion spectacles’ may not meet the Australian Standard.

Slop on sunscreen • Look for SPF 30+, broad spectrum, water resistant sunscreens with a valid expiry date.

• Apply sunscreen to clean, dry skin 20 minutes before going outside so that the sunscreen has time to adhere to the skin.

• Apply sunscreen by layering it on the skin rather than rubbing it in.

Slap on a SunSmart hat • Choose a hat that provides good shade to the face, back of the neck and ears when outdoors: o

A broad brimmed hat with a brim of at least 7.5cm

o

A bucket hat with a brim of at least 6cm

o A legionnaire hat, with a flap to cover the back of the neck • Baseball caps and sun visors are NOT recommended as they leave the ears and back of the neck exposed.

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Childcare Insight

Frames that fit close to the face.

Sunglasses that meet Australian standards. Sunglasses are available for children and babies.

Be a good role model • Demonstrate good sun protective behaviours and be a good role model for your children.

• Make sun protection part of your daily routine and help children to develop good sun protection habits early in life.

Christmas Ideas & Websites

We’re nearly at that time of year again (and how it’s flown!)

Below is a list of fabulous website containing reasonably cheap and easy ideas for Christmas decorations, cards, science experiments and more. There are also some websites to assist you when discussing Christmas celebrations in other cultures, addressing the EYLF outcomes 1.3, 2.1, 5.1, 5.3 and NQF Standards 1.1.

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/9f/cf/7b/9fcf7b85 eb0942a49de754cc41127eb.jpg http://www.craft-o-maniac.com/2012/11/15-fabulouschristmas-crafted-trees.html http://www.livingonalatte.com/search/label/Christmas http://www.athomewithali.net/2012/11/christmas-cards-withpaper-snowflakes.html

Crafty Ideas:

http://theimaginationtree.com/2012/12/10-sensory-bins-forchristmas-and.html

http://www.kidspot.com.au/Christmas/Christmas-craftsChristmas-paper-crafts-Christmas-shapes+1390+656+article. htm

http://raiseaboy.com/2012/12/photo-ornament/

http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com.au/2008/12/paperflower-ornaments.html

http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2012/12/more-santascience-kids-activities.html

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/12/09/2441767.htm

http://www.growingajeweledrose.com/2012/12/homemadetoys-for-kids.html

http://sayyestohoboken.com/2012/12/homemade-stamps.html

Christmas Celebrations in Other Cultures:

http://nasagreen.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/homemadechristmas-2-handprint.html

http://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/ http://www.the-north-pole.com/around/ ‘If we want children

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Love the Earth ‘If we want children to flourish, to become truly empowered, then let us allow them to love the Earth before we ask them to save it.’

David Sobel, Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education (1999).

• What can we do to be a sustainable centre or home?

• How can we integrate these actions in our day to day learning?

How do we, as educators, parents and community members, answer these questions?

It is not surprising that there is no single answer to these questions. We hope this article provides inspiration for those centres just beginning to revitalise their natural learning spaces for a sustainable future. We hope that the centres and homes that are leading the cultural shift to a sustainable future can gain insight into how their practices can be finely tuned to develop positive learning opportunities for their children.

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The term sustainability has no clear definition. The concept is founded on the idea that a way of life can be about living within the limits of the environment. The concept of a sustainable future is built around an equal balance between the economy, society and the environment. Within any educational setting this balance can be compared to how educators and parents balance explicit teaching and learning of skills, the fostering of creativity and allowing for children to learn through play.

Our focus is embedded within the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia: Belonging Being Becoming (EYLF) (DEEWR, 2009) and, in conjunction with the National Quality Standard 3: The Physical Environment, has become a central factor in providing quality care for our children. As defined in Standard 3.3 there must be an emphasis on the sector actively caring for its environment and encouraging practices that contribute to sustaining our future.

Love the Earth - continued A Recipe for change: Building towards a sustainable future is a global challenge. Never before has an issue been more influenced by the actions of individuals and groups. In essence, by embedding and promoting a sustainable future to the next generations we are building generational change.

Begin with your community: the educators, the children and the families must design the definition of sustainability suited to their context. By reviewing your centre philosophy to be inclusive of sustainability values, you will forge a new level of mutual respect with the core educational partnership of educator, children and families. By focusing your centre philosophy on environmental sustainability you will create real, effective and sustainable community connections.

Within the centre conduct an audit of the energy use of the centre. The display of electricity and water graphs from bills and set targets to reduce usage, involve families and ask them

to discuss their bills with children at home. A simple way to begin is to plan your natural and physical learning environments to be inclusive of recycling, reusing and buying renewable resources. At the most practical level, begin sorting material used in rooms with children, placing paper, recycling, rubbish in the correct bins. Eco-friendly cleaning products will make a positive impact on your local environment.

We all know the importance of visually appealing and engaging learning environments. Use high quality educational resources that will reinforce the whole centre approach to a sustainable future. Use books, games and posters to reinforce the topic and enhance children’s understanding. It is an easy change to make, but by buying toys and resources that are made from recycled and natural products you will be supporting organisations that have a similar philosophical focus as your centre.

The ability of this focus on sustainability to ignite children’s thinking is the most exciting feature.

A simple educator-led demonstration of how a yoghurt container can be reused and recycled will spark hundreds of imaginative ideas for the reuse and recycling of materials. If families should begin encouraging children to take up the recycling challenge, this will make sure the values of the centre are being reinforced at home.

Until sustainable practices are truly embedded in your day to day activities within the physical environment of the centre consider including a section on your plan/program where staff can note relevant sustainability/learning suggestions that occurred intentionally or were child/parent initiated.

Success will come when children spontaneously embrace sustainable practices within the early childhood setting and the home. A collaborative effort will not only embed these practices into our children but will aid in the facilitation of the Framework Philosophy of Belonging Being Becoming.

59315 See Through Compost Container; 387142 Essential Gardening Kit; 387159 Exploring Compost Kit; Educational Experience has published an entire issue of Engage focused on sustainability: http://tinyurl.com/lnlyq7l

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Love the Earth - continued There are many days and weeks throughout a year that could act as the perfect catalyst to initiating a change towards a sustainable future:

Recommended resources from the team at Educational Experience:

- Earth Day, April.

• 354811 Worm Habitat Junior;

- Schools Clean Up Day, March.

• 331009 Eco Games;

- Clean Up Australia Day, March.

• 328666 Let’s Recycle Pocket Chart;

- Keep Australia Beautiful Week, August.

• 390641 Go Green! Caring for our Earth! CD;

- World Water Week, September.

• 354811Worm Habitat Junior;

- World Animal Day, October.

• 387902 In the Bin Book;

- World Habitat Day, October.

• 387142 Essential Gardening Kit;

- National Recycling Week, November.

• 387159 Exploring Compost Kit;

• 387910 Worms the Mechanics of Organics;

• 359315 See Through Compost Container.

For further details please visit our website at: http://www. edex.com.au/

Meerilinga Training College 9489 4022 Regional 1800 200 702 education@meerilinga.org.au www.meerilinga.org.au

promoting professional excellence

Delivering Nationally Recognised Training in Early Childhood Education and Care Traineeships Recognition of Prior Learning Professional Development Customised Training

MYCF INC. ABN: 60 366 468 001

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Childcare Insight

Improve the way cash flows through your childcare business!

For many childcare centre owners, running a profitable enterprise that complies with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) has its challenges. Increased staff ratio standards means increased staffing costs for centre owners and dealing with the additional administration load of EYLF reporting takes time – and time costs money.

Anyone in business knows that cash is the lifeblood of that business. Put simply, you can’t pay your expenses if you don’t have money in the bank. But to remain competitive, you can’t simply hike up your charges and expect parents to happily pay the extra. The key lies with improving the way cash flows into your childcare business by receiving payments faster, automating parent payments (such as through direct debit) and using the right payment software. Let’s explore these three tips more deeply.

Making a simple adjustment to the standard payment terms that you place on your parent payments can have a dramatic effect on how cash flows through your childcare centre.

Consider tweaking your parents’ service contract so that automated payment terms (such as direct debit or BPAY) are the default and preferred option. This simple shift in payment terms will improve your cash flow, save time chasing up late parent payments and help to streamline your financial reporting.

Use the right payment software Our research tells us that, with the right payment software, childcare centres could reduce the time spent on payment administration and financial reporting by as much as 95 per cent.

ezidebit.com.au | Call 1300 763 256 | info@ezidebit.com.au

Receive payments faster

The amount of revenue your childcare centre generates in a month is obviously a significant contributor to your profits.

BUT, revenue isn’t everything. For example, how would you cope if you were to receive all of your revenue on the last day of the month? How would you pay your staff (and all the other expenses that pop up) every day of the month before you got paid? This is where the importance of a healthy cash flow becomes clear.

The most savvy childcare owners are already integrating parent payment software into their childcare management software to cut down on administration time, decrease administrative staffing costs and streamline their financial reporting through one single source of truth. You can do it too!

Want more time to focus on the important things?

Improve your cash flow and stay ahead of your competition

Enjoy all the benefits of Ezidebit’s complete childcare collection solution The most savvy business people are constantly looking for

You need cold hard cash to flow into your business every day that you operate. Without it, you may find yourself in the stressful and expensive position of needing to rely on a credit card to pay your expenses while you wait to get paid by parents.

And this is why it’s important to receive parent payments fast.

Rather than spending countless hours chasing late payments from parents (costing you time and money), the right automated solution such as direct debit or BPAY can offer you a fail-safe way to receive parent payments on the day that they’re due and practically eliminate your inbound cash flow problems overnight.

Automate parent payments What are the standard payment terms that you place on your parent payments? Are your administration team members left combing through a combination of cash, cheque, EFTPOS and credit card payments at the end of each week? How much more simple would it be to manage your childcare centre’s cash flow if the majority of your parents were to pay you by direct debit according to the time and frequency that works for you best?

ways to improve the way cash flows through their business.

It can mean the difference between being here today – and being Withhow a little bit of tweaking here and chasing It’sgone reallytomorrow. concerning much time can be spent there you can improve your childcare centre’s cash flow and late childcare fees. Especially when it’s time you could be reduce the cost of doing business so that you can stay ahead spending with the children. That’s why we’re here. of your competition.

Improves cash flow Reduces late payments Saves time Increases customer retention Comprehensive reporting Integrates with management software Can be set up to operate at no cost to your centre

ezidebit.com.au | Call 1300 763 256 | info@ezidebit.com.au ezidebit.com.au | Call 1300 763 256 | info@ezidebit.com.au

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Creating Engaging Learning Environments Early childhood educators are almost endlessly resourceful.

We recycle, reuse and reclaim whatever we can to make our work with children as interesting as possible. We can think of a thousand possible uses for the most mundane of objects and we are constantly on the lookout for those pieces of scrap that no one else wants but that we can see as the centrepiece of a child’s creation.

This resourcefulness is one of our greatest strengths.

Unless we are careful though it can lead us to discount the importance of good quality resources and a well organised learning environment. Sometimes, because we are so resourceful, we imagine that our ingenuity and creativity is all that we need. It’s true that beautiful furnishings, play equipment and toys are, by themselves, no guarantee of quality. Ultimately the quality of a service rests on the quality of the relationships, interactions and experiences that happen within it. Yet a well-resourced environment is the foundation for almost all quality early childhood programs because it supports and enables positive interactions and experiences to happen.

Without a basic level of resourcing it is harder to be an effective educator. Our physical environment either works for or against us. Without a well-organised and resourced play space we will find ourselves having to work harder to compensate. In all likelihood children will be less engaged, interest and enjoyment will be lacking and behavioural challenges will be greater. As educators we will spend more time policing behaviour and enforcing rules than we will engaging in supporting and enriching children’s learning.

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In contrast, a well-organised learning environment provides a rich mix of challenge and interest that helps to engage children in meaningful and extended learning. When children are deeply involved in play educators are better able to spend their time involved in genuine interactions and in supporting children’s learning. Skilled educators working with quality resources are better able to stimulate children’s thinking, curiosity and problem solving; they are better able to provide opportunities for children to discover and explore new interests; and, they are better able to take advantage of spontaneous opportunities to extend and enrich children’s learning. All of which leads to better outcomes for both children and educators – deeper and more meaningful learning for children and a more satisfying and rewarding experience for educators.

Ingenuity and resourcefulness coupled with the right resources are hard to beat. For the sake of children, and of ourselves as educators, we need to ensure that we have both and that we make sure to use them to their full effect.

Luke Touhill Early Childhood Consultant

Reflective Practice - written by Dr Brenda Abbey

Introduction

Evaluation:

Reflective Practice underpins the National Quality Standard (NQS). To meet the NQS requirement for continuous improvement, educators are required to reflect upon their practices as individuals, and as part of their room and service teams. They are also required to document that reflection.

However, many educators are still unsure what reflective practice really means and what it requires them to do.

• Assesses events and practices against set criteria

This article clarifies what is meant by reflective practice, why it is so important, and then suggests a system to meet these requirements.

What is reflective practice?

• Is objective • Is an important aspect of continuous improvement • May occur alone or with others.

When we reflect, we revisit a situation or event. We think about how it occurred, the context, and also how we felt about it. Educators document their reflections in a variety of ways such as Reflection Sheets and Reflection Diaries. This documentation provides some of the source material for reflective practice.

Reflective practice occurs when educators:

Reflection:

• Review their current practice and identify what they can do differently

• Revisits a situation or event, how it occurred and the context

• Question and develop their knowledge, philosophy and ethics to inform and enrich their decision-making about their practices, particularly education and care outcomes for children.

• Is objective and subjective

Simply, it involves asking ourselves questions about what we do, why we do it, how we do it, and how we can do it a different way that would result in better outcomes for children, families and the service.

Reflective practice means being: • Honest with ourselves about what we do • Open to different ways of working • Willing to change our ways.

Clarifying terms The terms evaluation, reflection and reflective practice are often used interchangeably by mistake. They are connected, but they have different meanings.

• Provides some of the source material for reflective practice • Is usually something we do alone.

Reflective practice involves reflecting on our current practice and the outcomes of that practice, and how we might change our practice for better outcomes. In other words, reflective practice goes one step further than reflection. It requires us to ‘think about our thinking’. We still examine our practice – objectively and subjectively, as we do with reflection – but we also look at what informs our practice and what action is required to improve this practice.

Reflective practice can lead to changes in knowledge and beliefs, as well as in practices. For example, we would examine our current nappy change practices and their outcomes for children together with the recommendations of recognised authorities. We would then use all of this information to help us to decide whether we need to make any changes to our practice.

When we evaluate, we assess events and daily occurrences and practices against objective criteria. For example, we might evaluate the way we change a toddler’s nappy against the service’s documented nappy change procedure. Our thoughts, feelings and philosophy are not relevant – only the facts about our practice.

. . . reflective practice goes one step further than reflection. It requires us to ‘think about our thinking’

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Reflective Practice - continued . . . services need to have a system in place to support regular reflective practice For example, Quality Area 1 – Educational program and practice only contains 19 questions, but we all know that we are expected to reflect on this area regularly.

In addition, 28 of these 168 reflective questions are relevant only to certain service types with particular age groups.

Ten questions relate to services with babies and toddlers, seven to those with school age children and eleven to Family Day Care services.

Reflective practice: • Involves reflecting on our current practice and the outcomes of that practice, and how we might improve our practice for better outcomes • Is objective and subjective • Can lead to change • Is usually undertaken with others.

To reflect effectively we need to consider: • What questions we will ask • When we will ask them • How often we will ask them • How and where we will document our thinking and responses.

The NQS is helpful here. It contains 168 reflective questions to guide our practices. The numbers of questions distributed across the seven quality areas are: • QA1 Educational program and practice – 19 • QA2 Children’s health and safety – 38 • QA3 Physical environment – 29 • QA4 Staffing arrangements – 16 • QA5 Relationships with children – 24 • QA6 Collaborative partnerships with families and communities – 26 • QA7 Leadership and service management – 16.

Not surprisingly, Quality Area 2 – Children’s health and safety is prioritised, with 38 reflective questions suggested to guide our practices. However, the number of questions is only one of the aspects to consider. We also need to consider the content and complexity of the questions.

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A widespread myth is that educators need to respond to all of the reflective questions as they are written in the NQS. This is not the case. We only need to demonstrate that we reflect upon our practices regularly, and that this reflection covers each of the seven quality areas. Many services develop their own questions that relate specifically to their setting, their way of operating or perhaps their philosophy. Because these questions address their specific concerns, they often better meet the NQS requirements for effective and meaningful reflective practice.

Systematic reflective practice One way to demonstrate that the educators in your service reflect upon their practices is to have a structured system of reflective practice in place to support them. Your system should be: • Simple • Inclusive • Regular • Documented.

Service leaders need to: • Communicate and direct educators to the relevant content of the NQS, Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and/or My Time, Our Place (MTOP) framework.

• Develop a list of reflective questions to cover each of the seven quality areas of the NQS. This list could be based upon the reflective questions suggested in the NQS and/ or consist of those developed to meet the specific needs of the service.

The list can be used as evidence of reflective practice if the date and method of reflection (i.e. individual, room team, service team) is recorded against the questions.

Reflective Practice - continued • Require educators to reflect upon their practices at least three times per week, and document that reflection in a Reflection Diary. Remember the reflection needs to be on a topic or issue rather than be a general statement such as “The day went well” or “We had a good day”. Over time, you also need to cover all quality areas and to record that you have done so on your list of questions.

• Maintain a Service Reflection Diary in which all educators are required to write a brief comment about an issue identified by the nominated supervisor. An A3 folder works well. An example of an identified issue might be: “How do we help all families feel comfortable and welcome in our service?” The nominated supervisor may have chosen this question in response to an incident that has occurred or has been raised by an individual educator. The book or folder could be located near the staff sign-in area or in the staff room.

• Include reflective practice on the agenda for the monthly team meeting. This will ensure that time allocated to whole-of-service reflective practice is properly documented in Team Meeting Minutes.

Why is reflective practice so important?

Apart from the obvious – that we are required to do so to meet the NQS – reflective practice is important because it results in thoughtful decisions that are in the best interests of children and families. Without reflection, it is more than likely we will continue to use the same practices in the same way that we always have, and we lose the opportunity for improvement and better outcomes.

work with children, their families, our colleagues and the community.

As stated earlier, the requirements for reflective practice are set out in the NQS. This document tells us what we have to do, but not how to do it. However, the NQS acknowledges us as educators with a professional responsibility to: • Reflect on individual educator, team and whole-of-service questions across all quality areas.

• Undertake this reflection as a matter of course, and not wait until being told to do so.

• Accept that reflective practice adds to our underpinning knowledge about what we do and why.

Summary The NQS requirement for reflective practice as a means of continuous improvement can only be met if educators understand what reflective practice is and what it involves. In addition, services need to have a system in place to support regular reflective practice – and its documentation – by individual educators, teams and the whole service. In this way, educators will continue to improve their knowledge, skills and practices to facilitate the best outcomes for children, families and the service.

Dr Brenda Abbey www.childcarebydesign.com.au is an early education and care consultant with expertise in the NQS, EYLF and MTOP. She develops NQS Profiles of services, conducts workshops and produces EYLF and MTOP resources. Contact Brenda via her mobile 0419 661 or email info@childcarebydesign.com.au. This article is based on the DVD Reflective Practice (Abbey and MacLean, 2013).

In addition to our individual reflection, we need to reflect with the other members of our room and service upon our shared knowledge, skills and practices. Further, we need to reflect upon how well each team meets the requirements of the NQS and the learning frameworks, namely EYLF and MTOP, and the relevant state or territory kindergarten learning guidelines.

Any areas or shortfalls we identify can be included in our Quality Improvement Plan (QIP). They can also be included in our service professional development plan and in the team mentoring arrangements.

Team reflection often identifies individual professional support needs. This information can then form part of our individual educator appraisals and professional support plans, just as the needs identified by our individual reflection do.

We will repeat this cycle many times throughout our careers and it will be a vital and integral part of the way we

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Message from the Dept of Education As the Coalition’s spokesperson for child care, during the last three years I have been fortunate to be able to accept several invitations to visit Western Australia and meet operators, educators and parents at a number of child care centres.

One of the critical issues, not only here but across the nation, is the new National Quality Framework (NQF) reforms which has led to a rising demand for more (and better educated) staff.

During my most recent trip in June this year, the message from the south west cities of Busselton and Bunbury echoed many of the issues I now face as new Assistant Minister for Education, with direct responsibility for child care and early childhood learning.

I particularly want to find new ways we can support our sector through professional development opportunities, particularly for our early childhood teachers and educators in remote and regional areas.

I want to say from the outset, central to all decisions our new government will make, is to help families across the country access affordable, flexible quality child care and early learning services which meet their needs, regardless of their geographic location.

Among our first priorities is to commence a Productivity Commission inquiry into how our child care and early learning system can deliver the needs of modern families, including the often unique needs of parents across this very unique state.

This inquiry is a once in a generation opportunity, so I encourage you to engage in the process and put forward your views and ideas on what the future of child care and early learning will look like.

I will have more details on how you make a contribution before the end of the year, so if this interests you please check my website regularly – www.sussanley.com

While supporting the NQF and improving early learning outcomes for children, the government’s focus will also be about removing unnecessary regulatory burdens, so that carers can spend less time doing paperwork and more time with the children.

There are close to 80,000 youngsters enrolled in some form of child care in Western Australia. My goal is to ensure we have enough carers and educators to deliver the high quality child care and early learning services they deserve.

I look forward to meeting many more of you in the future and would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation of how much you contribute to the development and wellbeing of children across Australia.

The Hon Sussan Ley MP Assistant Minister for Education

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Helping Early Learning Educators in leaps and bounds Two West Coast Institute lecturers who are qualified speech and language pathologists have developed a program to help early learning practitioners enhance language and pre-literacy skills of children.

“Day- care staff are reporting that 15-20% of children in their care are presenting with speech and language difficulties. All too often, these small children are put on long waiting lists for public speech therapy services and daycare providers and parents are left trying to boost speech and language skills in the interim”, said Allied Health lecturer Kelly-Anne Milner.

“The LEAP program gives day-care staff, teachers and teachers assistants extra training, which they can put to good use while children await placement with a speech and language pathologist, ” added paediatric Speech Pathologist Margaret Mincham.

Allied Health lecturers Margaret Mincham and Kelly-Anne Milner gathering resources to deliver the LEAP program

“Some children have difficulty understanding instructions and stories. Others may have difficulty telling you about something that has happened to them at the centre or at home. This could be because they don’t have the vocabulary or range of words needed or because they struggle to put words into a sentence. Additionally, children with language difficulties may be quiet and withdrawn or may hide their problems by trying to dominate activities. Used well, the Leap Program can greatly assist these children”, said Kelly Milner.

The LEAP program (Language Enrichment and Assisted Practice) provides day-care staff with an understanding of speech and language skills and common difficulties in children; practical ideas for assisting speech and language development that can be implemented in early childhood settings; and a resource bag which contains educational materials and a detailed, structured speech pathology activity program.

Workshops around how to use the LEAP program effectively can take place either at West Coast’s Joondalup Campus or within individual early childhood environments. Three workshops have run so far and over 50 early childhood educators have benefitted from the program.

Mandy Rullo, who is an early childhood teacher at Whitford Catholic Primary School, decided to participate in the program so she could learn to help her students awaiting intervention.

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She is already implementing what she learnt on the program with her young students.

“The LEAP program is valuable because it helps us as teachers to be more accountable,” said Mandy. “I put my class into groups to do rotational activities every morning now whilst I work with a few children using the LEAP program.”

Day-care providers, schools and/or teachers who are interested in hearing more about the LEAP program can contact KellyAnne Milner on 9233 1286 or email kellyanne.milner@wcit. wa.edu.au

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2014 Childcare Courses CTAS Website: http://www.ctas.wa.edu.au/ Phone: 08 9350 9222 Certificate III of Children’s Services Diploma of Children’s Services

Meerilinga Website: http://www.meerilinga.org. au/education-training Email (Training College): mtc@ meerilinga.org.au Certificate III of Children’s Services Diploma of Children’s Services

Gold Star Child Care Training Email: goldstarchildcaretraining@ bigpond.com Phone: 0424 342 118 Certificate III of Children’s Services Diploma of Children’s Services

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West Coast Institute of Training Website: http://www.wcit.wa.edu. au/courses/Study-Area/Community/ Children’s-services Phone (Student Services): 1300 134 881 Certificate III of Early Education & Care

(available via full-time or part-time study, online, traineeship and RPL)

Certificate IV in Outside School Hours Care (available via traineeship and RPL)

Diploma of Children’s Services – tuition fee exempt for 2014

(available via full-time or part-time study, online, traineeship and RPL)

Certificate III in Education Support Certificate IV in Education Support