Rattler Magazine Issue 121, 2017 by Community Early Learning Australia

INTEGRATION IN PRACTICE SPOTLIGHT ON STAFFING TAKING RISKS START STRONG MAKING QUALITY MEANINGFUL + BROADSIDE

literacy

COMMUNITY CHILD CARE CO-OPERATIVE QUARTERLY JOURNAL 121 AUTUMN 2017

LEARNING ABOUT

Rattler is published quarterly by Community Child Care Co-operative Ltd. (NSW) and funded by subscriptions and sponsorship revenue.

CEO, Community Child Care Co-operative Diane Lawson Editorial Committee Lucy Brown, Marie Deverill, Nathalie Dupavillon, Camille Howard, Eddy Jokovich, Diane Lawson, Gerard Moon. Managing Editor Eddy Jokovich (02) 9310 4955 Journalist/Assistant Editor Camille Howard Art Director Deborah Kelly Production ARMEDIA Printing Pegasus Print Group Contributors Leonie Arthur, Jackie Baxter, Kate Higginbottom, Camille Howard, Claire Warden, Allison West. Contributions: By publishing a range of opinions, Community Child Care Co-operative Ltd. (NSW) hopes to stimulate professional development and discussion. You can contact the CEO or Managing Editor to discuss your ideas or send in an outline of your article. Copyright is normally held jointly by the publisher and the author. We reserve the right to edit submitted material. Copying: Please email for permission to copy or reproduce any article or part thereof. SUBSCRIPTIONS (02) 8922 6444 Annual subscription to Rattler $80.00 (4 issues). THANKS Community Child Care Co-operative gratefully acknowledges the support of Microsoft Corporation in providing Community Child Care with free software under their Community Assistance Initiative. Registered by Australia Post Print Post Publication No 100001554 ISSN 0819-9132 ©2017 Community Child Care Co-operative. Disclaimer The opinions expressed in Rattler are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Community Child Care Co-operative Ltd. (NSW). Office and Postal Address Addison Road Community Centre, Building 21, 142 Addison Road, Marrickville NSW 2204 Phone (02) 8922 6444 Fax (02) 8922 6445 Email info@ccccnsw.org.au Web www.ccccnsw.org.au Facebook www.facebook.com/ RattlerMagazine Twitter @RattlerMagazine ABN 81 174 903 921

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2 | Rattler 121 Autumn 2017 www.ccccnsw.org.au/advertise

editorial

ver the past several months, I have been engaged in many conversations about the importance of advocacy for the sector, which makes me wonder about the various interpretations of the term. For some it means protest marches, for others, submission writing or hashtags. I take a broad view that advocacy is any action that makes a meaningful contribution toward a change for the better. The key word is ‘meaningful’. It’s easy to take utopian positions and call it advocacy, safe from any real test of your views in the public arena. It’s harder to find a path that is true to the values of a diverse membership organisation like Community Child Care Co-operative and that, in addition, has a real chance of success. This is where we found ourselves over the Australian Government’s ‘Omnibus Bill’, which sought to make savage cuts to social welfare payments as payback for funding the long-awaited childcare subsidy reform and the NDIS. Community Child Care took a new approach in the debate, joining with the 25 or so leading peak bodies and providers who have, in recent years, set aside their other differences to form a highly collegiate lobby group for the early childhood sector in national politics. The group includes Early Childhood Australia, Goodstart, KU Children’s Services, Australian Childcare Alliance, several Gowrie bodies, The Parenthood and Family Day Care Australia. Our lobbying helped to split the bill from the cruelest cuts previously proposed and shut down the threats to cut educators’ qualification requirements, deregulate ratios and more. However, as Rattler was going to press, the Senate agreed to approve a flawed bill. While devastated at the last-minute loss of support for 15 funded hours, and the barriers the activity test creates for 100,000 of Australia’s poorest families, Community Child Care remains within this collaborative group to share our best thinking for the way ahead. Let’s not forget: ◆W e won our ‘split the bill’ call and your grassroots support gave us an even stronger voice. ◆ Most families—and many low-income families—gain more affordable early learning for their children. ◆ We need to explore the ways vulnerable parents can meet the activity test, and help you find ways to advise parents who may otherwise be excluded. It has always been too easy for governments to divide and conquer our sector, pitting community against for-profit, state versus state, long day care against preschools. To achieve meaningful change we must all mature and accept that while differences continue, we can also find common ground that benefits children, families and educators.

Diane Lawson CEO, Community Child Care Co-operative Cover: photograph by Amanda James

in this issue

Rattler 121 Autumn 2017

THE LOWDOWN

FACE2FACE

INTEGRATION IN PRACTICE

TAKING RISKS

NQS SPOTLIGHT

BOOKWORM

Your guide to what’s up, who’s where, and why.

Catch up with the trailblazing Shadow Minister for Human Services, Linda Burney.

The Infants’ Home shares the secrets to its award-winning integrated service approach.

LEARNING ABOUT LITERACY

Claire Warden pushes educators to take more risks with their pedagogy.

Educators play a critical role in supporting and extending children’s literacy learning.

MAKING QUALITY MEANINGFUL

INSPIRATION NOTICEBOARD

Critical reflection is vital to ensure continuous quality improvement.

Your quick-stop guide to inspirational practices from around the world.

START STRONG 26

The new funding model for NSW preschools is underway, and we take a look at the story so far…

Mentoring and training are key at Winanga-Li Aboriginal Child and Family Centre. Our review of what’s new on the shelves.

BROADSIDE Centre pages Political news feature: big business taking over childcare.

Rattler 121 Autumn 2017 | 3

who what

THE

why

Lowdown

Australia still failing to

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull recently released the ninth annual Closing the Gap report, which suggests we are failing Indigenous Australians on six out of seven key measures. ”We have not come far enough,” the Prime Minister acknowledged when presenting the report to Parliament. In 2008, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) identified key indicators of disadvantage, setting targets to close the gap on health, education and employment outcomes for Indigenous Australians. The target ensuring Indigenous fouryear-olds in remote areas AP HE RGT 2 0 17 T G O have access to N P LOSI E R ’S R E

P R IM

IS E M IN

early education the year before school expired, unmet, in 2013. Now it looks likely that outcomes around child mortality, school attendance, employment outcomes, and reading, writing and numeracy won’t be reached by their 2018 target. SNAICC CEO Gerry Moore called out the government for failing to work together with Indigenous organisations to make decisions, particularly around ensuring all children have access to early education. “The Prime Minister has not heard our calls to amend the Jobs for Families Childcare Package, so that our most vulnerable children will not be further disadvantaged,” Moore says. “Early childhood education targets are not going to be met if reforms are introduced that lead to less of our children being able to access services.” To read the full report, visit www.closingthegap.pmc.gov.au

Goodbye and good luck!

Community Child Care Co-operative says goodbye to two of its own, with the departure of Melissa Woodhouse and board member Anita Jovanovski. After seven years with Community Child Care, we say goodbye and good luck to Melissa Woodhouse. Melissa held a variety of roles at Community Child Care, from Project Officer to Manager, Shared Services, and was instrumental in driving forward our EC:Living strategy. An experienced educator and leader, we wish her well for the future. Anita (right) recently resigned from the board of Community Child Care after 10 successful years. Anita joined the board when Children’s Service Central was created, and provided leadership and stability when the organisation was developing further as a key peak body for early childhood education and care in NSW. We thank Anita for her service to the board and the Community Child Care membership over many years, and wish her well in her continuing position as CEO of the NSW Family Day Care Association.

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what’s on

CONFERENCES AND EVENTS COMMUNITY CHILD CARE NETWORKING BREAKFASTS – FREE!

12 April 2017, Newcastle 17 May 2017, Canberra www.ccccnsw.org.au/events

EARLY CHILDHOOD INTERVENTION CONFERENCE

25–26 May 2017, Sydney tinyurl.com/ECIAconference

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION CONFERENCE

26–27 May 2017, Melbourne www.togetherwegrow.com.au

QLD EARLY EDUCATION & CARE CONFERENCE 16–17 June 2017, Brisbane www.candk.asn.au/ conference2017

2017 REGGIO EMILIA AUSTRALIA INFORMATION EXCHANGE CONFERENCE

14-16 July 2017, Sydney PLUS 13 July: Pre-conference cooking demonstration with Rob Rees. Save the date and stay tuned for more details www.reaie2017.com

ILLUSTRATION: DEBORAH KELLY

Close the Gap

Get your PD on! Looking for inspiring and informative professional development events to boost your career? Community Child Care Co-operative has some key events on the horizon to inspire your practices and promote wellbeing. Find out more at www.booking.ccccnsw.org.au WHAT: Building Educator Resilience and Wellbeing WHEN: 12 April, Newcastle; 17 May, Canberra WHY: In response to early childhood educators reporting high levels of work and life stress, this three-hour session provides practical tools and advice on ways to manage stress and improve their daily lives. WHAT: Experienced Directors’ Retreat NESA accredited (formerly known as BOSTES) WHEN: 8–10 May, Cronulla, Sydney WHY: This three-day retreat is designed to inspire experienced directors and provide the opportunity to engage in highlevel thinking and explore how to create a rich and meaningful program while developing a highly functioning and responsive team. WHAT: New (and Fairly New) Directors’ Course NESA accredited (formerly known as BOSTES) WHEN: 10–12 May, Cronulla, Sydney WHY: New directors will learn how to balance the demands of administration, management and leadership, as well as learning the necessary skills to navigate all areas of managing a service and its team, and ensuring quality service provision.

NQF Major changes ahead

As Community Child Care Co-operative recently reported, there have been major changes announced to the National Quality Framework (NQF), commencing from October this year. Based on the 2014 review of the National Quality Agenda, Australia’s education ministers agreed to the changes in an attempt to improve quality in the sector, as well as reduce red tape. Key decisions include: ❖a revised National Quality Standard (NQS) ❖ i mproved oversight and support within family day care ❖ r emoval of supervisor certificate requirements ❖ i ntroduction of a national educator-to-child ratio of 1:15 for school age children. To find out more about what it means for your service, check out ACECQA’s info page at www.acecqa.gov.au/decisionris (including a fact sheet on the decisions). To read the Education Council’s Decision Regulation Impact Statement in full, go to: www.tinyurl.com/NQF-changes

Government urged to rethink education spending

The Mitchell Institute, an educational thinktank at Victoria University, has released its latest report on the government’s spending on education and training in Australia, from the early years to tertiary education. In ‘Expenditure on education and training in Australia 2016’, authors Megan O’Connell and Kate Torii bring together data across all areas of education in an effort to prompt governments to consider a more planned and consistent approach to distributing spending. “Imbalances in the patterns of expenditure of public funds between the education sectors are progressing with limited policy coherency, and in an ad hoc and piecemeal approach,” the report states. The authors call for a “substantial re-think” of government investment to ensure that public funds are allocated for maximum educational effect. For a copy of the full report, visit www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/ reports

Key findings: ❖H igher education expenditure increased 45% over a 10-year period to 2014–15. ❖S chool education expenditure increased 24% between 2005–06 and 2014–15. ❖V ET sector expenditure in 2014–15 was 4% below the level in 2005–06. ❖P reschool expenditure in 2014–15 increased 125 per cent over the period, coming off a much lower base since 2005–06. ❖ I n 2014, income-contingent loan programs continued to expand— largely coming from the growth of the VET FEE HELP scheme which is to be replaced in 2017 by more restricted VET Student Loans.

Rattler 121 Autumn 2017 | 5

practıce

Integration in

The Infants’ Home has long been celebrated for its inclusive and integrated service approach. Camille Howard visits the award-winning service to find out why it continues to go from strength to strength.

he Infants’ Home has a long and proud history of inclusion and integration. It all began in 1874, when a group of women fought against strong opposition from religious groups, the press and prominent citizens to set up Australia’s first home for abandoned children and unmarried mothers and their babies. Fighting against concern from the community that such a refuge would condone immoral behaviour, these pioneering women sought to establish a home that gave children, and unwed mothers, a chance to survive and thrive. Following an integrated model, mothers were taught parenting skills as well as 6 | Rattler 121 Autumn 2017

housekeeping skills, to help improve their future prospects, and children were provided a safe and nurturing environment. To improve outcomes for children living onsite, the first kindergarten was established in 1897, with the first long day care centre commencing in 1936. Then, in 1972, The Infants’ Home received government funding and began the move from an institutional care model to childcare, integrating family day care a few years later. Now, more that 140 years since its inception, The Infants’ Home continues to be recognised for its dedication to inclusion and integration, and was recently awarded the Excellence in Building Inclusion Award at the 2016 HESTA Early Childhood Education and Care Awards. “It’s such a fantastic achievement for the organisation. Everyone within this organisation—the staff, the families, the stakeholders—everybody is thrilled,” says Anita Kumar*, The Infants’ Home

HISTORY HIGHLIGHTS

The Infants’ Home has a proud history of supporting children and families. We’ve captured some of the highlights.

1874: In the face of strong conservative protest, a group of courageous women

establish a home for abandoned infants and unmarried mothers with children. The Sydney Foundling Institute is established in Darlinghurst, Sydney, becoming home to 240 children and 90 mothers.

1876: Philanthropist Thomas Walker pays £3,000 for the current 4.5-acre

property in Ashfield.

PHOTOGRAPH: COURTESY THE INFANTS’ HOME

1877: The organisation is renamed The Infants’ Home.

CEO. “And that goes a long way to say how this organisation works within the community.” Kumar also acknowledges the past in celebrating the award. “Inclusion or integration is not something we just started doing a few years ago. The foremothers of this organisation have sown those seeds much earlier: bringing in people from vulnerable backgrounds, integrating them in a preschool model. “The journey of the integration that we have been going through is actually more about strengthening that; looking at the research, looking at the evidence, looking at our capacity and what best can be delivered, and looking at whether we are doing it, and how well.” It hasn’t been easy, Kumar admits, and it hasn’t happened overnight. “It’s taken us a very long time and some extreme levels of passion and commitment and dedication from staff, but also all the agencies who worked with us who’ve been able to support us in this journey.”

1897: The first kindergarten is set up to stimulate young children, while

mothers are taught parenting skills as well as housekeeping and cooking skills to help support their futures.

1936: The Infants’ Home establishes its first long day care centre.

1972: The Infants’ Home accepts Australian Government funding and

moves from an institutional care model (orphanage) to childcare (LDC, FDC and foster care).

1974: The Infants’ Home starts sponsoring pilot schemes for family day

care in five municipalities. After its first year in operation the scheme comprises 46 carers and 111 children.

1977: The Women and Children’s Stress Centre is established to support

children and families at risk.

1984: Sydney Hope Cottage opens to support mothers with young babies.

(The centre is named after The Infants’ Home’s first orphan.)

2009: The SpOT Children’s Clinic is set up to offer speech pathology and

occupational therapy to children with additional needs.

2010: The Infants’ Home is a fully-integrated child and family-centred hub,

and a centre of excellence in the provision of early childhood and family support services.

2013: Stage one of the new early education and care centre opens.

2014: The Infants’ Home partners with Your Doctors to establish a GP clinic

onsite.

“Since our inception in 1874, we have supported more than 180,000 children and families to build new futures by breaking the cycle of hardship, fear or hopelessness.” —Source: www.theinfantshome.org.au

Rattler 121 Autumn 2017 | 7

who attend The Infants’ Home. We never provide something specifically for a particular cohort because we believe in improving the outcomes for everyone within the community. “That represents how we live in this community—we don’t live in an exclusive model, we all live in an inclusive environment in this community.” Building community

Anita Kumar (bottom left) reminds services to respect their past in order to plan for the future.

Because of the longstanding service within the wider community, The Infants’ Home has developed strong links with a number of service providers. This in turn enables them to offer a greater number of services to all children and families. Partnerships with the NSW Department of Health and local health services, for example, enable them to provide parent education programs— which, as Kumar is quick to point out, are not just aimed at vulnerable families. “Anything we do, whether we run a financial literacy program, or any parent education program, it is for all families 8 | Rattler 121 Autumn 2017

Widely acknowledged in the sector as a pioneer in its integrated service model, The Infants’ Home provides three distinct services: early childhood education, through centre-based and family day care; early intervention programs, such as parent education, playgroups and other wraparound programs; and clinics—GP clinics, allied health clinics and postnatal clinics. This is all set on a beautiful five-acre property, in a mix of new purpose-built and heritage-listed buildings. There are around 283 children accessing centre-based education and care each day, across five early childhood education and care centres, with another 450 within the family day care scheme, plus those children attending playgroups. All up, some 2,500 children access services each year, and 30 per cent of those children and families have some sort of vulnerability and additional need. “All our families come from a much wider area than just Ashfield,” Kumar says. “The best part for us is that the people who have vulnerabilities refer themselves, which we think is the most fantastic thing that could happen to any organisation; where people feel they have a relationship or don’t feel stigma and they can just refer themselves. That goes to just how fantastic the staff are in working with families in such respectful ways.” Part of this respect includes looking at each child and family’s needs holistically, and ensuring they are part of the journey towards inclusion. “We work in a strengths-based environment and talk about not just what families’ needs are but what our issues are—what is the cost of that service, how would we fund it—and work with families collaboratively so they actually feel that their input is valued.” This approach means looking to the future, too, to see how families are going to transition out of the service. “We only

Even the buildings are integrated, with the brand new early learning centre (left) built alongside several heritage-listed buildings.

see ourselves as a handrail; we don’t see ourselves as people who are going to be there all the time,” Kumar explains. “So it’s really important for us to make sure that the families feel that they are in control throughout this journey.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: CAMILLE HOWARD/COURTESY THE INFANTS’ HOME

A model business A key to the long-lasting success of The Infants’ Home lies in creating a sustainable business model. This means that while the organisation receives some government funding, as well as a small amount of philanthropy, nearly 75 per cent of funding is self-generated. Strong leadership has also been vital. Kumar herself has been a part of The Infants’ Home for more than 15 years, first as a parent, then as human resources manager, and as CEO for the last six years. She completed a Masters in managing community organisations because she felt there was a lot of goodwill, good intentions and good people involved in community services, which she wanted to bring together with good business acumen. “It’s not about just coming up with some good business ideas and just ‘mixing it up’. It’s about making sure that everyone in this organisation feels that they are making good business decisions at every point. They don’t need to know the budget, or they don’t need to know the details, but if they know one or two things that can make a difference and that they can keep an eye on, that can make an organisation work extremely well.” A service also works best when it can stay in control of its vision and values, Kumar adds. “If an organisation is allowing for other funders and other stakeholders to have more control of its vision and

values, it’s not going to be in the best interests of the organisation at all times. “For us to do that we have to be sustainable; we need to know how we can do that without external pressures making it change direction,” Kumar says. “That has been a significant part of my work.” Another significant role for Kumar is to ensure everyone—staff, stakeholders, funders and supporters—has a meaningful relationship with the organisation and feels they are making an impact, however big or small. “That leads to a fantastic culture in an organisation. We need every wheel turning in the right direction for our organisation to change and grow.” Over the years, that growth has been significant. “We’ve gone from [being] a $4.5 to $5 million organisation to towards operating close to a $20 million service. We’ve grown from being a small family day care service with about 80 children a day to about 450 children a day, and one of the largest integrated sites.” Added to that, each service that has gone through the assessment and rating system has received an Exceeding rating. “It is not me, or [Integrated Services manager] Lynn Farrell or any one of us: it’s every single staff member feeling like they are here to do their best and they are committed and passionate about what they do.” Looking to the future In an effort to be prepared for the future, The Infants’ Home completed a supply and demand analysis to understand the needs of the community and support the growth of the local area. This resulted in the development of a new integrated early education and care centre, the first stage of which opened in 2013 and

increased capacity from 180 children to more than 280 children per day. Future development will include renovations to existing heritage buildings, as well as the construction of additional education and care centres. “We are lucky that we have a gorgeous five-acre site donated to us. And given [Sydney’s] Inner West is booming with high-density residences, where balconies are becoming backyards, it is lovely to have a site like this where children and families can come and really explore and enjoy the green space.” As well as its own growth, The Infants’ Home is also looking to support the future of the wider early childhood education sector. “There are not many services that are going to have five acres of property to do all these things, so how can The Infants’ Home demonstrate leadership in sharing knowledge?” So Kumar and her team are committed to sharing their knowledge of what works well at The Infants’ Home, but also what to do when things go wrong. “If we can have the courage to share our failures, I think that’s where we can demonstrate leadership as an organisation,” Kumar explains. “And it’s not necessarily the failures, it’s the challenges, the difficulties, and if someone can avoid one of those things, then you’re doing good already.” Her final advice to services is to remember where you come from, as well as where you’re headed. “If you don’t respect your past, you do not exist. You need to respect your past in order to think and plan about your future.” ✹ * Since conducting this interview with Rattler, Anita Kumar resigned from her role at The Infants’ Home. Her replacement has not been announced as we go to print. Rattler 121 Autumn 2017 | 9

Literacy in the early years encompasses much more than reading, drawing and writing. Leonie Arthur explores early childhood educators’ critical role in supporting and extending children’s literacy learning.

learningabout literacy C ontemporary definitions of literacy encompass viewing and creating visual and multimodal texts as well as the more traditional skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening. In an increasingly globalised and technological world, the ability to think critically about what is being read, heard and viewed and creating alternate texts is also important. This view is reflected in The Early Years Learning Framework, which states that “Literacy incorporates a range of modes of communication including music, movement, dance, story telling, visual arts, media and drama, as well as talking, listening, viewing, reading and writing.” Children develop understandings of literacy as they participate in everyday events with their families, in their local

10 | Rattler 121 Autumn 2017

communities and at the early childhood setting. They create their own texts by drawing on paper and on screens, they investigate their worlds through reading, viewing and listening, and begin to understand how symbols are used to express meaning. These ideas are reflected in Learning Outcome 5 of the EYLF and also in the Australian Curriculum: English for Kindergarten to Year 10. Early childhood educators have a critical role in supporting and extending children’s literacy learning. This starts with finding out about children’s family and community literacy experiences. These experiences may be with technologies and popular culture and in languages other than English, as well as or instead of experiences with bedtime stories and other more traditional literacies. It is crucial that

ILLUSTRATION: FREDA CHIU

Make it meaningful

educators value the diversity of literacy experiences and strengths that children bring to the early childhood setting and investigate ways of including resources and experiences that link to these strengths and interests in the program. Educators also need to document and assess children’s literacy learning and use this information, plus the information gathered from families, to plan for literacy learning. Literacy documentation should not just focus on reading, drawing and writing. It should also include other modes of communication, such as speaking, constructing, dancing, composing and performing music, photography and the creation of multimodal texts on paper and with digital resources. Educators can use a range of methods of documentation to capture the breadth and depth of literacy learning, including: ❖ transcripts of conversations ❖ drawing and writing samples ❖ reading transcripts ❖ learning stories ❖ anecdotes ❖ photographs (of children’s constructions, for example) ❖ videos (of dancing, for example).

Children can be involved in documenting their own and each other’s literacy learning (for example, recording each other using a digital recorder or making videos on an iPad) and this in turn becomes a literacy experience. When analysing documentation of children’s literacy learning, educators can ask questions such as: ❖ How do children use verbal and non-verbal language to express ideas and feelings? ❖ How do children respond to and use the rhythms and sounds of language, such as clapping games, rhyming words, alliteration? ❖ What do children understand about concepts of print—for example, directionality of print in their home language and English, concepts of letters and words, concepts of books, screens and technological devices? ❖ How are children exploring drawing and writing? ❖ How are children responding to symbols—for example, recognising familiar symbols, creating symbols, composing words and texts using symbols?

Educators can also support and extend literacy learning by integrating meaningful literacy resources and experiences throughout the day, thus providing multiple opportunities for children to engage in literacy. Effective integration means taking the literacy to where the children are playing and tapping in to their interests and purposes, rather than expecting children to engage in literacy at set times, such as group time, or in specified areas, such as the writing area. The addition of signs and posters in learning centres, both indoors and outdoors, creates many opportunities for children to engage with print. Children can also create their own signs for use in play or routines and are generally highly motivated to make meaning from these texts. (See the book Diverse literacies in early childhood: A social justice approach for examples.) Literacy-enriched play environments, such as a dramatic play restaurant with menus, a cash register and notebooks or digital devices to take orders, provide many opportunities for children to explore a range of texts and to create their own texts. It is important that the play environments and texts reflect children’s everyday experiences so that they are meaningful for children. Providing an extended period of time for children to explore literacy resources also enables them to practice and consolidate their literacy understandings. Research shows that this type of environment increases the frequency, length and complexity of children’s literacy play and extends their learning about print and narrative structure (for example, the way stories have a beginning, middle and end). While it is important to acknowledge that children learn through exploration and experimentation and frequently scaffold each other’s learning, there is a critical role for the educator in talking with children about images and print, modelling literacy and playing alongside children to co-construct resources. As educators engage in these experiences with children they are able to talk about print and print concepts and support children’s emerging understandings. They can also demonstrate writing and reading in meaningful contexts, such as reading food labels and recipes and writing shopping lists. Rattler 121 Autumn 2017 | 11

Shared book experiences, songs and rhymes, literacyenriched dramatic play and the integration of literacy throughout the day are the most effective ways to support children’s understandings of the core components of literacy. Make it intentional One of the key pedagogical practices in the EYLF is intentional teaching, which encourages educators to join in children’s play and take an active role in guiding learning. Research suggests that this guidance is particularly important when children are developing understandings of literacy concepts. For guidance to be effective, educators need to have a strong knowledge of literacy and of each child’s current literacy understandings. This enables educators to weave literacy into play experiences in meaningful ways, to model literacy practices and to use explicit language to talk about literacy. These sustained shared conversations are critical for literacy learning. Extensive research has identified the core components of literacy as oral language, alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness and concepts of print. It is important that each of these components is taught in an integrated

and meaningful way, such as talking about rhyme when sharing books with children to develop phonemic awareness or discussing letters when working with children to create signs for their play environments to develop alphabet knowledge, rather than in isolated skill and drill. Easy access to a range of paper and digital resources encourages children to create their own texts and provides many opportunities for educators to talk with children about concepts of print such as letters, words and punctuation and to extend their oral language, alphabet knowledge and phonemic awareness. It is important to remind families that shared book experiences, songs and rhymes, literacy-enriched dramatic play and the integration of literacy throughout the day are the most effective ways to support children’s understandings of the core components of literacy. Dr Leonie Arthur is senior lecturer in Language and Literacy, Western Sydney University.

For a full list of references visit ccccnsw.org.au/rattlerresources

sometimes you just want more Based on a starting income of $50,000 and a starting account balance of $50,000 HESTA has delivered $18,725 more to members than the average retail super fund over the past 10 years*. This was because of both lower fees and higher investment earnings.

hesta.com.au/betteroff Issued by H.E.S.T. Australia Ltd ABN 66 006 818 695 AFSL 235249, the Trustee of Health Employees Superannuation Trust Australia (HESTA) ABN 64 971 749 321. This information is of a general nature. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or specific needs so you should look at your own financial position and requirements before making a decision. You may wish to consult an adviser when doing this. Before making a decision about HESTA products you should read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (call 1800 813 327 or visit hesta.com.au for a copy), and consider any relevant risks (hesta.com.au/ understandingrisk). *Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance and should never be the sole factor considered when selecting a fund. Comparisons modelled by SuperRatings, commissioned by HESTA. Modelled outcome shows 10 year average difference in net benefit of the main balanced options of HESTA and 75 retail funds tracked by SuperRatings, with a 10 year performance history, taking into account historical earnings and fees – excluding contribution, entry, exit and additional adviser fees – of main balanced options. Outcomes vary between individual funds. Modelling as at 30 June 2016.

HESTA_Sometimes you just want more_180x125.indd 1 12 | Rattler 121 Autumn 2017

22/03/2017 3:14 PM

LEARNING ABOUT LITERACY

Notes from the field

literacy in practice

In 2014, the educational leaders at Mary Bailey House decided to develop a literacy policy in response to parent questions about the literacy program in the preschool room. While educators had previously explained to parents that literacy is learnt through social practice, as stated in Literacies, Communities and Under 5s, this approach didn’t seem to resonate with all families. Director Jackie Baxter details their process in developing a working literacy policy.

or a number of years, we remained committed to the premise that literacy is learnt through social practice. After a period of time, however, we recognised that our parents (many of whom are teachers) continued to raise questions and we needed to give them a better response. We decided to undertake research into literacy learning and development in early childhood. At this point we informed our parent committee about our intention to review and improve our approach to teaching literacy and they were pleased to hear this. We began our search by reading the Guide to the National Quality Standard and Belonging, Being & Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) for references to literacy. Both of these documents refer to literacy, with each recommending educators talk explicitly with children about rhyme, letters and sounds. While we had always spoken informally with the children about these concepts, we had never done so explicitly. The idea of being explicit initially didn’t sit well with us, as it conjured up images of teacher-directed experiences in which children were passive recipients in learning. So we needed to reflect upon what explicit teaching meant to us, and how we would use it within our play-based program. This question also prompted us to undertake a literature review of research-based examples of literacy teaching and learning in early childhood programs, and we did this through university online libraries. We looked for studies on literacy and read them with interest. Through this process, we built on our knowledge of literacy and discovered new ways of teaching it. We also sought advice from some of our primary school teacher parents during this phase, and they enthusiastically offered their expertise. Our extensive reading revealed two things: first, that preschool literacy experiences play a significant role in a child’s literacy success in their early years at school; and second, that the quality of preschool literacy experiences are dependent upon the expertise of the teachers delivering them. These two findings compelled us to acknowledge the importance of our role in young children’s literacy learning and development. They also prompted us to investigate researchsupported experiences that best promote literacy in early childhood. We did this by speaking with experienced teachers who were implementing play-based pre-reading experiences and reading literacy-based teaching resources. When we had a reasonable understanding of how to explicitly teach literacy in a play-based program we sought advice from

Dr Leonie Arthur on how we should document our approach. Leonie recommended that our approach be detailed in a policy rather than a program. So we decided to develop a Mary Bailey House (MBH) Literacy Policy. Regardless of their focus, all MBH policies begin with a rationale, the reason why we have the policy. Our findings that the preschool years are significant in later literacy success and the expertise of the teachers delivering experiences became the literacy policy rationale. We then considered policy aims and, after some discussion, agreed upon the following: for our educators to understand literacy, proficiently assess literacy, and to expertly scaffold and teach literacy. Once the aims had been established, we moved on to identifying the components of literacy. We did this by reviewing Literacies, Communities and Under 5s and the EYLF and developing a combined list. Now that the components had been identified, we then unpacked each component and decided upon ways in which we would promote each one. We also discussed the importance of assessing learning and the manner in which we would monitor each child’s progress and development under each of the components. This policy development phase lasted 12 months, as we had to synthesise past and represent practices to create an approach that reflected staff and parent values and current pedagogy. Once staff and the parent committee had ratified the policy, we then prepared for the implementation phase. It was decided that a literacy working group would be established, with the two most experienced early childhood teachers and the educational leader to oversee the implementation of the policy. The group met regularly during this phase to reflect upon teaching practices and to discuss the progress of children under the policy. They documented their discussions and reported monthly on their progress to the team, parent committee and wider parent community. At the end of this phase, which stretched across a year, the literacy working group reviewed the literacy policy so that it better reflected their actual practices of implementation. The literacy policy is now into its third year and the entire preschool team are involved in its implementation. The literacy working group continues to meet on a monthly basis to discuss literacy teaching and assessment. When we reflect upon the goals of the literacy policy to understand literacy, proficiently assess literacy, and to expertly scaffold and teach literacy, we can comfortably say that we’re working towards achieving each one. ✹ Rattler 121 Autumn 2017 | 13

quality MAKING

MEANINGFUL

14 | Rattler 121 Autumn 2017

Critical reflection is vital for education and care services striving for continuous quality improvement. Drawing on her experience with the assessment and rating process, Kate Higginbottom reflects on the path to quality in diverse service contexts.

PHOTOGRAPHY: ALEX WISSER

he early education and care profession saw a vast shift in the benchmark of quality with the changes to legislation and the introduction of nationally united guiding frameworks. With the commencement of the National Quality Framework (NQF) in 2012 came a more contextualised approach to rating quality within individual services. This process challenged the need for a high quality standard and, instead, reinforced reflective practice and commitment to ongoing quality improvement. More than 90 per cent of long day care services were rated as ‘high quality’ under the previous NCAC accreditation process. Under the NQF assessment and rating process, however, a higher percentage of services were more likely to achieve a ‘working towards’ rating during first rounds. Of course, this doesn’t mean that services with a working towards rating had declined in their high quality rating under the previous system, rather the benchmarks in standards had risen significantly. The current assessment and rating process supports a heavy evidence base for ‘proving’ the standards are met or exceeded with relevance to the individual service context. This differs greatly from the previous ‘tick and flick’ methods, whereby a service was clearly deemed to have unsatisfactory, good or high quality practice in accordance with each principle of the earlier quality areas. As a director with more than eight years experience, I can clearly remember a typical practice in sharing self-study reports with other services, to be able to include some ‘good general points’ into your own service’s report. Today, I cannot

imagine any relevance of our current quality improvement plan to any other service, which highlights how effective methods of critical reflection have contributed to the unique and ongoing enhancements of our service operations. It is also clear that collaborative critical reflection and evidence of improvement over the past three years has contributed to our recent accomplishments within the assessment and rating process. When reflecting on my own personal practices as a leader, I was somewhat surprised by the confidence I placed in trusting my professional instincts, which is evidenced by the knowledge and experience I have gained and the choices we have made collectively as a service. As a very analytical leader, especially during times of ‘judgement’, I have a tendency to question my thinking. Fortunately, I have an experienced team, management committee and professional network who always take the time to nut things out and assist in unpacking how a particular practice provides the best possible outcomes for our children and families. When providing opportunities for my team to also explore networks and engage in professional learning opportunities, I hope they, too, return inspired, motivated and ready to consider how these experiences can complement our practice. Unpacking the grey matter With current frameworks leaving room for interpretation of ‘what is deemed quality?’ in various contexts, I believe some practitioners may be seeking a black and white answer in a document that is actually quite grey. This means we’re seeing an increasing number of training organisations and individuals

QUALITY

offering resources, professional development and other supportive tools marketed towards producing the highest rating outcome (when using said resources or practices). I’ve seen similar issues among networking groups or other gatherings of early childhood professionals, whereby information is regularly exchanged—‘Chinese whispers’ style—about how services have, or have not, met or exceeded the NQS, and interpret these results in various ways. Rather than being concerned about the performance of other services, I believe it’s more important for services to ensure their management has a vast understanding of legislation and the guiding frameworks before making decisions in relation to their own policy, procedure and practice, which will in turn support quality service outcomes for children and their families. Professional learning opportunities are a key factor in building the professionalism of the early education and care sector. As such, service management should encourage the engagement of quality learning opportunities to enhance educator knowledge, instil inspiration and support the inclusion of relevant ideas, contributing to their personal practice as well as their service holistically. These experiences should not be seen to give all the answers—a particular session, topic or practice will look very different in each context. We are fortunate to have extremely knowledgeable and experienced trainers, academics and practitioners in Australia who provide wholesome and inspiring professional learning opportunities, and we must continue to guide and evolve Rattler 121 Autumn 2017 | 15

Quality in early childhood education and care is not what we as educators necessarily put into a service, but what our children and families get out. within our profession through these quality opportunities. Unpacking the NQS When unpacking how elements of the National Quality Standards (NQS) can be interpreted to support meaningful quality within each diverse context, we should consider the following: ★ Know the legislation. This is the law and indicates the minimum requirements of what must be implemented in policy, procedure and practice. The regulations are the only indication of what you must do. Knowledge is power, and when it comes to justifying your service quality and how your service rates against the standards, your primary requirement is to clearly indicate compliance. As Albert Einstein said: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t know it well enough.” ★ Guides are just that. The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) has developed useful guides to the National Regulations and the NQS. The resources provided are publicly accessible and of great value to enhance reflective practice. ACECQA’s Guide to the NQS provides examples of what an assessor may observe, sight or discuss under each element; however, it is important to remember it is not necessary to show all evidence indicators as resourced. Quality practice may be demonstrated in unique ways and therefore measured contextually against the NQS, based upon the positive outcomes each service is providing to their children, families, educators and the community. ★ Collaborate with all stakeholders. Improve communication channels with educators, local early childhood professionals, child related specialists, families and, most importantly, children. Our context is all about the relationships and interrelationships that are included in our immediate and wider community and how we may support their needs. Collaborating with all stakeholders will ensure that we work in a meaningful way to achieve quality outcomes. ★ Enhance skills and delegation. Know what skills your educators and families have. Surveys or team-building 16 | Rattler 121 Autumn 2017

activities can help you identify what skills you may have at your disposal and assist in delegating tasks. A leader who acknowledges the challenges and delegates tasks accordingly will not only empower their team by recognising their strengths, but also build a stronger, united and more collaborative service. In our service, for example, we have a distributed pedagogical leadership model, which includes two support people for our educational leader. One educator, who holds a psychology degree, supports the role as behaviour and development specialist, providing consultation to our team in relation to strategies supporting behaviour guidance, inclusion support and developmental concerns. ★ Build a living, breathing QIP. It can be extremely difficult to change our way of thinking to support and document our weaknesses and required improvements, but a thorough quality improvement plan will allow you to clearly identify gaps and acknowledge the need for further development, training, resources, building design changes or other change in policy or practice. This must be a collaborative effort with all stakeholders. Think outside the square for how to get everyone involved. Social media can be a wonderful tool to get families involved in creative solutions. ★ Challenge the way of thinking. It is important for leaders to provide genuine opportunities for their team to professionally challenge managerial ways of thinking and doing, as well as service operation, policy or practice. By promoting a democratic approach in management methods, educators will progressively become more confident in providing constructive feedback, resulting in key changes. It may be a fresh set of eyes that awakens your service to the need for change. ★ Stand alone. It is important to have confidence in what you do. I often find, particularly around program and practice, that services like to follow trends. Electronic programming is becoming more prominent in practice, for example, yet it cannot be viewed as one-size-fits-all. If your children, families

and service have ownership and value in what they have implemented for some time, then stick with it. Why change something that’s not broken to follow a trend? In a technologically advancing world, children have less exposure to the written word. Our service implements a written journal document, primarily to allow children the opportunity to see our educators writing and further promote a love for early literacy skills—which is relevant to our philosophy and context. ★ Use your regulatory authority and authorised officers. If you need clarification to ensure you are complying with regulatory requirements or if you need to rationalise a scenario for meeting a particular standard, give them a call. They live and breathe the standards and have experience across various contexts, so talking it through with an officer can make a difference. Building on professional learning in the early education and care sector can have a significant impact on the growth and development of individuals, as well as the entire service operations. Quality learning opportunities should aim to build the participant’s confidence in using the skills and knowledge gained, and to transfer them into various service contexts. Quality in early childhood education and care is not what we as educators necessarily put into a service, but what our children and families get out—another reminder that individual service quality will not provide the same outcomes for all children and families in all communities. ✹ Kate Higginbottom is director of Adamstown Community Early Learning and Preschool, and managing director of Empowered Early Childhood Consulting and Resources.

Broadside SPECIAL ISSUE

AUTUMN 2017

Louise Murfet with children at Jacaranda Pre-School.

Big business taking over childcare

PHOTOGRAPH: JOHN VEAGE

COMMUNITY CHILD CARE CO-OPERATIVE (NSW)

Big business is moving into early education and care and we need to be concerned. Will they squeeze out smaller providers and community services? How will children be affected?

arly education and care is increasingly becoming big business in Australia and, in business circles, new corporate-speak has become the flavour of the month: “investment-grade asset”, “aggregation”, “profit-tochildcare place ratios” and “childcare landlords”. Corporate entities, private equity firms and developers have moved into the sector in a big way. And it’s no wonder, considering the almost $1 billion in profits made by the childcare industry in the last financial year. As the population grows and more children are born, it makes sense for governments and councils to focus on future needs of communities and ensure enough places for children, but who will be providing these places? Big business entities? Smaller providers? Community? Will children’s needs be safeguarded if childcare becomes the plaything of big business? Given that childcare is so massively supported by taxpayer-funded subsidies, is allowing these larger corporations and private equity firms to make such large profits a good use of those subsidies? And is this trio of corporates, private equity and developers acting in the best interests of children, if their primary

interest is making vast returns for their owners and shareholders?

Councils fast-tracking development

In certain parts of NSW, there is a trend for local councils to fast-track the building and development of early education and care services, and small operators, the community sector and those that are interested in children’s right to access high quality education and care have good reason to be concerned. Kahibah is a small suburb south of Newcastle in the Lake Macquarie Council area. For decades, families living in the area have had a choice of a few education and care services in surrounding suburbs—several community-based long day care services, a community-based preschool and a private long day care. These services are small, mostly licensed for between 25 and 50 places. This seemed like quite a suitable arrangement for this community, but then the developers moved in. A developer created a 100-place childcare centre in the suburb and leased it to G8 Education, a corporate provider Community Child Care Co-operative | Autumn 2017 | Broadside 1

continued from previous page dollars to be able to re-sign that lease.” She is also concerned about the contracts large providers are offering staff and their impact on relationships with children. “I don’t know how they can even be legal.” According to Peden, there are staff on three-hour minimum contracts and if it’s decided that they’re not needed, they are told to go home. “If you’re the one that that little person has bonded to for the day, and you’re the Corporates bypass planning regulations only person that little person wants to deal with for the day, then tough luck, you’ve done your three hours, you can From her office, Michelle Peden can see some of the go home.” construction of these large early education and care Peden says it is hard for the smaller providers to compete services in the horizon, and can see even more when she with the large developer-backed companies. “We’ve got drives around the suburb. As the owner of Kinda Capers, these private equity groups coming in with really, really a 33-place for-profit long day care centre that draws from deep pockets and they’re doing things like offering Kahibah, she believes there are many problems with two months free childcare. That’s an enormous the G8 Education centre under construction. attraction to parents who are cash strapped.” “It’s two storey, it doesn’t comply with She also points to another large for-profit quite a number of the elements of the At Affinity Education, operator, in partnership with a developer DCP [development control plan], it is down on car parking spaces and it’s only 11% of services were in the area, that has offered $100 free groceries for every child who enrolled. just 50 centimetres off the perimeter rated by ACECQA as “My concern is that when I start boundary,” says Peden. “If I wanted complaining, I just look like a private exceeding the National to develop a centre, I would need to centre who’s whingeing about be five metres off the boundary. I just Quality Standard. The competition. I don’t have any issues don’t see how that centre can comply national average is 30%.1 with competition at all, but flooding the with the regulations in offering quality market with childcare centres without care to children. I can’t understand why, ensuring the quality of the service that as an owner–operator, I’m forced to comply those centres can offer, I think, is extraordinarily with every single element of the DCP but when problematic.” a large developer comes in, the DCP just goes out the Peden says there is a problem with supply and demand. door, they cut them all sorts of slack.” “We have a serious oversupply in the Newcastle and Peden is also worried about the children who will be Greater Hunter areas.” She also believes the councils in using the centre. “They are not providing sufficient car these areas have an attitude whereby they can’t deny parking and it’s a corner block, so you’ve got children who development applications based on the fact that other will be getting out of cars near a corner on a busy road to centres around aren’t full, because they could be taken to get into a centre. The children don’t have access to outdoor the Land and Environment Court. play areas. The potential for an accident is significant Peden believes the Australian Government should stop because they haven’t been made to comply with the DCP.” approving services for Child Care Benefit and Child Care And this is not the only problematic service. “We’re Rebate as a way of ensuring supply meets demand. “Unless finding that there’s a lot of corporates, in conjunction with you can prove the centre you’re building is needed in the developers, opening very large centres in areas where area, you shouldn’t be getting a CCMS licence.” there’s not a demonstrated need.” Peden doesn’t believe that the quality of some of these Big business comes to Sutherland developments is consistent with the quality outcomes that Louise Murfet, the director of the community-based are required under the EYLF or under the whole framework Jacaranda Preschool in the Sutherland Shire, shares Peden’s and regulations. concerns, with a rash of new development applications She also says she has never seen commercial leases like lodged in the Shire. the ones being signed. “Developers are asking the lessee to The St George Leader reported that 13 childcare pay a proportion of construction costs. Then they’re signing development applications were lodged in the Shire over them up to a lease for three-to-five years and then, if they the last six months of 2016—the largest being a 174-place want to activate that lease in three-to-five years, they’re service. The 13 applications are for 800 new places overall. asking for another contribution of tens of thousands of that owns almost 8 per cent of services across Australia. The developer then sold the property via an expression of interest campaign managed by real estate giant Colliers. The purchaser of the property was promised annual rent of $300,000, with 4 per cent annual rent increases and the tenant to pay all outgoings. A 15-year lease was provided to G8 Education, with an option to extend after expiry.

2 Broadside | Autumn 2017 | Community Child Care Co-operative

Broadside SPECIAL ISSUE This compares to the 321 places approved in total in 2015, and 315 in 2016. Murfet says that large providers are assessing the amount of new apartment blocks being constructed in the area and are building childcare centres to capture the families from these, without looking at existing supply in the area—where there is actually an oversupply of places for 3–5-year-olds and an undersupply for 0–2-year-olds. But Murfet says the Sutherland Shire Council told her they cannot reject a development application, just because of issues relating to oversupply. She is also worried about quality. “I look at some of these places that are going in and there’s no outside area. There’s no outdoor with sky and sun and breeze coming for these children. They’re undercover all the time and that really concerns me. Sutherland Shire is not the middle of Sydney. We are not in the CBD, so these big places that are going in, are they what is best for children?”

How will smaller services survive?

Like Michelle Peden, Murfet is concerned about the viability of smaller services like hers. “I truly believe that if you’ve got a good program, that people will continue to come to you,” she says. “I think good services will last out. But at the same time, for the smaller service, one or two places can make a big difference to your viability.” The Draft State Environmental Planning Policy (Educational Establishments and Child Care Facilities) was released earlier this year, and proposes changes to the NSW planning system, making it easier for early education and care facilities to be built or “to ensure that facilities are well-designed, appropriately located, and fit for purpose”. The proposed SEPP introduces physical environment requirements for services that match the National Quality Framework and will reduce approval delays for developers. The SEPP will also change the ability of local councils to implement a development control plan that contains requirements that exceed NQF requirements. These include conditions councils can insert to provide higher quality care or care appropriate for their area, such as restricting centre sizes or requiring a certain number of places for 0–2-yearolds. The SEPP will also change a council’s ability to reject a development application on the grounds of location—the development may be located at any distance from an existing or proposed centre. Large developers, large corporate tenants and changes to planning policy means that smaller services will increasingly come under pressure and councils will find it more difficult to provide access to higher quality services in their local area. The SEPP is now open for consultation, and Community Child Care will be raising these issues with the NSW Government.

The stats that matter

The squeeze on small services1

17%

83%

of PROVIDERS operate just 1 service

operate more than 1 service

these providers own

of the market share

This market share is getting smaller

This market share is getting bigger

40%

60%

By 2036, in NSW there will be2…

2,700 extra LDC services 600,000 children under 5

Who will provide the additional places required?

Quality goes missing in larger providers

30%

National average

18%

G8 Early Education

% of service providers rated by ACECQA as Exceeding the National Quality 3 Standard.

PROFITS = $1 billion

Private profits created during 2015

11%

Affinity Education

1. Australia Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, NQF Snapshot Q4 2016. 2. NSW Department of Planning and Environment, Draft State Environmental Planning Policy (Educational Establishments and Child Care Facilities. 3. Australia Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, National Registers.

Community Child Care Co-operative | Autumn 2017 | Broadside 3

Broadside • Production ARMEDIA • ISSN 0819-9728 ©2017 Published by Community Child Care Co-operative Ltd. (NSW) • CEO Diane Lawson Community Child Care Co-operative Ltd. (NSW) is a not-for-profit, non-government organisation set up to advocate for and provide information to education and care services in New South Wales. Community Child Care (NSW) gratefully acknowledges the support of Microsoft Corporation in providing Community Child Care with free software under their Community Assistance Initiative. Registered Australia Post Publication No. 255003/04732. Photocopying is permitted in part – however, acknowledgement must be given. ABN 81 174 903 921

Building 21, 142 Addison Road, Marrickville NSW 2204 T: (02) 8922 6444 FreeCall: 1800 157 818 F: (02) 8922 6445 E: info@ccccnsw.org.au W: www.ccccnsw.org.au

And what about children?

Children? One might ask what do they have to do with any of this, really, because they seem to have been forgotten in this rapid expansion of services and places. Unless there are some very prodigious young learners out there, children wouldn’t be overly concerned about who owns their early education and care service or issues surrounding private equity firms and profits, but they do recognise the good relationships with their peers and strong attachments with their educators. They might not be able to articulate it very well, but children know what a good service is. Long-fought campaigns to improve educator-to-child ratios and the creation of the National Quality Framework had children at the centre of their focus, with the intention of improving outcomes for children attending early education and care services. Many in the early education and care field recognise that good quality physical environments and quality educators result in children being better equipped with future challenges in life, which results in better communities. Yes, we all know this, but it needs repeating because it’s apparent that the many people who should know better are not listening. For some investors and private equity firms that are far removed from the day-to-day management of these services, educator-to-child ratios and quality standards are seen as impediments to profits, rather than something that improves outcomes for children. As we saw with the rapid expansion of ABC Learning in the early 2000s, and the unbridled corporate greed that led to its collapse, early education and care at this level can quickly descend into chaos if left unchecked, only for governments to step in and sort out the resulting mess. The folly of high level corporate involvement in early education would not be tolerated if it were extended to the primary and secondary education sectors. So why is it tolerated in early childhood education? Treating children and childcare as a commodity that relates more to “investment-grade assets” or “profit-tochildcare place ratios” than quality education means that we are standing at the edge of an abyss, where smaller services offering high quality education and care are squeezed out by corporate and private equity entities dangling all sorts of freebies and incentives to parents in their pursuit of profits. And, if this continues, it’s a position that might be too difficult to scale back from.

Is your service being surrounded by new corporate entities or fast-tracked development? Share your stories with Community Child Care by sending an email to: info@ccccnsw.org.au 4 Broadside | Autumn 2017 | Community Child Care Co-operative

QUARTERLY WRAP

Some current movements and hot topics in early childhood education

New ACECQA CEO appointed

January 3: Gabrielle Sinclair is appointed as the new ACECQA Chief Executive Officer. Gabrielle comes to ACECQA with a wealth of knowledge and experience in children’s education and care, and we look forward to working with her.

New minister in NSW

January 31: Sarah Mitchell is announced as the new NSW Minister for Early Childhood Education in a cabinet reshuffle caused by the resignation of Premier Mike Baird. Community Child Care CEO Diane Lawson has already met with the new Minister, continuing our strong role as an advocate for educators and children. Minister Mitchell has a three-year-old child in preschool, which she says provides with a parent’s perspective in her new portfolio.

NQF changes are coming

February 13: Education ministers across Australia agree to make changes to the NQF, including clarifying and simplifying elements and standards. A revised National Quality Standard will be introduced in all states by 1 February 2018.

Kate Ellis to resign

March 9: Kate Ellis announces she will resign from politics at the next federal election. She is Shadow Minister for Education and Early Childhood, and was previously Minister for Early Childhood Education, Childcare and Youth.

The Omnibus bill

STOP PRESS!

March 23: The Australian Government struggles to have its ‘Omnibus bill’ approved and splits it into two bills. Community Child Care and 20 other peak organisations are voicing their concerns: the impact of the activity test on disadvantaged families; the emphasis on workplace participation and not early education; access for low-income families to at least 15 hours per week of early education; and additional top-up support (22.5) for ATSI families. This is a rolling issue and updates will be provided through Shortside.

Inspiration noticeboard Projector artwork Facebook: @naturesplaypreschool www.tinyurl.com/naturesplaypreschool

Recycled pallet mezzanine Facebook: @palletplay www.tinyurl.com/palletplay

Children’s artwork display Pinterest: @fcaratti (saved from www.tinyurl.com/cottage-arts)

Drawing with feet … and more Art Bar: www.tinyurl.com/art-feet

Nature-inspired provocations: www.tinyurl.com/reggio-inspired

Why kids build forts Kinstantly — www.blog.kinstantly.com/kids-forts

STEAM concepts: DIY lava lamp from Clever Patch: www.tinyurl.com/STEAM-lamp

Where do you get your inspiration?

Send your ideas to: rattlermagazine@armedia.net.au Rattler 121 Autumn 2017 | 17

Linda Burney represents many “firsts” in her 13-year career in politics. Rattler chats with the Shadow Minister for Human Services about her vision for tackling the challenges of disadvantage. What does it mean to you to be the first Aboriginal woman elected to the House of Representatives, as well as the first Aboriginal to serve in the NSW parliament? It is a big privilege and I’ve said a few times since the election that I probably underestimated what it meant to other people. I was really overwhelmed by the public response. I’m obviously very proud but more than anything I’m filled with gratitude for the support I’ve received from many people over many years—and of course to the community in Barton who put their trust in me. I don’t know that I can say exactly what it means for me, but certainly it is deeply humbling and I am very proud that the other Indigenous MPs and I can be role models for a new generation of Aboriginal leaders. Do you feel any sense of ‘burden’ from being the first, a trailblazer? And do you have any advice for other women who follow in your footsteps? My friend Wendy McCarthy (a wellknown business woman and trailblazer in her own right!) taught me very early on that women often don’t take opportunity when it is presented in the same way that men do. We often feel the weight of personal responsibility far heavier than men do and we also feel self-doubt more than they do. So my advice is always to take opportunities when you can—grasp it with both hands and don’t let go. I also always tell women entering public life that they should remember to take time for themselves, even if it is only an hour each morning. 18 | Rattler 121 Autumn 2017

When I was elevated to the Ministry in the NSW Government I was very clear that I wouldn’t be the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs—I wanted to make it clear that while I am a proud Aboriginal woman and that is a big part of me, it isn’t all of me. Too often Aboriginal people become ‘typecast’, I’ve always strived to make it clear that we can do things inside the Aboriginal space but we can contribute outside that as well. You’ve previously acknowledged the importance of early education, so what is the biggest change you’d like to see, from a government perspective, to ensure all children have the best possible start in life? Of course early childhood education is vital, so obviously increasing access is very important for me and it is something I would love to see a government pursue more effectively. We know that there are systemic issues that prevent Aboriginal children from getting access to early childhood education: cost, lack of providers and community understanding. It is a glaring example of inequality for First Australians. Most of all, I’d like to see the government stop treating early childhood as a second order issue. They need to recognise that it is vital to get this right if we are going to tackle the challenges of disadvantage. Anything we can do to address those issues and give access to Aboriginal children to the world class early childhood educators we have in this country must be supported. There has been a lot of divisive language and action in national and international politics recently. What role does the early childhood education sector play in bridging those divides, to ensure sins of our past are not repeated? Early childhood is ground zero for creating more understanding and compassionate communities. It’s when we start to teach children the basis for ethical interaction with their peers, where they learn how to work together and how to disagree respectfully.

You can’t help but feel that some of our leaders would be better served had they had the benefit of an early childhood education which taught them those values of mutual respect. What do you hope is your lasting legacy from your career in government? I hope to have brought some dignity and respect to both of the chambers I’ve served in, but I also hope to have made an impact on policy matters. I want to see governments act with real empathy and consider the implications of their policies not just in numbers and in dollars but in human terms. And your legacy from your role as Shadow Minister for Human Services, in particular? There are lots of issues in my portfolio that I want to see change but from a broad perspective I’d like to see the language we use in this area change— speaking down to people who receive Centrelink payments and treating them all as ‘leaners’ is not helpful. People don’t choose to get older, to have disability or to be carers, and for the most part they don’t choose to be unemployed. We need to work hard to make sure that we are working to help people, not demonise them. That might score cheap political points but it won’t solve any problems at all. If there was one piece of advice you’d give your younger self, what would it be? I think I’d tell my younger self to start thanking the people around me in advance, there are so many that sometimes I’m worried I won’t have time! In difficult times I’ve always been able to rely on my friends to hold me up. I think it is important for anyone to know that it is okay to need help sometimes. ✹

I want to see governments act with real empathy and consider the implications of their policies not just in numbers and in dollars but in human terms. Rattler 121 Autumn 2017 | 19

t ys

me sos ys te

ex os

t ys s ro

ic m

m ste y s ro

pedagogy TAKING RISKS WITH

When we think about how we approach risk in early education and care services, we often turn the focus on risky play. But as Claire Warden suggests, educators should also be taking more emotional risks in their approach to pedagogy. 20 | Rattler 121 Autumn 2017

should make it clear that, in my opinion, there is no perfect pedagogical norm that can be applied anywhere in the world and which works for all children. However, one thing many practitioners do have in common is a feeling of tension within their pedagogy, as they strive to develop practices that society deems as desirable, while attempting to balance their own values and the demands of other policies or agencies. Constant comparison of pedagogical approaches and rankings across countries of the world can lead to feelings of inadequacy and an illusion of a perfect education system in some far-flung land! Values and rights should underpin any pedagogy, but the way educational experiences are delivered should not be reduced to one homogenous identity; they should be flexible and complex, in order to respond to the needs of children and families. I believe that relationships with self, others and the wider world sit at the root of education and, consequently, that education is of a high quality when it is rooted in a connection to culture and community. I have previously written about risk and its effect on the intellectual, emotional and physical development of children. So, as we continue through a new academic year, let

us take an emotional risk and delve more deeply into our work. Let us consider the broader context for the children we work with and how we work with them, and then close by reflecting on whether they have the same rights as other children around the globe.

As commercialism has dominated childhood, people have felt pressure to ‘equip’ children with every manner of toy, from plastic bears to rubber pizza.

ILLUSTRATION: DEBORAH KELLY

Re-connecting to nature Our day-to-day engagement with children is influenced by much wider contexts, such as law and politics, which, in a country the size of Australia, and in common with many others around the world, are subject to ongoing change and variation. In an attempt to objectify the situation, I created a diagram* of practice to help myself visualise the influences on the practice at Auchlone Nature Kindergarten in Scotland. The approach is what I refer to as a form of nature pedagogy, with a high focus on children’s rights. Being able to visualise what influences our behaviours allowed us to challenge, develop and theorise the pedagogy we were actually developing. In order to frame my diagram, I took psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner’s concept of a series of systems that influence child development (Ecological Systems Theory) and explored them in relation to nature-based learning. Underneath these systems is the chronosystem that places experiences within a point in time. For example, what was accepted in the 1800s may not be relevant now, as our understanding of the learning process and society has moved on in its thinking. Conversely, there may be some values that have not changed over time. In relation to nature pedagogy, many people around the world have always felt rooted in a physical place, through a connection to land and a belief that, as humans, we are fundamentally part of nature. As our developed world removes us further and further from nature, sometimes into a place of virtual worlds which bear little resemblance to reality, it should be possible to re-connect to nature, on the basis of fundamentally being part of it, rather than looking to connect to nature, which has the air of a far more daunting undertaking! You may be thinking I am only referring to online games and television, but as an observer of children and family life, I see our removal from nature as being more widespread. For instance, the placing of very young babies in designer prams, removed from the human

heartbeat which they are hard wired to listen for; or real world learning reduced to vicarious experiences; or where equipment has replaced humans, so that engagement has become limited to some form of inflexible interface, rather than the experience of the tangible emotion of another human being. As commercialism has dominated childhood, people have felt pressure to ‘equip’ children with every manner of toy, from plastic bears to rubber pizza. What were the influencers on that behaviour? Trade perhaps, societal pressure to conform, law, in terms of regulations, but certainly not relationships or research. If we, as practitioners, trust the play affordances of the loose materials that nature provides, we can offer a basket of stones and pebbles in the math area in the sure knowledge that children will count and sort them. If we see the natural beauty of real materials, we will provide skeleton leaves on a light table and plants in the book corner. If we are aware of the sensitive nature of children’s vision, we will give them many shades of green, not just one. If we understand the sensorial complexity of nature, we will allow children to create small worlds inside, with real grass trays, twig fences and stone walls. If we believe in the calming effect of nature, we will put leaves in the sand tray to simply handle. When we believe in the all-encompassing effect of re-connecting to nature, we will allow children to watch a candle burn as they eat their snack and reflect on their time outside, as they sit in the comfortable knowledge that nature has been invited in. Our role as a practitioner is influenced by the other systems and the people who work in them, who make decisions, which will ultimately have a bearing on what we do. For the child however, it is you they know, the people in their daily world who have a choice, every day, about how they will behave. It is the individuals, not the larger systems, who control how much effort they will

put into the preparation of the learning environment, how their face will convey joy and care on seeing another human being, which words they use to speak to children and what tone they adopt. So what are the rights that we as individuals have control over in education, every day, irrespective of the politicians, commerce or the law? Here are just 10 that come to mind: ◆ t he right to be smiled at and laughed with ◆ t he right to feel the wind in your hair and the joy of physicality ◆ the right to nature ◆ the right to feel satiated ◆ the right to have an inquisitive look ◆ the right to take something apart ◆ the right to have someone to listen ◆ the right to be noticed ◆ the right to be included ◆ the right to be accepted. In some places around the world, such as the Scandinavian countries, these rights are made visible in the pedagogy of the people, policies and the wider systems. This joined-up thinking allows children and families to flourish in a secure, supportive and consistent framework. In those countries where there is a time of change and uncertainty, or people in the larger systems who do not understand that we need to look to ourselves, we need to ask how can we make a difference every day in the lives of children and families. We have to afford them the rights that other children have around the world, while still maintaining a country-specific cultural identity, enshrined within a pedagogy that celebrates global diversity. ✹ Claire Warden is an international speaker, educator and the founder of Scotland’s first nature kindergarten, and Mindstretchers education consultancy (mindstretchers.co.uk). She is in Australia from March to November 2017, running her Nature Pedagogy six-day course. See her website at: www.claire-warden.com * For a copy of Claire Warden’s diagram, an excerpt from her 2015 book, Learning with Nature: Embedding outdoor practice, visit www.ccccnsw.org.au/rattlerresources Rattler 121 Autumn 2017 | 21

Staffing arrangements

Winanga-Li Aboriginal Child and Family Centre has overcome many challenges in recruiting educators and staff from within a small rural setting. And a focus on staff training and mentoring ensures that employees feel valued and supported within their roles. By Allison West.

e’ve all heard the old real estate edict ‘location, location, location’, but at Winanga-Li Early Learning and Care Service, it’s all about ‘staffing, staffing, staffing’. Back in 2012, we were presented with a unique opportunity to establish a new service and we learnt very quickly that finding the right staff would be the key to our success. Winanga-Li Aboriginal Child and Family Centre is located in Gunnedah in rural north-west NSW. Winanga-Li is one of nine centres in NSW, and 38 nationally, that were established and funded as a Closing the Gap initiative under the Early Childhood Development National Partnership Agreement. The overall aim of the centres was to provide culturally safe and appropriate education and care and support services for children from birth to eight years, and their families. Gunnedah was chosen as a Child and Family Centre site because of our large Aboriginal population and also the high percentage of young mums within our community. Services within the Aboriginal Child and Family Centres 22 | Rattler 121 Autumn 2017

were to be delivered via an integrated service model. Early Learning and Care Services, supported playgroups and various family support services were to be provided from one central location, with centres becoming a ‘one-stop shop’ with multiple entry points for families. We started in 2012 with four staff; a director, two trainee educators and a centre manager. We were located in an unused Uniting Church hall and the first service we provided for the community was a supported playgroup. Five years later, Winanga-Li employs 37 staff and provides services to children and families in 28 local government areas. Services we provide are aimed at supporting Aboriginal and disadvantaged families throughout these regions and include supported playgroups, transition to school programs, Early Links and Ability Links and Aboriginal Child Youth and Family Support programs. Our main office in Gunnedah is home to Winanga-Li Early Learning and Care Service, our 35-place long day care centre. We have 67 children enrolled for 2017, 54 of whom are Aboriginal. Our service employs nine educators, an

CASE STUDY

Quality Area 4 Staffing Arrangements

PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY WINANGA-LI ABORIGINAL CHILD AND FAMILY CENTRE

Standard 4.1 Staffing arrangements enhance childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s learning and development and ensure their safety and wellbeing.

Standard 4.2 Educators, co-ordinators and staff members are respectful and ethical. Element 4.2.2 Educators, co-ordinators and staff members work collaboratively and affirm, challenge, support and learn from each other to further develop their skills and to improve practice and relationships.

early childhood teacher, administration officer and a cook, and almost all of our staff are people from within our local Aboriginal community. We officially opened our doors for childcare in July 2013, with a service philosophy emphasising holistic support for families and children and recognising the importance of early intervention, both in relation to childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s development and supporting families. The establishment of Winanga-Li presented us with many challenges, but none more important than ensuring we were able to recruit and retain educators and staff. We needed people with a unique set of skills to work with the complex needs of families within our community, and to fit into the integrated service delivery model we were tasked with creating. In our initial recruitment of staff, all roles were designated as Aboriginal Identified positions, as part of our commitment to providing employment and training for Aboriginal people. Recruiting Aboriginal staff has also allowed us to create a culturally safe place within our community. This is a consideration that has been vital in terms of reaching out to Aboriginal families who have been reluctant to access services, including early learning and care, in the past. As Winanga-Li has grown and diversified, we have employed a number of nonAboriginal staff with a strong connection to the community, however 95 per cent of our team are Aboriginal people. Employing local Aboriginal educators within our early learning and care service allows us to embed local Gamilaroi Rattler 121 Autumn 2017 | 23

CASE STUDY QA4

Staffing arrangements

culture in all aspects of our program. Our educators proudly share their own cultural understandings and experiences, which in turn strengthens the cultural identity of our children. They are strong, positive role models, who instil confidence and determination in every child attending our service. They are local people who are known and respected within the community. Many of the children attending our service are in Out of Home Care, in the care of grandparents or great grandparents or have been identified as being ‘at risk’ by Family and Community Services. This adds an extra layer of complexity to the job of our educators, because they are often the first and main point of contact for many of our families who are in crisis. Our educator’s strong relationships with our families and their non-judgemental understanding of our children’s home lives allows us to ensure that families receive support as early as possible. They have become ‘accidental counsellors’ and seldom realise the huge positive impact that their quick chat each morning can have for a parent who is struggling. Working at the coalface with families and children involved in the child protection system can be emotional and traumatic, and requires both strength and sensitivity from our educators. Our management team ensures that there is a strong support network available to help staff work through difficult experiences, including access to clinical support. Professional development Winanga-Li is committed to providing staff with opportunities for professional development and career advancement. Since 2012, one educator has completed her Certificate III, three educators have completed their Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care and our ECT has completed a Masters in Early Childhood. Two educators are currently undertaking their Diploma and one is completing a Certificate III. In order to meet the requirements for study and programming time, we have two educators working in designated float roles. This ensures that everyone receives their

study and programming time and that there is consistency and familiarity for the children throughout the week. Organisation is definitely key to ensuring that our rosters stay on track. We aim to stick to timeframes as closely as possible, but there are inevitably days when everything goes out the window and patience and flexibility are a must! We have a small pool of casual educators on call, all of whom are familiar faces within the service. We find that consistency of casuals reduces stress and anxiety for our children and also allows our programs to continue with minimal disruption. We are also fortunate to have trained educators employed within the wider organisation in other roles. We are sometimes able to backfill by ‘borrowing’ these educators, making it somewhat easier to rearrange rosters to cover anyone who is absent. One of the ongoing challenges we face in relation to staffing is finding the right people for particular positions within a relatively small community. Over time, we have realised that

Tips for hiring success

✚ L ook for educators and staff who will be a good fit for your families and understand the context of your community. ✚ Recruit for personality, rather than qualifications.

✚C ommit to capacity building and supporting staff to upgrade their qualifications. ✚ Make mentoring and support for your team a priority.

✚R ecruit local people wherever possible when providing outreach services—local knowledge is invaluable. 24 | Rattler 121 Autumn 2017

Mentoring and collaboration play huge roles in ensuring that our employees feel valued and supported within their roles.

finding someone with the right personality is just as important as the qualifications they hold. Our work is challenging and demanding, both physically and emotionally. Understandably, employment within our centre is not the right fit for everybody and we need to be very conscious of this when recruiting. Although the pool of people we draw from is small, our willingness to provide training and mentoring has made this manageable. By ensuring that this type of support is available, we are able to focus on finding staff and educators who we know will be the right fit for our families and our community. One of our current educators was initially employed as our cleaner. She expressed an interest in early learning and care and was offered some work at our supported playgroup. Since then, she has progressed to a trainee role in our two-to-threeyears room and will complete her Certificate III in the next few months. Similarly, another educator began her link with the service by bringing her twin daughters to our supported playgroup. We saw her connection with the other families and added her to our list of casuals. She is now employed as one of our full-time educators. Providing outreach services in other communities, such as supported playgroups and transition to school programs,

presents the same staffing challenges we face in Gunnedah. Our Early Learning and Care manager seeks out local community members to work alongside educators from Gunnedah to run all of these programs. Without someone local to each community, the success of these programs would be limited. Experience tells us that families are much more likely to access a service staffed by someone they know and trust. Mentoring and collaboration play huge roles in ensuring that our employees feel valued and supported within their roles. Within our service, mentoring is less formal and structured, and is more about finding the time to sit down and have a yarn. We share ideas, ask questions and hold each other up when things are tough. We have worked hard on recognising and valuing the different strengths and skills we bring to the table and share our expertise willingly. The strong personalities that are a benefit in so many areas of our work can make collaboration tricky from time to time, but open communication allows us to work as a supportive team. â&#x153;š Allison West is early learning coordinator at Winanga-Li Aboriginal Child and Family Centre.

Rattler 121 Autumn 2017 | 25

START STRONG

THE STORY SO FAR

Many NSW preschools have already made changes to their operations to come under the new Start Strong funding model. Rattler takes a closer look to find out how the funding changes are impacting services to date.

ast year, in a push to ensure all NSW children have access to preschool in the year before school, the NSW government launched Start Strong, a new funding model that gives community preschools a share in an additional $115 million dollars of funding. Under the new funding, preschools that enrol children for at least 600 hours in the year before school receive increased subsidies. Aboriginal children and children from disadvantaged backgrounds will have access to increased funding for two years before school, which will cover over 90 per cent of the cost of education and care. As part of the rollout, the Department of Education’s Early Childhood Education directorate conducted road shows around the state to explain the details of the changes, and to answer questions from preschools about how the changes could impact preschool operations. The workshops were run with Community Child Care Co-operative and Community Connections Solutions Australia (CCSA), who were able to work with individual preschools to help them maximise the number of children who benefit from 600 hours, optimise their financial sustainability and minimise cost to families. “We also sat down with preschools one-on-one, and went through what the funding looks like for them, what changes they were already doing and 26 | Rattler 121 Autumn 2017

what changes they might need to do,” says Tracy Mackey, executive director, Early Childhood Education. “I think the biggest concern that people [at the road shows] had is what it means for them,” Mackey says. “Given that the majority of community preschools are standalone services, they were very concerned about what it means for their funding in the next 12 months—how they are going to be sustainable.” Under Start Strong, NSW community preschools will share in $85 million in increased funding, which is applied to the base rates for children achieving 600 hours. As a result, Mackey says most preschools across NSW have seen an increase in funding since implementation began on 1 January this year. The remaining $30 million will go towards long day care services running preschool programs. Mackey says the long day care component is still being finalised, and expects implementation a little later this year. When asked about services that may have been negatively affected by the new funding, Mackey is quick to point out that no preschools will be worse off because of the changes in funding. “The only reason why preschools may have decreased their funding would be because of a decrease in the number of enrolments that they have.” The response her department has received from preschools so far has been overwhelmingly positive. “We know how much it means to preschools because of the 732 preschools across the state, 606 of them are going to be early adopters,” Mackey adds. Although full implementation of the funding is not expected until July

this year, preschools that were able to offer 600 hours from the start of the preschool year could access the increased base rates as ‘early adopters’. “We wanted to get the money out as quickly as possible to assist families in preschools. So we said if preschools were able to offer programs of 600 hours at the beginning of this school year, we would pay them the new base rates from the beginning of this calendar year.” So what’s changed? That depends on what the preschool is offering its community, Mackey says. “The funding hasn’t changed,” she says. “Previous funding was all based on enrolments. We haven’t changed the basis of the funding, it’s still attached to enrolments.” What has changed is the requirement for services to meet 600 hours. “Under the previous funding—the Preschool Funding Model—we asked that enrolments be for 600 hours, which usually equates to two days, but there’s all sorts of ways to get to 600 hours.” But because the 600 hours component wasn’t a requirement to secure funding under the previous model, there was a mix of what preschools were offering their communities. “There was about 67 per cent of enrolments that were for 600 hours and the remainder weren’t,” Mackey explains.

Under the safety net

It is clear that not all services are created equal when it comes to maintaining enrolments to make a preschool viable. This is why the Service Safety Net was introduced, for those preschools that have really low enrolments. “Particularly in remote and very rural parts of the state where some services might only have three, six, eight kids that are in that local community to attend each year,” Mackey explains. “It’s been very hard for them on a per-child funding basis to get enough money in the door to pay for the teacher, to pay the electricity, to pay the rates or the rent on the building. Just to keep the doors open has been a real struggle for them. Those services have had to fund raise incessantly just to keep things going. “The safety net guarantees these services a minimum amount of funding, which is $132,000 a year, which equates to 20 enrolments. So they get that minimum amount of funding, as long as they have, over a three-year period, on

On the road: (L-to-R) Amanda Archer (CSCM coordinator), John Gunn (CCSA), Tracey Mackey (executive director, Early Childhood Education), Diane Lawson (CEO Community Child Care Co-operative) and Meg Mendham (CEO CCSA).

average five children enrolled.” Thanks to the road shows conducted by the department (with Community Child Care and CCSA), Mackey says they were able to identify eligible preschools and send out invitations for them to join the safety net. “We had more than 1,000 people come to the road shows, which represented over 75 per cent of all of the preschools across the state. A lot of these small services came to those road shows, and when we did the one-on-one sessions with them we were clear about whether or not we thought they were eligible for the safety net.” Around 35 preschools were identified as immediately eligible and, at the time of writing, about the same number again were being assessed to see that they met the eligibility requirement. All preschools have access to

Start Strong funding until mid-2018, with future funding dependent on negotiations around the National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education, which expires at the end of this year. “Until we know what the contribution is from the Commonwealth,” Mackey says, “it’s too early for us to tell what state funding is required.”

Where to get help

If your preschool still has questions, Mackey says the department has a dedicated team to help. Community Child Care continues to offer hands-on support for preschools as they transition to full implementation of Start Strong. If you have any questions about your funding, please call Community Child Care on 1800 157 818 or email: info@ccccnsw.org.au ✹

START STRONG SECURE

Since Start Strong was announced last year, the NSW Government has seen a change in leadership, with Gladys Berejiklian stepping into the role of premier, and Sarah Mitchell becoming the new early childhood education minister (taking over from Lesley Williams). We asked Minister Mitchell, herself a parent to a child attending a communitybased preschool, whether she is as committed to Start Strong as her predecessor: “Absolutely, I am committed to Start Strong. I want to ensure that all children in NSW can participate in over 600 hours of quality preschool education in the year before school. “As a parent, I understand that every family is different, including my own. Start Strong is a needs-based funding model designed to support families by making early childhood education affordable. In terms of the preschool my daughter attends, due to Start Strong they have increased their opening hours from 9am–3pm to 8am–3.30pm, which offers more flexibility and choice to us as a working family.

“I want services right across NSW to know that we are here to help, not hinder. I understand how critical early childhood education is for a child’s development, and as Minister I will work with my colleagues to ensure that these services are supported. “All states and territories have agreed to support preschool programs in all settings and I will continue to have conversations with my interstate colleagues to ensure we are best positioned to negotiate with the Australian Government [on Universal Access] to deliver quality preschool programs for all children.”

Rattler 121 Autumn 2017 | 27

In action

START STRONG

Notes from the field

Two preschools show us how Start Strong is working in their distinct settings.

n For Dubbo West Preschool Inc, the Start Strong funding model has achieved the goal of 600 hours for four-year-olds enrolled in the preschool… – SEIFA band: 11 – Licenced places: 80 per day – Enrolments across the week: 220 children – Equity children: 75 “We did have questions about how the rollout would affect our preschool, particularly around staffing changes. These included how much the increase would be and whether it would cover the increase in hours of staffing; how much funding would be used to lower fees; the duration of the funding after all changes had been implemented; how to amend contracts temporarily; and how to manage shift changes without an increase in the number of staff, while continuing to provide quality care through consistent primary care staff. “Our enrolment practices have not changed, with our priority of access remaining the same. The only change has been our extension of operating hours to move all of our four-year-olds to the 600 hours. “The additional funds have been used to extend some staff hours and the majority has been used to reduce fees in line with the guidelines.” —Cathryn Albert, director. n At Merriwa Preschool and Activity Centre, there’s a different story, and the preschool says it needs to use reserve funds to “weather the storm” as they transition fully into Start Strong… – SEIFA band: 11 – Licenced places: 24 per day – Enrolments across the week: 54 – Equity children: 29

“Our enrolments are fairly fluid. Our community is a large farming community and there’s a low percentage of doubleincome families, which impacts on the way people want to enrol their children. They don’t necessarily want to be dictated to in regards to the days they can have. “We have about 16 two-year-olds enrolled on Mondays, who are all non-equity children. We also have a fairly high percentage of three-year-olds, who are unfunded as well. This leaves a big burden on the four- and five-year-old children who are ‘eligible’ to cover the entire service profile, and the rest of the children. “We increased our hours from six hours per day to sevenand-a-half hours, to help meet the 600 hours requirement, but our enrolments mean we couldn’t reduce the fee very much. In future, as we march through the Start Strong model, we will be able to offer those reductions if we can make our enrolments more rigid. But that just doesn’t fit our profile. We’re not in high demand, we don’t have a waiting list. We are at the mercy of how people want to enrol. I don’t know how we’ll get there (to increase the number of equity children) unless we somehow reduce our provision to the community and create that demand. “And licensed for 24 children, we are just above the safety net. We also have high staff-to-child ratios. And there are added staffing costs and admin costs that we now incur since increasing our hours. “I’ve talked to other directors who are not really engaging very much with Start Strong. The dialogue is along the lines of, ‘We don’t know how long this is going to last’. So we change our enrolments, change our hours for 12 months, but who knows what is to happen [after the funding ends]. A lot of work (and stress) is involved in these changes, and in working with the community, and there’s just no guarantees.” —Leah Folpp, director.

Children at Merriwa Preschool and Activity Centre

28 | Rattler 121 Autumn 2017

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In Rattler’s literary roundup, we preview what’s new on the shelves… Only For Me

Michelle Derrig and Nicole Mackenzie Dewfall Publishing RRP: $15.95* Only For Me is a resource that aims to empower children with the knowledge that their body is private and they have a right to protect their privacy. The rhyming text and colourful illustrations present challenging material in a gentle, age-appropriate way. And as well as being a useful tool in early education services (aimed at children aged three to eight years) parents may also find it a valuable way to open up challenging discussions about protective behaviours. (*The author is donating 100 per cent of royalties to agencies treating victims and preventing child sexual abuse.)

Being Friends With Brodie Finch

Candy Lawrence MonkeyRead.me RRP: $30 When new boy Bodie Finch joins Zara’s class, she struggles to understand why he behaves the way he does. Sometimes Bodie snatches toys, disrupts games and throws chairs, and Zara gets scared. But when Miss Tinker joins the class as Bodie’s special teacher, she helps Zara and her friends empathise with and better understand Bodie’s behaviour, with some unexpected results. Candy Lawrence created Being Friends With Bodie Finch to help unlock some of the mysteries of autism in a child-friendly way. The book, which was brought to life by a crowd funding campaign, also comes with a digital handbook for educators and parents, to help them support children when a child with autism joins their class.

30 | Rattler 121 Autumn 2017

Voices & Visions: Aboriginal Early Childhood Education in Australia

Edited by Karen Martin Pademelon Press RRP: $59.95 “Just as our visions will be the present of some young Aboriginal children who are not yet born, these will be made real through our voices and actions right now. The question begs to be asked: What kind of people do we want those children of the future to remember us as being?”—Karen Martin, editor. This book is the first of its kind written by Aboriginal educators, with contributions from all over Australia, and reflects professional and personal stories of practitioners in Aboriginal early childhood education. Divided into five parts, Voices and Visions outlines the contexts and worldviews of Aboriginal peoples in early childhood education in Australia— looking at the past, the present and the future—and how each individual author’s stories and experiences inform their practice. As Dr Jackie Huggins, co-chair National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, writes in her foreword: “This book reflects the stories of practitioners in Aboriginal early childhood education in Australia. It is not just their stories, but a text for how Aboriginal worldviews and frameworks are incorporated in what they do. “As Aboriginal people we have always had to conform to a Western schooling system, one which does not fully appreciate our knowledges. In what you are about to read there is an implied but silent script in that, ‘you listen now and let us tell you’.”

The Little Green Spade learning diaries series

Community Child Care Co-operative RRP: $24.95 (plus postage) Produced by early childhood educators for early childhood educators, the series of five The Little Green Spade learning diaries cover a range of innovative and creative experiences that engage young children with positive learning about nature-based healthy lifestyle choices. With stunning photography and easyto-follow tips and advice, each learning diary provides ideas for intentional teaching opportunities, and links to the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality Standard. The diaries also include advice on what to plant, what to harvest, what to cook, a special ‘do-it-yourself’ project, educator tips, sustaining and maintaining your garden, seasonal information, and developmental skills and concepts that support children’s learning. For more information about Little Green Spade booklets, visit www.ccccnsw.org.au/shop

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Come and enjoy 3 days of building, enhancing and enriching skills. Engage in high-level thinking and explore how you can create: • a rich and meaningful education program and practice. • an effective and highly functioning team that works in genuine partnerships with families. • true engagement with and responsiveness to your community’s needs. Gain NESA (formerly known as BOSTES) accreditation hours.

Participants can undertake a voluntary assessment to receive a unit of competency from the CHC62015 Advanced Diploma in Community Sector Management.

1 day $400/$450 member/non-member (Weds Keynote speaker day) or 3 day retreat $850/$900 member/non-member Experienced Director’s Retreat – Monday, 8th – Wednesday 10th May New (and Fairly New) Director’s Retreat – Wednesday, 10th May – Friday, 12th May

To book: ccccnsw.org.au/events Join us by the beach at Eventhouse Cronulla (formerly Rydges Cronulla) 20-26 The Kingsway, Cronulla. Accommodation is not included in this price, however if you would like to stay at Eventhouse Cronulla, just quote 1705COMMUN to receive a reduced room rate of $224 - room and breakfast.

Training provided by: Community Child Care Co-operative