Early Years Journal
Volume 2 Number 2 2013 Australian Childcare Alliance
r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e f u t u r e o f A u s t r a l i a ’s c h i l d r e n
From diploma to degree How do educators make the jump?
What a coop! Use chickens to go green
Practise your prose How educators
can master
the art of storytelling
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general news
President’s report With winter upon us, caring for sick children in long day care is back in the news.
T
he National Health and Medical Research Council’s fifth edition of ‘Staying healthy: preventing infectious diseases in early childhood education and care’ is now available with new procedures and suggestions for all approved providers and educators to work through on issues of health and safety in childcare settings. Remember to update your policies and procedures to reflect this current edition when you refer to it as a source. Nearly 18 months have passed since the implementation of the National Quality Framework. With the publication of the first round of National Quality Standard assessments by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) congratulates all the services that have gone through the process as the results are better than expected considering such a short implementation time and considerable change in process. The ‘Working Towards’ rating has caused much media comment and we do believe that this result, in most cases, is not indicative of the overall education and care that children in services are receiving. It is a challenge to ensure that all of the elements are met at the higher standard at all times by all educators across a service. The ACA has sent a letter to all Council of Australian Government ministers with a list of regulatory implementation issues that have been identified Australia-wide. Issues on this list include:
commencement of their employment from 1 January 2014 • concerns about meeting staffing requirements ‘at all times’, including sick leave fills • inconsistency of assessments • following due process of notifiable events. The ACA will be conducting a survey in the next month for services to advise us of their progress through the system. We look forward to hearing your views. The announcement by the Prime Minister of the grant of $300 million (for a two-year period) to establish the Early Years Quality Fund to support wage increases for ‘up to 40 per cent’ of educators in the sector has caused considerable anguish among our staff teams. The ACA will continue to work with the sector and with our legal advisers as this unfolds. The ACA committee will be in Parliament House in June, meeting with all parties to put forward the concerns and enthusiasms for the sector. The latest edition of ‘Staying healthy: preventing infectious diseases in early childhood education and care’, can be found online here: www.nhmrc.gov.au/_ files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/ch55_staying_ healthy_childcare_5th_edition_0.pdf. Gwynn Bridge President, Australian Childcare Alliance Email: President@australianchildcarealliance.org.au
• certified supervisor applications • concerns over the shortage of early childhood teachers for services to meet 1 January 2014 requirements • the requirement for all staff to be studying at
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 1
Contents General news
Occupational health + safety
President’s report 1
Safe food handling 40
Small Green Steps 3
Follow best practice with food handling.
A new program helps services increase sustainability.
State round-up 4 News bites 10 uestionable funding boost to long day care 12 Q providers Will the new government grant for educators satisfy workers in the industry?
Incursions I’m not an animal! Oh, yes you are! 44 Animals provide creative learning in the classroom.
Nutrition + menu planning Get Up & Grow changes for your service 46
Question time with Peter Garrett AM MP 14
New guidelines put a greater emphasis on wholegrains and plant food.
The minister answers the ACA’s questions on the funding boost.
Finance, business + property
Smoothing the framework bumps 16
You are not alone 50
The coalition outlines its plans for government.
Seeking advice is not a sign of failure.
Brand damage 54 The rise and risk of social media.
Education + training Moving from diploma to degree 18 Educators can upgrade their qualifications and stay in the workforce.
Educators as authors 22 Hook readers in with thoughtful learning stories.
Human resources management
Give me a crèche among the gumtrees… 24
Leadership: an art form in the making 58
Have a look at a ‘bush kindy’ on the Central Coast.
What kind of leader do you want to be?
Inclusive programs can increase occupancy 30 A specialised service can increase staff training and a centre’s occupancy.
Educational resources, programs + planning Activities for teaching colours 35 A new book series helps educators with activity ideas.
One Laptop per Child 38 A new laptop system teaches children to use and repair the machines.
Child health + safety Making child protection a habit 60 Child protection skills need to be included in everyday routines.
Play areas + sustainable practice The chicken and the egg 62 How a chicken coop can increase your sustainable practice.
Editor: Megan McGay
Cover image: istockphoto.com
Designed by: Alma McHugh
The editor, publisher, printer and their staff and agents are not responsible for the accuracy or correctness of the text of contributions contained in this publication or for the consequences of any use made of the products, and the information referred to in this publication. The editor, publisher, printer and their staff and agents expressly disclaim all liability of whatsoever nature for any consequences arising from any errors or omissions contained in this publication, whether caused to a purchaser of this publication or otherwise. The views expressed in the articles and other material published herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor and publisher or their staff or agents. The responsibility for the accuracy of information is that of the individual contributors and neither the publisher nor editors can accept responsibility for the accuracy of information that is supplied by others. It is impossible for the publisher and editors to ensure that the advertisements and other material herein comply with the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). Readers should make their own inquiries in making any decisions and, where necessary, seek professional advice.
Published by:
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2 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
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Small Green Steps
T
he National Quality Framework (NQF) has highlighted the importance of implementing sustainable practices as well as educating children about them. Services must weave these practices into their overall programming and day-today business management.
Regulatory compliance Standard 3.3 in the NQF requires centres to promote and embed sustainable practices within the immediate service as well as the wider community, with the aim of fostering respect and care for the environment in future generations. Outcome 2 of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) also requires educators to help children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment.
What is global warming and climate change? Global warming is the increase in average water, land and atmospheric temperatures as a result of increasing greenhouse gasses trapping heat in the atmosphere. This warming exceeds naturally expected limits and is linked to human activities. Such increases will have potentially disastrous ecological consequences (Barrett et al 2007). Climate change resulting from global warming is arguably the most serious threat facing humanity this century (Dallas 2008). It encompasses any substantial variation in measurements of climate, such as temperature, precipitation and wind. These changes are occurring with increased frequency and intensity (Dallas 2008). Climate change is expected to affect people both now and in the future.
By Anne Clark
So how do we start? We take ‘Small Green Steps’. The Australian Childcare Alliance, in partnership with Sustainable Directions, is offering centres a unique and cost-effective online training program called Small Green Steps. It has been specifically designed for the children’s services sector. The program helps childcare centres develop: a basic understanding of climate change, environmental policies, procedures, action plans, and methods on forming a ‘green team’. Services have the opportunity to measure their carbon footprint, look at waste management and energy efficiency, make better consumer choices, develop activities for children, and promote energy-saving ideas for families. Each individual service will need to register for the online package, which includes sample recordkeeping forms, templates, and 12 months’ online support. If you would like to register your service in the Small Green Steps online program, email admin@australianchildcarealliance.org.au. The program will cost $225.00 per individual service registration. Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, 2011, Guide to the National Quality Standard. Barrett, G, Payten, P and Goldsmith, S, 2007, Your Eco Handbook: Achieving a Sustainable Future, Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd. Council of Australian Governments, 2009, The Early Years Framework for Australia – Belonging, Being and Becoming. Dallas, N, 2008, Climate Change Basics. McGraw Hill, Australia. The United Nations, 1987, Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future, (also known as the Brundtland Report).
What is Sustainability? Sustainability is commonly defined as ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (Brundtland Report 1987). BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 3
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State round-up on 16 and 17 March. The event was a great success, with a record number of visitors, trade exhibitors and attendees to workshops. We had over 100 exhibitors and over 600 delegates attend the workshops and 2000 visitors in total over the two days.
2013 – THE YEAR AHEAD What will childcare look like in the next 12 months?
C
hildcare will become a major talking point throughout the 2013 federal election campaign. Affordability for families will be a driving force behind the relevant party policies. As service providers we play an important role to educate our parents on what the industry issues are and what is needed to make it affordable for all. Child Care New South Wales, alongside the Australian Childcare Alliance, is working hard in communicating our concerns with solutions to all sides of politics. The shortage of early childhood teachers (ECTs) is starting to affect many services. We hear many stories from our members about their concerns and frustrations in trying to source a suitable ECT to fulfil the requirements of the National Quality Framework (NQF). This shortage is becoming the number one concern for members in regional areas. As an association, we will continue to advocate for our members and keep them updated on progress.
Early Years Exhibition and Conference 2013 On a more positive note, the Early Years Exhibition and Conference 2013 was held at Rosehill Gardens Visitors at the Early Years Exhibition and Conference
Child Care New South Wales would like to thank all our members who supported the event, particularly our regional services, from which 40 per cent of the delegates came. The event also attracted visitors from all states around Australia. Feedback was very positive. We received many emails about how they loved the program, variety and quality of the information provided. Importantly, many delegates were educators from services. The most popular workshops were about programming, sustainability, information technology in childcare and the assessment and rating process. Many of the exhibitors commented on the quality of enquiries received, with a large number already committing to the event in 2014!
Supplier Member Program The Child Care New South Wales Supplier Member Program is growing from strength to strength. As an association, we are building stronger ties with industry partners to provide benefits to members but also to offer a choice of products or services. If you are a supplier to the early childhood industry and wish to find out more about what Child Care New South Wales can do to support your business, please contact us.
2013 Australian Child Care Week Child Care New South Wales is pleased again to be involved in the Australian Child Care Week 2013 program. The 2012 event was celebrated with 2200 activities at approximately 400 services throughout Australia. The program brings together the industry and is a celebration of what we do well. Australian Child Care Week has been set for 17 to 21 June, ending with a National Celebration Dinner in Sydney on 7 September. Services will receive more information about the week and how to be involved. We encourage all services to be involved and be proud.
Jason Sultana, Association Services Manager, Child Care New South Wales PO Box 660, Parramatta NSW 2124 T: 1300 556 330 F: 1300 557 228 E: Jason@childcarensw.com.au www.childcarensw.com.au
4 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
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staffed with casuals who have had little induction. With regard to the role of the educational leader, centres are unsure of how it works and the role to be performed.
In March, Child Care Centres Association of Victoria (Child Care Victoria) held its General Members’ Meeting at Holmesglen, Glen Waverley. We would like to thank Holmesglen for once again supporting us by providing the venue for the meeting and the executive committee meeting that preceded it. Madeleine Smith, Executive Director of the Quality Assessment and Regulation Division of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, attended the meeting and presented a lecture entitled ‘Assessment and Rating under the National Law’. Ms Smith advised members that since assessment and rating visits commenced in July 2012 the DEECD has assessed 490 services, including 189 long day care centres. She said the response to the assessment and rating process has generally been positive. Long day care centres are performing well on Quality Area 4 – staffing arrangements; Quality Area 6 – collaborative partnerships with families and communities; Standard 3.1 – design and location of premises and Standard 7.3 – effective administrative systems, especially in the area of record keeping and notification of incidents. Some of the more challenging areas are Quality Area 1 – educational program and practice; Standard 3.3 – the service takes an active role in caring for its environment and contributes to a sustainable future; and, Standard 7.1 – effective leadership promotes a positive organisational culture and builds a professional learning community. Some centres tended to be over-
Other issues include: consistency across a service; current Working with Children checks; at least one educator in attendance at all times with current first aid and anaphylaxis qualifications; centres failing to monitor expiry dates and ensuring ongoing training; and, risk assessment in relation to excursions. At a national level, the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) has now begun its study into the costs associated with the extra administrative burden imposed as a result of the implementation of the National Quality Framework (NQF). Several of Child Care Victoria’s members have been selected to take part in this study. We have been advised that ACECQA is happy to take any feedback from services, even if not selected, in order for them to form a complete picture. What ACECQA want to know is specifically where this extra time is being spent, and more importantly, what impact this is having on all management and educators in performing their role of looking after children. It appears they will also be looking at the financial impact of this burden. We would certainly encourage any service contacted to participate, as this is an opportunity to have a voice about how many additional administrative tasks are being undertaken directly as a result of the NQF. The more information they are given, the better the chance of getting an accurate picture of the situation.
Frank Cusmano, CEO, Child Care Centres Association of Victoria, Inc Suite 6, 539 Highett Road, Highett VIC 3190 T: (03) 9532 2017 | F: (03) 9532 3336 Email: info@cccav.org.au | www.cccav.org.au
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BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 5
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The South Australian campaign on affordability for families continues… Childcare South Australia has been actively represented by a small working group who has continued the pressure on politicians in South Australia and a push for action on the many issues confronting childcare centre operators. In a recent media report, Childcare South Australia was listed in the top 10 most prominent lobby groups in the state. The Liberal Party opposition has proposed a state-based parliamentary inquiry into all aspects of childcare. In addition, they are putting forward a private members’ bill to directly address the implementation of some of the most costly reforms. Childcare South Australia is supporting these actions with an ongoing strong media campaign and a petition from families and employees. The Executive met with a number of ministers and some members have had ministers visiting their centres to enhance their understanding of the matters and the positions of the centres and their families. The Association was pleased with the invitation to reconvene with the Minister of Child Care, Kate Ellis, to rediscuss the matters that have been raised with her over the last few months.
The Early Years Quality Fund
increasing pressure from the United Voice Union and its delegates, all in a very tight timeframe. The government has gone to great lengths to assure us that union membership is not a requirement – quite true under the Fair Work Act 2009 – but the reality under the application and assessment process is yet to be seen. In the meantime the government had to establish two boards (whose very existence could shortly be over when the two-year period lapses!): one to provide advice on the implementation of the fund, and another to provide assistance to the Fair Work Commission. Why didn’t the federal government cut to the chase and fund the early years sector of Australia fairly and equitably and lift us up to an international level?
On the path to sustainability Many of our members were able to undertake training in a sustainability program called Small Green Steps. This has assisted centres and staff to review their understanding of climate change issues, develop policies, procedures and action plans; review their energy, water and waste management; measure their carbon footprint; and, engage with children and families in a broad variety of fun, interactive and informative ways. Local media also took an interest in this with one member’s ‘chicken’ program featured. It is great to have coverage of good news stories.
Like many associations and services across Australia, we were amazed at the narrow, inequitable, disruptive and short-sighted approach of the Gillard Government in providing a limited bucket of funding for wages with a limited time frame attached. How on earth does this provide parents any equal opportunity? How will centres be able to keep childcare affordable and equitable for all families if they are the ones who miss out and as a result increase their fees to pay their staff a similar increase? How does it help with retention of staff and improve quality outcomes for the children of Australia? These are the very claims made by the government in the publicity flyer from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, but as the money is only applicable to centres with successful applications (40 per cent of all centres), how can this be true? Natasha Bita from the Punch Breaking Views summed up the government’s announcement as ‘a half-pregnant solution for its phantom election campaign’ (news.com.au, 21 March 2013).
The association is continuing its leadership by developing its own sustainability statement and practices, as well as providing weekly information to each member centre through ‘Sustainability Thursday’. The feedback from this initiative has been very positive. Businesses and speakers have been sourced to provide information to members as well, in a variety of sustainability areas.
In the meantime, our members struggle to come to grips with what it means, how to apply, enterprise agreement requirements and how to manage
PO Box 406 Hindmarsh, SA 5007 T: 0407 580 645 E: info@childcaresa.com.au www.childcaresa.com.au
6 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
Hub time The Association has been proactive in seeking new membership, business relationships, training opportunities, and has also decided to hold its first Directors Hub with guest speakers from the Registration and Standards Board. This is in response to and in recognition of the valuable role our directors play in our businesses, and to provide opportunities for networking, learning and support.
Kerry Mahony, President, Childcare South Australia
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Childcare Queensland has had an extremely busy start to 2013. We would like to thank all of our members who have renewed for the 2013–14 association year. A unified sector in Queensland is vital as we approach important milestones such as the extension of the National Partnership Agreement on Early Childhood Education (NP ECE) and the federal election in September. Childcare Queensland held member meetings in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Ipswich and Toowoomba between March and May to discuss current occupancy rates, the release of ‘Staying healthy: preventing infectious diseases in early childhood education and care services’, changes to inclusion support payments, assessment and rating experiences, release of the Australian Early Development Index and the controversial Early Years Quality Fund. I want to thank those members who shared their experiences during their recent assessment and ratings visits. This firsthand intelligence is not only vital to prepare our colleagues for their own visits, but it is also important for Childcare Queensland to identify inconsistencies or flaws in the assessment and rating process and report these back to the Queensland Government and Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA). The Kindergarten Advisory Support Service (KASS), operated by Childcare Queensland and funded by the Queensland and Australian governments under the NP ECE, is due to conclude on 30 June 2013. Childcare Queensland is currently discussing an 18-month contract extension with the Queensland Government to continue this valued service in alignment with the next phase of the NP ECE.
Highlights during the first 18 months have included: • conducting more than 425 ‘in-service’ consultations with long day care centres to support their funding application to the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme (QKFS) • delivering nine workshops (Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Gladstone, Ipswich and Toowoomba) delivered by the Queensland University of Technology to discuss the challenges of integrating teachers into long day care • establishing nine informal teacher networks across Queensland to provide local peer support for teachers in long day care
• launching of the KASS Buddy Project to support new or transitioning teachers into long day care by providing an experienced early childhood teacher as a mentor • developing and distributing ‘Teachers and long day care – a guide to better human resources practices’ to 1373 centres.
Upcoming events and milestones include: • ‘Deadly Ears’ Indigenous Ear Health Seminar (May 2013) • release of ‘Making kindergarten count - a guide to inspirational learning experiences’ (June 2013) • Childcare Queensland Annual General Meeting (17 June 2013) • registrations open for the 2013 Childcare Queensland National Conference (June 2013), to be held from 20–22 September 2013 • Early Childhood Educators Day (4 September 2013). Childcare Queensland is proud of the value it provides for members and we hope to keep up the good work as we head towards the conference in 2013. See you on the Gold Coast!
James Blake General Manager, Childcare Queensland PO Box 137, Springwood QLD 4127 T: 1300 365 325 (if outside Brisbane) T: (07) 3808 2366 F: (07) 3808 2466 E: info@childcarequeensland.com.au www.childcareqld.org.au
Early Years Journal
Volume 2 Number 2 2013
lcome e w ntributions Australian Childcare Alliance
Co
r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e f u t u r e o f A u s t r a l i a ’s c h i l d r e n
The Australian Childcare Alliance covers a diverse, national network of education and care services. If you would like to report on the issues affecting your service and those around you, submit to Belonging, Early Years Journal. We welcome articles from members between 600 and 1200 words in length and on all subject areas: business planning, staffing, programming and resources. If you have just landscaped your outdoor play space or created a new classroom, send the pics and blow your trumpet! Before you start keying in a story, email your pitch to the editor, Megan McGay: megan.mcgay@executivemedia.com.au to ensure its theme fits with the next edition. Contributions for the September edition must be received by 18 July 2013.
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 7
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Winner: Coral Grundy – Great Beginnings Toodyay. Guild Insurance Service of the Year shortlisted nominees: Ballajura Childcare Centre, Bassendean Childcare Centre, College Community Child Care Centre, Great Beginnings Toodyay, Humpty Dumpty Childcare Centre, Landsdale Childcare Centre, Padbury Education and Child Care Centre, Rainbow Child Care, Smileys Child Care Centre, Stirling Childcare Centre, Subicare Child Care Centre, Wind In The Willows.
The Childcare Association of Western Australia (CAWA) 2013 Child Care Awards were held on 19 April at Burswood on Swan, with a cocktail event to announce finalists and winners in each of the four categories. CAWA would like to congratulate all nominees, finalists and winners. You should all be very proud of your achievements. CAWA would also like to make special mention of Paul Clancy, the Managing Director of Australian Family, Educational Experience, Randstad Education and Guild Insurance who helped make this event a reality, thank you. The event was opened by the Honourable Tony Simpson MP, the new Minister of Local Government, Community Services, Seniors and Volunteering, and, Youth, with special guests from the Education and Care Regulatory Unit. It was great to see a wide representation from the sector attend the awards, with guests from Port Hedland to Albany. It was an enjoyable night and CAWA looks forward to next year’s event being even bigger and better. Educational Experience Early Childhood Director of the Year shortlisted nominees: Amanda Andrew – Ballajura Childcare Centre, Kayah Boswood – Sparx Early Learning Centre, Liz Clarke – Middle Swan Child Care Centre, Lisa Godwin – Smileys Childcare Centre, Coral Grundy – Great Beginnings Toodyay, Anissa Hamilton – Great Beginnings Thornlie, Renou Stewart – Hedland Play and Learn, Gabriella Valente – First Steps Early Learning, Amanda Vocisano – Stirling Childcare Centre. Finalists: Coral Grundy – Great Beginnings Toodyay, Lisa Godwin – Smileys Child Care Centre, Gabriella Valente – First Steps Early Learning, Kayah Boswood – Sparx Early Learning Centre, and Liz Clarke – Middle Swan Child Care Centre. 8 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
Finalists: Great Beginnings Toodyay, Smileys Child Care Centre, College Community Child Care Centre, Subicare Child Care Centre, and Humpty Dumpty Child Care Centre. Winner: Subicare Child Care Centre. Randstad Education Early Childhood Educator of the Year shortlisted nominees: Rachel Day – Ashdale Early Learning Childcare Centre, Neil Dyson – F.R.O.G.S Learning Centre, Melissa Hickling – Great Beginnings Thornlie, Monique Hoyland – Kids Corner Child Care Centre, Olga Lopez – Kids Corner Child Care Centre, Kate Moore – St Peter and Emmaus Early Learning Centre, Amanda Nicholas – Humpty Dumpty Childcare, Catheryn O’Brien – College Community Child Care Centre, Lisa Puls – Rainbow Child Care Centre Incorporated, Ashliegh Salter – Subiaco School Of Early Learning, Dijana Skorsur – Meerilinga, Amy Smith – First Steps Early Learning. Finalists: Melissa Hickling – Great Beginnings Thornlie, Ashliegh Salter – Subiaco School of Early Learning, Amy Smith – First Steps Early Learning, Catheryn O’Brien – College Community Child Care, and Amanda Nicholas – Humpty Dumpty Child Care Centre. Winner: Amy Smith – First Steps Early Learning. Randstad Education Early Childhood Rising Star of Year finalists: Kerri-Lee Yarrin – Smileys Child Care Centre, Jaymee Urquhart – Kids Inn Ashby, Jessica Blackwood – First Steps Early Learning. Winner: Jessica Blackwood – First Steps Early Learning.
How the CAWA Child Care Awards came to fruition: Australian Family Managing Director Paul Clancy started the Early Education Care Awards eight years ago as he was sick of hearing negative news about this sector. He had a vision to change the negative attitudes to positive ones and wanted the wonderful people that dedicate themselves to educating and caring for the children in their services to be
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celebrated. From that came the Early Childhood Education and Care National Awards. After attending the past two national awards CAWA knew this was something that was needed for Western Australia. A meeting was arranged with Paul and we discussed how we could embrace these awards for the state, and from that meeting, the CAWA 2013 Child Care Awards were born. A tribute to childcare providers and educators everywhere:
The Hand Holder There is no job more important than yours, no job anywhere else in the land. You are the keepers of the future: you hold the smallest of hands. Into your care you are trusted to nurture and care for the young, and for all of your everyday heroics, your talents and skills go unsung. You wipe tears from the eyes of the injured. You rock babies brand new in your arms. You encourage the shy and unsure child. You make sure they are safe from all harm. You foster the bonds of friendships, letting no child go away mad. You respect and you honour their emotions. You give hugs to each child when they’re sad. You have more impact than does a professor, a child’s mind is moulded by four; so whatever you lay on the table is whatever that child will explore. Give each child the tools for adventure, let them be artists and writers and more; let them fly in the wind and dance on the stars and build castles of sand on the shore. It is true that you don’t make much money and you don’t get a whole lot of praise, but when one small child says, “I love you,” you’re reminded of how much this job pays. By Dori Rossman, Executive Director Kidstown USA
Rachelle Tucker Executive Officer, Childcare Association of WA Inc PO Box 196, South Perth WA 6951 T: 1300 062 645 | M: 0433 498 147 E: info@childcarewa.com www.childcarewa.com
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 9
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News bites Parents can now access National Quality Standard ratings of childcare providers from the government’s MyChild website. The ratings released on the
Don’t worry, be appy
www.mychild.gov.au
RIDBC Auslan tutor (RRP $43.99 from iTunes or download the abridged version free)
website cover 15 per cent of the total 12,888 approved services in the country.
The RIDBC Ausland Tutor app has been created by the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children to teach caregivers common signs from the
le childcare A trial providing flexib Queensland. will begin this July inparents employed
th Around 50 families wi edics will test out-ofram pa d an in nursing gh Family Day Care hours childcare throu ing run in Brisbane, Australia. The trial is be its wnsville to examine Toowoomba and To ut. l-o rol viability for a broader
Australian sign language, Auslan. The full version includes video demonstrations of over 500 signs. Quintura Kids (RRP $2.99 iTunes and available in Android) Safely conduct web searches with your children through Quintura Kids. This app acts like a search engine with a safe cloud to prevent any inappropriate material from turning up in search results.
Grants for Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) have increased for educators
working in regional areas. RPL grants of up to $3500 (increased from $1125) are now available for eligible early childhood educators as a contribution to the costs associated with undertaking an RPL assessment for Certificate III, Diploma and Advanced Diploma in Children’s Services. For further details, visit the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Realtions.
www.deewr.gov.au
Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the Lets Go Play – Songs for Happy Healthy Kids CD competition. All winners have been notified and have received their prizes. F.R.O.G.S Early Learning Centre Nannup WA Village Kids Childrens Centre Cranbrook Cranbrook QLD Happy Days Preschool & LDC Coffs Harbour NSW Berry Cottage Childcare Eastwood, NSW Koala Lane Long Day Care Centre Telopea NSW
10 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
What have you found? Are you using apps in your centre? Have you found any tools to document learning stories or help your children explore technology? Share your advice here: belonging@executivemedia.com.au
Competition Take off your rubber gloves and enter the Belonging Solucare competition. For your chance to win a month’s worth of cleaning products courtesy of Essential Hygiene Services, email: sales@ehservices.com.au by 5 pm 20 August 2013, to go in the running. One lucky childcare centre will win a complete rack of Solucare cleaning products, valued at $400, and the first 50 services to register will each receive a sample pack.
For more details, see page 42.
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For the latest toys and trends
R
yan’s Toys has been an established toy wholesaler and importer for over 40 years and we pride ourselves on supporting and supplying independently owned businesses in both the toy and child care industries with the most up-to-date toys and trends. Our warehouse is centrally located in Glendenning, which is just off the M7 Motorway in Sydney; over the last few years we have consistently grown our business to become one of the leading toy wholesalers in Australia. In all, our warehouse contains approximately 8000 different products, and these products can change daily. Our website will allow you to browse our warehouse by categories, keywords and descriptions and hopefully help you collate orders and answer queries quickly. We at Ryan’s Toys are proud to announce our appointment as the exclusive wholesaler for the BIG range of products. The BIG range is known worldwide for products that not only are built to last but are also styled to the latest European design trends. This is why the BIG brand is perfect for the child care industry with the range consisting of sturdy plastic toys and ride ons and our water play sets are perfect for developing fine motor skills for those hot days.
We have an extensive range of educational products for childcare centres, products such as the BIG range, educational aids and resources for all your art and craft requirements. Feel free to contact our friendly staff who are always available to answer any questions.
Ph : 02 9832 1399 | Fax: 02 9832 1344 | sales@ryanstoys.com.au
www.ryanstoys.com.au X • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • VOLUME 2 NUMBER 2 • 2013
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 11
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Questionable funding boost to long day care providers
By Megan McGay
The Gillard Government has committed funds to improve wages for early childhood staff, but is it enough?
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$300 million funding boost for early childhood staff triggered mixed responses from the industry.
Certificate III by $3 per hour from 1 July. There will also be proportional increases for staff across the existing classification scale. To qualify for grants, Child Care Benefit-approved long day care providers must be able to demonstrate a commitment to quality outcomes for children, including how their services will meet the NQF qualification requirements.
The Gillard Government said the funding, to be delivered over two years, will boost the quality of early childhood education and support workplace reform.
But not all eligible services will receive the funding. The grants will be distributed on a ‘first come, first served’ basis to services that meet the criteria.
Minister for Early Childhood Peter Garrett announced the establishment of the Early Years Quality Fund (EYQF) to help support the implementation of the National Quality Framework (NQF).
Minister Garrett said the wage increase ‘will assist in raising the professional status for our hardworking and dedicated early childhood educators.’ Other stakeholders have disputed its merit.
Eligible services will receive grants to promote productivity and increase wages for employees with a
Shadow Minister for Childcare Sussan Ley said, ‘Labor is treating childcare workers as if they were the children. ‘We don’t know what the eligibility criteria is, we don’t know which centres are eligible or whether the Government’s own quality ratings will be used in this determination.’ The Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) is concerned with the distribution of funds. ‘The government is creating a two-tier wage system within an already stressed sector. It is unprecedented for the government to pay grant funding towards wages to less than 40 per cent of the sector on a “first in, first served basis,” with the funding to last for a period of two years only,’ said ACA President, Gwynn Bridge.
Educators campaign outside Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s electorate office in Werribee, Victoria.
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‘Members have reported to us that as they are so concerned for the wellbeing of their educators and the fairness of the system that they would not put
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their educators through the process of application, engineering false hope – bearing in mind that around 70 per cent of educators will not receive one cent of the grant,’ said Ms Bridge.
Educators protesting outside Minister Peter Garrett’s office in Maroubra, New South Wales.
The NQF requires early childhood education services to employ staff with higher education qualifications by 2014. ‘We know that quality early childhood education and care is dependent on having a qualified and professional workforce,’ Minister Garrett said. ‘We have listened to the sector and to parents and we are pleased to introduce this fund to provide grants to help attract and retain qualified staff.’ Providers will also need to commit to ongoing affordability for families by agreeing to restrain fee rises to reflect only actual increases in operational costs, to ensure improved fee transparency for families, including the level of financial assistance provided by the Gillard Government through the Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate. The ACA does not support the fee restraints. ‘Under our present agreement with the Australian Government we have criteria that we must meet to ensure transparency of funding to families. This includes advising families on a regular basis how their fees are supported by the government through Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate. We therefore believe that the level of fee transparency, for families and government in place, is more than adequate,’ said Ms Bridge. Shadow Minister Ley said she was startled by reports floating around the industry of educators requiring union membership to access the grant money. ‘I am also alarmed by reports of union officials telling childcare workers they need to pay hundreds of dollars a year in union fees in order to be eligible for this pay rise. The truth is union membership is not a prerequisite, and could prove a costly burden for those who sign up, but then don’t receive any increase,’ Ms Ley said. Louise Tarrant, the National Secretary of United Voice, said the EYQF was ‘clear evidence of the benefits of being an active union member. United Voice staff (members) are not advising educators in the terms Ms Ley suggested. We are simply advising educators that you need to be a member of the union for us to represent you in negotiations with your employer to access the fund.’
Ms Tarrant said the United Voice national executive will meet in the coming weeks to plan the rest of its campaign to extend funding beyond 2015 and across 100 per cent of the long day care sector. In addition to the newly established EYQF, the federal government will install a Pay Equity Unit in the Fair Work Commission, with an initial focus on the early childhood education and care sector. Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Bill Shorten said the new Pay Equity Unit would undertake research and data collection to inform matters related to pay equity under the Fair Work Act. ‘The Gillard Government is committed to delivering support to some of our lowest paid workers,’ Minister Shorten said. Despite the government’s declaration of support, the ACA said that establishing the Pay Equity Unit shows the government’s intent to deliberately create the inequity in wages in the sector. ‘The Unit will research, highlight and report pay inequities (which in our sector’s case, the government itself has created) to the Fair Work Commission. The ACA questions the legitimacy of a government intruding on the emotions and income of the dedicated educators in the sector, in this manner,’ Ms Bridge said. Members of the ACA protested against the inequity of the funding boost on May 6, 2013, marching in white shirts across the electorate offices of Minister Garrett, Minister for Early Childhood and Care Kate Ellis, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan. www.deewr.gov.au/earlyyearsqualityfund
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 13
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Question time with Peter Garrett AM MP Minister for Early Childhood and Youth The Gillard Government announced in March the establishment of a $300 million Early Years Quality Fund (EYQF) to provide grants to eligible services allowing them to increase wages by $3 per hour for select staff from 1 July 2013. The Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) is concerned about the distribution of funds to a select group of employees and raised these questions with the Minister for Early Childhood and Youth, Peter Garrett.
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CA: Why was the decision made by government to pay full wage increases for up to 40 per cent of staff in the sector and not recognise the effort of the whole sector by allocating a $1 per hour increase to all? Minister Garrett: This is only a first step, the fund will operate for a two-year period while the government establishes the Pay Equity Unit in the Fair Work Commission to examine the issue of wages across the early childhood sector and other low-paid sectors. The work of the Pay Equity Unit will help highlight the important work done by early childhood educators in all services and examine the pay equity issues relating to wages for early childhood educators. This is part of
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our long-term strategy to support low-paid workers in female-dominated sectors and recognise and reward the important work they do. The Gillard Government understands that the first five years of a child’s life is a critical stage of their development, Minister Peter Garrett AM MP which is why we are investing more than $22 billion in early childhood education and care over the next four years. We appreciate the important work, undertaken every day, by our hardworking early childhood educators who are helping Australian children develop to their full potential. We appreciate their professionalism and commitment as educators and strongly believe they should be rewarded for their dedication. We want these workers to remain in the early childhood sector. This pay rise will start to bridge the equal pay gap for these workers. ACA: What is your government’s strategy to increase professionalism when the EYQF will increase the wages of a minority of the sector for a short period of time?
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Minister Garrett: We know that quality early childhood education and care is dependent on having a qualified and professional workforce. We have listened to the sector and to parents and that is why we were pleased to introduce the EYQF, to provide grants to help attract and retain qualified staff.
ACA: Will the EYQF pay wages to a service for the number of educators/staff legally required to operate a service within the Early Childhood Education and Care Regulations, or will a service be permitted to substantially increase the number of educators/staff (ex numerary) for the period of two years to gain additional funding?
The Gillard Government has also worked with states and territories to develop the national Early Years Workforce Strategy. The strategy focuses on the skills of high-quality early childhood educators, and it complements and builds upon existing Commonwealth, state and territory government measures to improve the supply and quality of the early childhood education and care workforce.
Minister Garrett: We are working out the operational details of the Fund, such as how funding will be distributed based on staffing levels, and details on these and other matters will be discussed with the EYQF Advisory Board and made available at www.deewr.gov.au/early-years-quality-fund once final decisions are made.
Our Early Years Workforce Strategy reflects our commitment to address both the immediate priorities for the early childhood education and care workforce, as well as our long-term strategy for the workforce. Our long-term focus is on supporting more integrated ways of working across the early childhood development sector. The $300 million we have invested in the EYQF is in addition to around $190 million we have already committed to train and keep highly-qualified early childhood educators in the workforce. We have removed TAFE fees for diploma qualifications, reduced the HELP debt of early childhood teachers, and introduced formal Recognition of Prior Learning to help early childhood workers obtain, or upgrade, their qualifications. ACA: How will your government ensure professional development of the 60 per cent of educators not receiving grant wage increases and therefore considered not working towards increasing their professionalism? Minister Garrett: This government wants to ensure all early childhood education and care educators have access to professional development. That is why we have a number of measures in place to help the sector with ongoing professional development. From our Inclusion and Professional Support Program, through to helping early childhood teachers with their HELP debts and getting their qualifications recognised or upgraded, the Gillard Government is making the early childhood workforce a priority. We will soon release our Implementation Plan to the Early Years Workforce Strategy, which will outline our future planning to continue to meet demand.
ACA: How does your government anticipate that services already struggling with low occupancy and viability concerns will be able to compete to provide a quality service (particularly in regional areas) when one service in the town may receive grant funding for wages and the other will not? Minister Garrett: All Child Care Benefit approved long day care centres will be eligible to apply for the fund and I encourage all services to apply. As part of the fund, grants will be provided to services in order to offset the cost of employing a higher-qualified workforce and ensure quality education and care is being delivered while maintaining affordability for parents. Operational details of the fund are being discussed with the EYQF Advisory Board and will be published on the Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) website once final decisions are made. However, where services are unsuccessful for the EYQF, there are numerous other Australian Government and state and territory initiatives to help them meet their workforce needs. I encourage all owners, directors and executive committees to look at the DEEWR website to make sure they are taking advantage of all of the assistance available to them. ACA: Can you outline the projects from the budget area that the $300 million is being taken from? Minister Garrett: The EYQF is funded through normal, whole-of-government budget processes, which are a matter for the treasurer. www.deewr.gov.au/early-years-quality-fund
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 15
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Smoothing the framework bumps
By Sussan Ley MP, Shadow Minister for Childcare and Early Childhood Learning
The coalition outlines its plans for Australian childcare, if given the reins of power this September.
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s a federal election looms, I want to thank the Belonging crew for an opportunity to outline the federal coalition’s hopes for our childcare industry, should we be fortunate enough to be elected later this year. First up, it is really important to note an overriding viewpoint of ours. That is, the coalition supports improved standards and conditions for early childhood educators, to ensure quality care is provided to all Australian children. In talking to hundreds of childcare owners, staff and all representative bodies in the last two years, there is obvious broad support for nationwide standards of excellence – and that the industry needs recognition for the crucial role it plays in caring and developing our nought-to-fives. An equally important consideration for the coalition, is that childcare services need to be affordable and fit the needs of today’s parents. Like any service industry, if you can’t provide a
16 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
product at a price your customers can afford, they inevitably look elsewhere. And, in our case, many will give up on using regulated childcare altogether. A recent study by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) had more than 110,000 parents (mainly mums) saying they can’t access employment because it is impossible to find suitable or affordable childcare. The ABS also reports that since the last federal election, childcare fees have increased by an average of 22 per cent across the country. Another study (from PricewaterhouseCoopers for Childcare New South Wales) found almost half of you will need to raise fees again this year. Representatives in other states and territories report a similar scenario. There will, of course, be various cost-of-living and supply factors causing this. But there is also no doubt the introduction of the National Quality Framework (NQF) is significantly adding to input costs and the running of a childcare operation. While the NQF admirably requires up-skilling and training of staff, lowering child-to-carer ratios and modernising centres, the cost impact of introducing these changes and the availability of more qualified staff has, to a large extent, been overlooked. As many in the sector already know, these changes coincided with a decision to halt indexation of the
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childcare rebate, effectively cutting it from $8179 to $7500 and then capping the maximum allowable until at least next year. This has added even more pressure onto family budgets, resulting in an increase in late payers and more parents cutting back their hours or using informal care options. So what would the coalition do? For a start, there will be no dramatic changes in policy. Our commitment is to task the Productivity Commission with an inquiry into any current impediments to a family-friendly childcare system and look at how parents can better access existing services – including long day care, occasional care, family day care and in-home care. A key element of this inquiry will be to assess the regulatory framework imposed on providers and the direct impact on you of implementing the NQF. That doesn’t mean we don’t support the Framework. It doesn’t mean we’ll push the states and territories to wind it back, or even abolish it. It just means we’ll see if there is a way the new rules and regulations can be implemented with a softer, more sensible cost impact on both providers and parents.
It is the coalition’s view that Australian families need options which are not only affordable, but ensure people can work flexible hours knowing their children are receiving highquality care. It’s worth noting a report from the Australian Council for Educational Research, released earlier this month, indicated a large share of centres struggling to meet many of the more technical rules and guidelines under the NQF. When a childcare operator can miss accreditation simply because not enough children hit the correct flush button on the loo, maybe it’s time we hit the pause button instead and assess just what we want the NQF to really achieve. Additionally, we’ll ask the Productivity Commission inquiry to consider the long term. The childcare system in Australia is predominantly still based on a model which supports the country’s once traditional nine-to-five economy, yet work patterns and demands on parents are vastly different today than even a decade ago. Childcare needs to support these changes in order to increase workforce participation and boost economic development. It is the coalition’s view that Australian families need options which are not only affordable, but ensure people can work flexible hours knowing their children are receiving high-quality care.
Sussan Ley MP.
As I have said publicly and privately to many of you, an election year provides an opportunity for the coalition to address the concerns we’ve heard from childcare providers and, if given the reins in September, take action to smooth the path ahead.
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 17
education + training
Moving from diploma to degree By Megan McGay
Holmesglen early childhood student.
Now is the best time to upgrade your qualifications, with more demand for early childhood teachers, and more support for diploma staff returning to study.
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ob ads across Australia are teeming with vacancies for early childhood teachers (ECTs), as the January 2014 date looms for long day care and preschool services to employ more degreequalified staff, as stated in the National Quality Framework (NQF). Holmesglen, a tertiary education facility, has customised their delivery of the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education to suit applicants with diploma qualifications as well as those without. Dr Estelle Irving is the Course Leader in the Department of Early Childhood at Holmesglen. She said applicants moving from the Diploma of Children’s Services to the degree are mentored as they adapt to a different, more intense style of study. ‘It is a different standard and a different level of academic work. There is a lot more theory and emphasis on independent learning and that is reflected in the level of writing and reading they have to do. It is a significant step up for them,’ she said. Holmesglen established a support network for diploma students adjusting to their first year of bachelor study. Dr Irving said Holmesglen recognised that those students were stepping into year two without having had to practise referencing and more critical thinking. ‘They are not making that step up on their own; we are really conscious that they are stepping into the equivalent of year two, without having started at that year one level. So we are
18 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
mentoring them to help guide them through.’ ‘Fortunately, due to the Australian Qualifications Framework, the diploma students themselves are having more of those skills now built into their diploma course, so that in the final stage of their diploma, they are getting some exposure on how to write essays and reference material. ‘They are initially extremely nervous about doing academic work, but because we sit with them and help them with that, it is really working.’ Dr Irving said the success of mentoring the diploma students is evidenced by their results in their third year of study. ‘We can see that, with support, they are making the transition (to degree study) and some of them end up being our strongest students in third year. They are really blossoming and it is just wonderful to see them growing and expanding with that study.’ Graduates of the degree are equipped with a greater level of understanding about early childhood pedagogy for the nought-to-five age group. Dr Irving said this knowledge gives students a depth to their understanding about how children learn and develop. ‘It also increases their own responsibilities as teachers as well as their own sense of professional identity,’ she said. Increasing an educator’s theoretical knowledge helps them to make greater connections and decisions for each child. Dr Irving said, ‘There’s a huge emphasis in the Bachelor of Early Childhood about
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how you make links between theory and practice. It means you are not just implementing a prescribed program, but you are there to think deeply about what is appropriate for these children and their social and cultural context.’ She said the depth of knowledge from the degreequalified students was evidenced through their understanding of the principles behind the NQF. ‘All educators know it is important to work with families but the degree students know why it is. They are given much more understanding about the complexity of family life and they can adapt their practices to better engage with the families at their service.’ Dr Irving said employers should consider putting degree-qualified staff in their babies’ rooms. ‘What typically happens in childcare centres is that the least experienced workers get put with the babies because there is much less understanding that babies are complex learners. People tend to look at babies and think that it is simple work. The Framework clearly shows us that babies need to be engaged and are complex learners right from birth. The work of being a teacher with babies is more demanding and requires a higher level of skill, particularly around observation with what experiences mean for babies.’ She said that it is commonly thought that babies will develop well if they are loved, cared for and their physical needs are met. ‘But this is the time, in the foundations of infancy, where there is the greatest growth of their brain cells and it is the time when they are developing a sense of their identity and belonging.’ Dr Irving believes that by the time children are at age two, three and four, they already have developed a sense of themselves, and they have learned how to learn or not to learn; so, the most skilled, experienced and qualified teachers need to be with babies.
Holmesglen early childhood students.
Diploma students considering whether to upgrade to a degree might hesitate due to the costs involved. Dr Irving said that at Holmesglen, all Australian students received Commonwealth Supported Places, that is, government-subsidised fees, leaving the remainder of fees at approximately $5000 a year. Dr Irving said the degree opened up the career paths of students in the childcare industry beyond being a room leader. Dr Irving said due to the new regulations of the National Quality Standard, there is a great demand for ECTs, particularly with an increase for them coming in January 2014 and another increase in 2020. She expects the demand in employment to continue well beyond this initial intake of staff. ‘This is not a short-term thing, there will be ongoing, sustained needs to have degree-qualified teachers. I wouldn’t like to put a figure on it, but I think this is a long-term commitment from the government and this is going to be normalised. People will see increasing gains from having a qualified teacher and they will come to expect to have one for their child.’ While childcare centres might not be able to subsidise further study for their staff, Dr Irving would like to see them offer some time off for studying, such as one day a week. ‘We are seeing some services offer this because they actively want their staff to gain these qualifications and they are being flexible to allow the study for this. There are also scholarships available from the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to help people already working in the field to upgrade their qualifications.’ Holmesglen has increased the flexibility of class times to suit educators already working in childcare. ‘For most of those students with a diploma, they have a huge priority to continue to work, so we offer a model that allows them to do that through classes in the evening and classes on the weekend,’ she said.
Children attending the Holmesglen simulated chilcare centre at the Waverley campus.
20 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
Images courtesy of Holmesglen.
www.holmesglen.edu.au
Australian Institute of Childcare Training provides extensive training courses that will supply you with all the necessary knowledge and experience to succeed in the childcare industry. We offer nationally recognised qualifications: • •
Certificate III in Children’s Services CHC30708 Diploma of Children’s Services (Early Childhood Education and Care) CHC50908
and run EYLF workshops. Study now and pay later scheme is available as we are VET FEE-HELP approved. (conditions apply) Evening classes and Saturday classes are available. New campuses are now open in Brisbane and Melbourne
Ph: 1300 889 678 | Web: www.aict.net.au | email: admin@aict.net.au RTO Provider No. 91067
education + training
Educators as authors
By Kat Wieczorek-Ghisso
Educators need to hook their readers in with learning stories.
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ver the past decade numerous curriculum documents have been written across Australia to support the provision of educational programs for children in childcare. ‘The practice of relationships’ in New South Wales is one example. Remarkably, up until 2009, each state and territory has independently implemented programs only as guided by their state recommendations, none of which have ever been measured as part of service compliance or quality standards. Covering varying age groups, the conceptual underpinnings, terminology and framework structures have significantly differed across jurisdictions. These inconsistencies have contributed to mounting evidence over the years that Australia spends significantly less of its capital on early childhood education than any other first-world country. The 2006 report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), titled, ‘Starting strong II’ released condemning evidence that further confirmed this to be the case. It is no surprise then that something had to change, and changed it has. The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) is critical to the government’s objectives of improving universal access for children to attend high-quality educational programs and is focal to what the Council of Australian Governments called the Reform Agenda. Not only was it established to address national inconsistency, the new curriculum framework has taken a strong stance on children’s rights and openly acknowledged what we in early childhood have known for decades; that children are very capable of making their own decisions. Despite being long overdue, the EYLF, a highly professional document validating children as strong and capable learners, has not been well received by all. One possible explanation is the extensive use of ‘technical’ language, which can be difficult to grapple with. The other, can be attributed to our
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theoretical roots, that many of us still hold close to our hearts. Based on traditional philosophers, our knowledge of children has been heavily grounded in developmental perspectives that have perpetuated practices in early childhood more reflective of ‘structured teaching’. Focused specifically on supporting the acquisition of milestones across developmental domains, commonplace practices for many of us have predominantly consisted of implementing pre-planned experiences based on previously written observations. Often ‘deficit’ in nature, such observations sought to capture the progress of particular skills or the achievement of milestones, which when analysed, helped to justify the adult intervention or ‘follow up’ required to aid the observed child progress in their development. Unfortunately, traditional methods, or the ‘only write what you see’ approach often omitted emotions and overlooked the contextual information that added value to our understanding of the ‘whole child’. The EYLF does not offer such prescriptive recommendations; it encourages educators to reflect on their observations, engage in respectful discussions with families and use multiple methods to assess children’s learning. Based on my work with numerous services over the years, I will offer some strategies, which, in my experience, have not only proven very successful, but also manageable. The first strategy is about validating your position, and the second is about reinventing yourself. Validating your position is all about mindset. When reflecting on your everyday experiences with children consider what practices have changed. Is there really a need to ‘throw the baby out with the bath water’? In no way has the EYLF suggested educators scrap everything and start from scratch, although this seems
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to be the common belief. On the contrary, the EYLF now validates the core of our everyday practice and simply makes recommendations about improving our documentation strategies in a Kat Wieczorek-Ghisso speaking at the way that better Early Years Exhibition and Conference in showcases New South Wales. children’s achievements and acknowledges the decisions we make to support their learning; thus, it really is about changing your mindset. Changing your mindset is about understanding what underpins your role as an early childhood educator, regardless of qualifications and/or experience. It is far more than providing resources and implementing routines. The fact is, we engage in multiple tasks in our daily work with children, some of which we take for granted. In my view, we are: 1. observers of learning 2. participators in learning 3. active listeners of learning 4. storytellers of learning 5. assessors of learning 6. supporters of learning. The first three you are already familiar with, so reinventing yourself really starts at number four and trickles all the way down to six. Being a storyteller is something you may not have referred to yourself as before; however, much like a documentary, when writing about children you are capturing their life story at a particular moment in time. As the author, you have been given the privilege of giving a voice to children’s learning, hence tell the story well. That may sound like a daunting experience; however this can be made easier when you adopt the ‘good book syndrome’. Think back to a book you have read recently that you couldn’t put down, the one that kept you reading page after page, cover to cover. Why couldn’t you put it down? You couldn’t put it down because the author did such an incredible job at drawing you into the plot using descriptive and analytical language; the author elicited excitement and pulled at your heartstrings, included detail that you pictured in your mind and made you curious to find out what happens next.
I have implemented this concept, and have made reference to the ‘good book syndrome’ regularly, recommending transparency in writing. What I mean is writing about children’s learning in such a way that the reader can picture the experience in their mind and be excited about what they are reading. Doing that may take some practice, so here are some tips to get you started. • Give the story a title, for example, ‘Making cakes in the sandpit’. • Identify yourself as the author, for example, ‘Michelle’s reflection’.
Set the scene: •
Where are the children playing? •
What time of the day is it?
•
Who are they playing with?
•
What are they playing with?
•
Write in the first person: ‘I sat back for a while and observed the children at play in the sandpit’.
•
Be reflective: ‘I thought about how the children would solve the problem…’
•
Write in detail about what is going on in children’s play: •
How are they playing with the resources?
•
Include children’s feelings; if they are excited, say so.
•
What role did you play in this learning?
•
What could support this learning further?
Now, the above may sound like a lengthy process, however, when you tell the story well, it creates a window which captures the ‘big picture’ and has the potential to make reference to learning across many areas of development, and is consistent with what the EYLF refers to as ‘Holistic Approaches’. The framework offers further examples in their ‘Educators Guide’ as well as in the regularly published newsletters as part of the National Quality Standard Professional Learning Program. All of these support a multidimensional approach to documentation. The current changing early childhood landscape in Australia brings with it more opportunities than risks and thus we must be brave, embrace the professional validation we are finally receiving, take control of the reins and write stories about children we are proud of. Kat Wieczorek-Ghisso is an early childhood specialist and university lecturer. She advises centres through her practice, Early Childhood Consultancy Network. Ph: (02) 8798 1897 | M: 0419 498 896 www.earlychildhoodconsultancynetwork.vpweb.com.au BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 23
education + training
Give me a crèche among the gumtrees... By Megan McGay
The European concept of ‘nature kindergartens’ has landed here in Australia.
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hildren at a childcare centre on New South Wales’ Central Coast are jumping in muddy puddles and getting super dirty, all in the name of outdoor education. Bright Start Preschool Bateau Bay has installed a ‘bush kindy’ program, after trialling it with its families early this year. Preschool owner and manager Kristie Kelaher said she was inspired by a training session with renowned early childhood specialist, Claire Warden in Sydney. Ms Warden fosters outdoor-based play programs at her kindergartens in Scotland regardless of local weather conditions. Belonging featured nature kindergartens in the United Kingdom with Ms Warden in the last edition (Belonging, ‘Risk assessment not risk-aversion’, page 14, Volume 2, Number 1, 2013). Ms Kelaher realised her philosophies on early childhood education were closely aligned to Ms Warden’s in using the environment as the third teacher. ‘We are environmentally focused and have been since day one, we do have an engaging and completely natural outdoor play space, but like many
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While the centre is not required to increase its staff members for excursions, it operates with a 1:5 ratio on ‘bush kindy’ days. centres, there are constraints with what we could do in our “yard”.’ Ms Kelaher said that since she had taken children on previous excursions with her fellow educators, she was comfortable in transporting their program out of the centre. ‘My previous employment involved teaching environmental education programs in primary schools and I was familiar with the associated benefits of outdoor play for the children at the centre.’ With the support from the other educators, Ms Kelaher instigated a trial of ‘bush kindy’ with her preschool-aged children. The bushland used is located three streets away and takes the children approximately 15 minutes to walk there.
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Bright Start was nationally recognised in 2011 for our sustainability initiatives and our engaging outdoor play area at the centre, we see the offsite ‘bush kindy’ program as a natural extension of this While the centre is not required to increase its staff members for excursions, it operates with a 1:5 ratio on ‘bush kindy’ days. ‘We also have an additional staff member who drives to the location with the equipment required and picks it up at the end of the session,’ Ms Kelaher said. The ‘bush kindy’ trial ran for term one, with two groups of 10 children. Each group visited the bush location once per week for three hours. The staff planned a mixture of free play and structured activities in the bushland. ‘We are finding that it is a truly childled curriculum, with the environment and what we find in it actively being that third teacher influencing children’s play. Educators facilitate and extend children’s responses and many learning domains occur naturally without being pre-designed by educators themselves.
‘Teachers support children as they take risks and face challenges essential to ensuring their well-rounded learning. Bright Start was nationally recognised in 2011 for our sustainability initiatives and our engaging outdoor play area at the centre, we see the offsite “bush kindy” program as a natural extension of this,’ Ms Kelaher said. The educators and children work with the natural materials in the area, as well as some man-made things that have been illegally left there. At one stage, there were some long boards that the children came across and it became a great opportunity to present some concepts of physics,’ she said. The session begins with the group joining together for morning tea, where ‘discussions occur with children about their intentions for the morning and what they
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 25
education + training
...at first, it appeared that we had no “bush” close to us, but a search on Google revealed hidden pockets all around our centre. have been involved in previously, to help set up children’s own planning and ownership of their play. Towards the end of the session, the group gathers and children reflect on and record their play through drawing, with educators writing children’s comments. This is what guides possible directions for the next visit. The session ends with downtime including a group game or relaxation, such as yoga or cloud watching, before heading back to preschool.’ While unable to rely on fencing and childproof gates to contain children, Ms Kelaher said it has been easy to supervise them in the bush setting. ‘They have demonstrated amazing responsibility within the “open” non-fenced space, accepting the designated perimeters set out early in the visits.’ While some children took longer to settle into the open area, they have all come to enjoy their outdoor kindergarten and its changing landscape. ‘The children are all interested in what is going on around them and are particularly interested in the changes that take place in the environment, such as the muddy puddles that appear and then disappear by the following week and the new growth appearing on the trees,’ she said. The educators involved in the program have found the experience rewarding. Ms Kelaher said they do benefit from working with smaller groups of children due to the increased ratios while the ‘bush kindy’ is in session. She said the staff has noticed increasing confidence in children, empathy in their relationships and recognition of their own abilities. The walk to the bushland increases the links the children are making with their local community. ‘The connections the children are making with their community are priceless: we see neighbours as we walk to the bush; we see the postie on a daily 26 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
basis; the mower man from council; members from Landcare have visited us on location; and policemen stop in their cars as they drive past to say, “Hi”.’ While the families appreciate the experience for the children, Ms Kelaher said the program did demand more support from them in the way of supplying appropriate clothes and enough spares. The bush experience enables the children to make greater connections between the bushland and their home life. ‘Children are taking their experiences from “bush kindy” and relating them to their lives outside of preschool, such as recognising insects we noticed in the bush and [finding them] also at the beach.’ With the successful trial over, the ‘bush kindy’ has cemented its place in the curriculum of the preschoolaged children at Bright Start Preschool Bateau Bay. Ms Kelaher said that centre managers considering the program should begin with local excursions around their own neighbourhood. ‘Look at what you can do, rather than what you can’t – at first, it appeared that we had no “bush” close to us, but a search on Google revealed hidden pockets all around our centre.’ She said staff needed inspiration through training or other means. ‘You will need a dedicated team to run a successful program as it can be challenging but well worth it!’ For further information regarding Bright Start Preschool’s Bush Kindy program, please call (02) 4333 3355. Images courtesy of Kristie Kelaher, Bright Start Preschool Bateau Bay
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education ++training training education
Brighter future with Better Beginnings
T
he family literacy program Better Beginnings has been rolled out to more than 150,000 families in both rural and regional Western Australia since it began in 2005, dramatically improving the literacy skills of the children who have taken part. As Australia’s most extensive family literacy program, developed by the State Library of Western Australia, Better Beginnings provides books to children as young as six weeks old, encouraging parents/carers to share stories, songs and nursery rhymes with their children at an early age. Edith Cowan University (ECU)’s Centre for Research in Early Childhood, led by Dr Caroline Barratt-Pugh, has been evaluating the program for the past seven years. Their research has formed the building blocks for understanding why Better Beginnings has been such a successful tool in early literacy development. Dr Barratt-Pugh and her team evaluated the pilot program in 2005 and then conducted research into the program over two stages – from 2007 to 2009, and then again in 2010. Speaking to parents one-on-one as their children took part in the program, she found that Better Beginnings played an integral role not only in early literacy development, but also in strengthening the bond between parents and their children. ‘The importance of early childhood as the foundation of future development in all domains is now well established across the world. During the first three years, the brain is developing rapidly and a child’s relationships and experiences during the early years significantly influence how their brain grows,’ Dr Barratt-Pugh says. Dr Barratt-Pugh’s research has revealed that the program has already had a significant positive impact on the children involved. Her findings include: • In 2009, 62 per cent of mothers reported that after being involved in the Better Beginnings program, their confidence in sharing books with their child had increased. This figure increased to 88 per cent in 2010. • In 2009, 23 per cent of parents took out a library membership for their child. This figure increased to 65 per cent in 2010, and most parents who had taken out library memberships indicated their decision had been influenced by Better Beginnings.
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• In 2009, 79 per cent of those surveyed reported that Better Beginnings had influenced their beliefs about the importance of sharing books with their child. • In 2009, 85 per cent of mothers surveyed reported that they read to their child after receiving the Better Beginnings reading packs. Dr Barratt Pugh believes Better Beginnings gives parents the tools and support to help their children develop good literacy habits early, which is one of main reasons for its success. ‘Research has shown that sharing books and stories from birth has a positive impact on language and literacy development,’ Dr Barratt-Pugh says. ‘By supporting parents and carers in reading to children from birth, Better Beginnings helps young children to build the early literacy skills and love of books they need to become good readers and succeed at school.’
SEE YOUR EARLY CHILDHOOD CAREER GROW At ECU, we offer many courses specialising in Early Childhood studies. So whether you’re starting your teaching career, or extending your qualifications, we’ll help you develop the skills you need to become an outstanding teacher. If you already have a degree in any area and want to pursue an exciting career change, our Graduate Diploma of Education (Early Childhood Studies) can be completed in just 12 months. These courses are taught by experienced professionals and offer extensive prac placements, giving you valuable experience in a range of childcare, kindergarten, pre‑primary and primary school settings. If you currently work in the education field, we offer Early Childhood specialisations at a Graduate Certificate and Masters level. These will help you develop specialist skills through projects that directly relate to classroom needs. We also offer a four year, specialised undergraduate course for those beginning their teaching journey. To find out more about our wide range of Early Childhood courses, call 134 ECU (134 328), email futurestudy@ecu.edu.au or visit reachyourpotential.com.au
★★★★★ TEACHING QUALITY ★★★★★ GRADUATE SATISFACTION The Good Universities Guide 2013 303 ECU10037 CRICOS IPC 00279B
education + training
Inclusive programs can increase occupancy By Megan McGay
Offering a specialised service could garner more professional development for staff and increase a centre’s broader appeal.
C
entre directors struggling to fill a room could make it a niche service area and be part of some innovative, inclusive programming.
Little Learners Autism Program is a privately funded arrangement devised by Autism Partnership Australia (APA) and the Centre for Inclusive Schooling of Children with Autism (CISCA). The program is run out of a childcare centre in Maidstone, Victoria, where the centre leases the room out to Little Learners. Families using the Little Learners program pay standard daily fees to the centre as well as funding for therapists to come into the allocated room. Psychologist and Site Director for APA Karen McKinnon said children enrolled in the program must attend childcare four consecutive days a week – Monday to Thursday – to ensure that 20 full hours of therapy can be conducted with the children. ‘The type of therapy we do is called Applied Behavioural Analysis,’ said Ms McKinnon. The therapists include students studying psychology, education, speech therapy or occupational therapy and who want to work with children.
30 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
Little Learners Autism Program has been running since 2010. ‘This type of therapy in Australia has only been around for 15 years. If you look at all the guidelines, it is the most effective and well-researched therapy for children with autism. We work within the Early Years Learning Framework, particularly when children are in the childcare room, but the intervention that we use is guided by the principals of Applied Behavioural Analysis,’ Ms McKinnon said. The program works by enrolling autistic children (from babies to six-year-olds) to attend the Little Learners room at the centre. Therapists always support the children in both their room and the other rooms within the centre. Often the children will mingle in the typical rooms for small durations until they become comfortable with it. ‘Our kids have to sign up from Monday to Thursday. It’s a well-resourced room, with higher ratios than normal childcare. For some parts of the day, the ratio is 1:1, that is one carer for each child, and ratios remain high for the day with, for instance, eight kids and four staff,’ she said. Conducting inclusive play with the other classes depends on each child’s skills. ‘Some kids, who are
education + training
not able to learn in a group, will do predominantly one-to-one work. Children who are very advanced in their skills, and are social, will spend a lot of time in the kinder room or their typical age room,’ Ms McKinnon said. ‘The important part for us is that they go in there with support, so one of their behavioural therapists will go in with them and make sure they are socialising, playing and communicating at their best. It also allows for us to provide specialised training to the childcare staff at the centre, which is such a benefit for them, too.’ The gradual shift of inclusive programming enables the children to adjust at their own rates and assists childcare educators in developing more experience in caring for children with higher needs. Ms McKinnon said the program allowed for childcare centres to become specialists in inclusive programming. ‘We also do reverse mainstreaming, so typical children will come into the Little Learners room. And we do a lot of interning, where our staff will go into the main childcare room to learn about typical children. We also have childcare staff coming into our room to learn about how to educate and care for children with autism. It’s a really nice sharing of information.’ Ms McKinnon hopes more centres will participate in the program by designating a room for Little Learners program participants. ‘There’s a huge amount of interest in this program and we’re always looking for more centres in different areas. All we need is a vacant room and then kids can get started with us. It’s great for the kids, but it’s also incredible for the centre with the amount of
professional development their staff can get dealing with kids with special needs,’ Ms McKinnon said. ‘The only responsibility of childcare centre managers and owners is to enrol the child into childcare and offer the standard fees.’ Ms McKinnon said children start with varying levels of ability, but will always improve their IQ levels throughout the year. ‘One of the really telling stories is a child who, when he started last year, was really only mumbling one- to two-word phrases. By the end of his year with us, he was able to go back to his typical kindergarten with fluent speech and lots of good friendships. His IQ jumped 30 points in the year he was with us, which meant in the 12 months that he worked with us, he made 18 months of gains.’ Ms McKinnon said this showed that the child had really closed the gap between his development and other children his age. ‘So that’s really what we are striving for: intensive development for children with autism so that they can go into schooling with the right set of skills and tools to do well.’ So far, the program has created some solid results for its students. ‘We had six kids graduating from the program in 2012. Five of them will be going into mainstream schooling and one will be going to a specialist setting,’ she said. ‘Kids have different potential to learn, but they are all making progress in the areas that are important to them.’ Photos courtesy of Little Learners Autism Program.
www.autismpartnership.com.au/LittleLearnersAutismProgram
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 31
education ++training training education
Early childhood educators The Malka Group (TMG) registered training organisation #21694 offers nationally recognised Children’s Services qualifications at Certificate III, Diploma and Advanced Diploma levels. Qualifications can be delivered in your workplace or in a blended mode of classroom and workplace or blended online/workplace model.
T
he Malka Group offers ongoing professional development workshops.
Topics include (count towards annual PD): • Early Learning Framework • child development and learning • health, safety and nutrition • working with families and the community • pedagogy and practice • equity and diversity • observation, documentation and assessment • interactions and behaviour guidance • professionalism and team-building • child abuse prevention, identification and reporting.
X 32••BELONGING BELONGINGEARLY EARLYYEARS YEARSJOURNAL JOURNAL••VOLUME volume22NUMBER number22••2013 2013
Other workshops are available to meet your early childhood educator’s needs. TMG also offers ESL (English as a second language) training to improve workplace communications, report writing and an understanding of the childcare industry compliance requirements. A well-trained early childhood educator offers quality care and learning opportunities to children and attracts parents to your childcare centre. Call TMG on (03) 9890 3350 or (03) 9749 7616 for further information on the various training, compliance, professional development and online induction services offered by TMG. Visit our website at www.tmg.edu.au.
YOUR CENTRE, YOUR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATORS THE BEST THEY CAN BE Child care is an important and highly regulated industry. Make sure your Early Childhood Educators are the best they can be, for the children in your care and nothing less than parents expect. The Malka Group (TMG) is one of Australia’s leading training provider for individuals, business and community groups with a 15-year track record of success in designing and delivering Government funded* and nationally recognised training qualifications that reflects industry standards. Contact TMG today to find out whether you are eligible for State Government Funding for training or the Commonwealth Employer Incentive for Traineeships: Tracey Bailey 03 9890 3350 or tracey@tmg.edu.au
Bernadette Looner 03 9890 3350 or Bernadette@tmg.edu.au
QUALIFICATIONS
WORKSHOPS
• CHC30712
• Early learning framework
Certificate III in Children’s Services
• Health, safety and nutrition
• CHC50908
Diploma of Children’s Services
• CHC60208
Advanced Diploma of Children’s Services
• 21945VIC
• 21935VIC
Certificate II in ESL (Employment)
• Working with families and the community • Pedagogy & Practice • Equity & diversity • Observation, documentation and assessment • Interactions and behaviour guidance
Certificate III in ESL (Employment)
• 21937VIC
• Child development and learning
Certificate IV ESL (Employment / Professional)
• Professionalism & team building • Child abuse prevention, identification and reporting • Topics to meet your teams needs
The Malka Group Pty Ltd Registered Training Organisation #21694 www.tmg.edu.au | info@tmg.edu.au
| 1300 LEARN NOW 1300 532 766
TMG EAST. 29 Ellingworth Parade, Box Hill VIC 3128 TMG WEST. 3 Comben Drive, Werribee VIC 3030
T. 03 9890 3350 T. 03 9749 7616
F. 03 9890 3358 F. 03 9749 7295
The Malka Group Pty Ltd Trading as The Malka Group – TMG Training and Consulting | Registered Training Organisation #21694. Training delivered across Victoria. Training delivered with the Victorian Training Guarantee and Commonwealth Government funding. People with disabilities are encouraged to apply for the training. *Eligibility Criteria 1. You must be an Australian citizen or a Permanent resident. 2. You must not have completed the same or higher Australian qualification than you wish to enrol in unless aged 19 or younger on 1st January this year. 3. You must not have commenced or not be scheduled to commence more than two Victorian Government subsidised courses this year (excluding courses in the Foundation Skills Category); and 4. You must not be currently enrolled in two or more Victorian Government subsidised courses (excluding courses in the Foundation Skills Category). 5. Traineeship incentives may be applicable on full time/part time basis, subject to eligibility. Enrolment fee applies. Reference http://www.education.vic.gov.au/training/learners/vet/Pages/funding.aspx
educationalresources, resources,programs programs++planning planning educational
Education solutions specialist EDUSS Learning, established in Australia in 2001, quickly gained the reputation of being a leading education solutions specialist company by delivering cutting-edge education and technology products and solutions to schools and home users alike.
A
t EDUSS, we aim to provide education solutions that are practically used within the classroom and that positively engage your students.
Some notable differences you will experience with us are: • long-term education solutions as opposed to shortterm product sales • increased usage of technology within the classroom • emphasis on training and professional development
• Eduss 84” Mult-touch (Finger or Stylus) IWB
• superior interactive LED panels compared to older LCD panels (LEDs are brighter, run cooler, are slimmer and lighter, and more power-efficient with a longer life span)
• The Eduss 55”, 65”, 70” and 84” Interactive LED Panels
• five-year warranty on LED panels (we believe in the quality of our products).
• The 101” Wide Screen IWB
• Eduss Multi-touch Interactive Table • Epson Interactive Projectors • Interactive Teaching Devices (i.e. document cameras, microscopes, etc.)
We understand the needs of teachers and know that training is crucial to the end result. Our training focus gives teachers greater support in the classroom as well as delivering a greater experience to the students. At EDUSS, all our trainers are qualified teachers, making certain that training is relevant to the classroom teaching environment. Our training includes:
• Mobile solutions
• professional development
• Foreign Language – Japanese, Chinese, Indonesian, French, Italian and German
• training materials and manuals • live 1800 phone support • online video tutorials • lifetime support • ongoing training programs • ease of use and is fun to do. We have been delivering premium education and technology products and solutions to schools since 2001 that are second to none. In fact, almost 75 per cent of Australian schools use our education solutions and products, and since the release of Interactive Panels some 24 months ago, we have successfully rolled out around 1100 to Australian schools. Working with us will ensure that you’ll get the best education solutions for the best price, and we’ll show you how to get the best results.
Products: • Interactive Hardware Technologies • Eduss 85” Single or Dual Pen IWB X 34••BELONGING BELONGINGEARLY EARLYYEARS YEARSJOURNAL JOURNAL••VOLUME volume22NUMBER number22••2013 2013
• Installation and support services • Software solutions • EDUSS Maths, English and Phonics for Primary School learners • Kip McGrath Secondary Maths for Secondary School Learners
• Readme Literacy • Easiteach Next Generation • Perceptual Skills for Pre-School Learners • Kip McGraths’s Getting Ready For School • Gizmo’s Science and Maths Simulations • Reflex Maths, a Maths fluency product • Reading A-Z Reading Solutions • Australia Geographic • Snowflake – Multi-user Multi-touch Education Solutions.
Training and professional development EDUSS Learning offers professional development on all of its products, and Eduss trainers are all qualified teachers, ensuring that training is relevant to a classroom teaching environment. Website: www.eduss.com.au/school Email: info@eduss.com.au Tel: 1800 334 633 | Fax: 1800 036 334
educational resources, programs + planning
Activities for teaching colours A new series of texts has been published to help educators develop activities in early childhood settings.
Learning Outcome 4: Confident and involved learners
he series, Planning for Learning in the EYLF, published by Teaching Solutions, comprises 10 books with different themed activities to engage young children.
• Use coloured acetates or pieces of cellophane to investigate what we see when we look through two different colours at the same time.
T
All activities have been broken down into learning outcomes from the Early Years Learning Framework to help educators with documenting the experiences.
Mixing Colours Learning Outcome 1: Strong sense of identity • Read Elmer and the Lost Teddy by David McKee. Ask children to talk about a toy that is special to them and to say why.
Learning Outcome 2: Connection and contribution to their world • Play the ‘Changing colours game’ (see activity). • Read Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni about families and how children often look like their parents or other family members.
Learning Outcome 3: Strong sense of wellbeing • Practise throwing and catching with multi-coloured balls and bean bags. • Play aiming games in which a particular coloured bean bag is thrown into the same coloured hoop or bucket.
• Investigate what happens with magic iceblocks (see activity).
• Make sunlight catchers by cutting a rectangle from four sides of a small box and sticking red, blue, yellow and one other coloured piece of acetate in the holes. Hang the boxes in a sunny window and encourage children to observe what happens as they catch the light. • Provide each child with a pre-drawn umbrella with six segments and a red, yellow and blue wax crayon. Ask children to colour three segments with the crayons and then show how green, purple and orange can be made drawing over one colour with a crayon of a different colour. • Experiment with children to show the different colours that are created when red, yellow and blue powder paints are mixed in different combinations. If brushes are dipped in water, dabbed on sponge and then placed in the powder paint a small amount of a good consistency will be collected for mixing on a plate or palette. Painting on black paper will encourage children to make rich colours. • Mix and change colours (see activity).
Learning Outcome 5: Effective communicators • Encourage children to draw and write in one colour and then go over what they have drawn or written in another colour. This works well with texta colours, pencils or crayons. Talk about the changes that occur. BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 35
educational resources, programs + planning
Activity: Changing colour Learning Outcome 4: • Children develop understanding that colours can be combined to create other colours. • Children experiment and explore cause and effect.
Resources:
• Children experiment, explore and hypothesise about cause and effect. • Children develop understanding that when water gets very cold it freezes and is called ice. When ice gets warm it melts. • Children participate in inquiry-based experiences.
Resources:
• Clear short jars of water coloured with yellow, red and blue food dye; eye droppers; palettes or iceblock trays; small paint brushes, A4 paper.
Water, food dye, eye-droppers, iceblock trays, large container with clear sides half-filled with water
Key vocabulary: names of colours, mix, create, change, tone, lighter, darker.
Key vocabulary: names of colours, mix, create, change, tone, lighter, darker.
What to do:
What to do:
• Encourage children to use eyedroppers to collect coloured water from one jar and transfer it to one of the iceblock segments, then to select another colour to add to this.
• Fill an iceblock tray with water. With children use the eye-dropper to put a drop of yellow, red or blue food colour into separate segments. Freeze the water. When frozen, put two blocks of different colours into the water in the large, clear-sided container.
• Ask them to predict what will happen. What colour they will create? Encourage them to use paint with the colours they have created. At first they will probably experiment and mix and paint colours randomly. Over time, they will mix colours more purposefully and use them to create pictures.
Mixing colours • Talk with children about the different shades they create and how adding more of one colour will change the tone of the new colour.
Activity: Magic iceblocks Learning Outcome 4: • Children develop understanding that colours can be combined to create other colours.
36 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
• Ask the children to predict what will happen to the iceblocks and to the colours. Observe how the colours mix and blend. What will happen if another iceblock is added? What will happen if the water is stirred? • Add coloured iceblocks to the waterplay trough and encourage children to observe and predict what will happen. ‘Planning for Learning in the EYLF: Colour’, published by Teaching Solutions, pb, RRP $24.95. This extract has been reproduced with permission from the publisher Teaching Solutions. www.teachingsolutions.com.au
educational resources, programs + planning
educational resources, programs + planning
Inspiring quality programs
A
s Early Childhood Educators, it is our honour and responsibility to provide high-quality, inclusive programs for every child. The Early Years Learning Framework has provided pedagogical guidance and a common language and understanding of children’s learning and development. The Framework supports Early Childhood Educators and families to work together to better support children’s play, learning and development and achieve common outcomes for all children. The Early Years Learning Framework sets out five areas of learning that can be used as guidelines for
Early Childhood Educators to develop each child as a whole. We recognise the importance of each area itself, but also focus on the integration of the learning areas as they complement each other. This integration is often evident in a child’s learning journey as they are able to utilise aspects of identity, community, wellbeing, learning and communication through play. Early Childhood Educators have varying curriculum approaches that reflect their own personal philosophies. We believe that the Framework can be used in conjunction with all curriculum approaches, as the purpose remains the same: to provide a highquality program that develops children in a holistic manner. For inspiration and guidance on incorporating the EYLF into your curriculum please visit www.curriculumkids.com.au. Email: info@curriculumkids.com.au
T h e E Y L F a t yo u r f i n g e r t i p s The Early Years Learning Framework sets out five areas of learning that can be used as a guideline for Early Childhood Educators to develop each child as a whole. We recognise the importance of the individual areas, but also focus on the integration of the learning outcomes as they complement one another.
To find out more, and see our complete range of products, visit www.curriculumkids.com.au Enter code BELONGING at checkout to recieve a 10% discount. es tur ncNa Exeperie Cultural al Experienc Guid Learn te ing es s Reflecting omple earsyear Celebrations the EYLF Your C Early Y3-5 EYLF the s ng e cti m to the Re fle tco u O g Learnin d Liana rnau an
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Identity • Community • Wellbeing • Learning • Communication X • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • VOLUME 2 NUMBER 2 • 2013
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BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 37
educational resources, programs + planning
One Laptop per Child An international organisation is introducing technology and education to the most disadvantaged children.
O
ne Laptop per Child Australia (OLPC) is planning to roll out their One Education program in early learning centres by offering the XO laptop, training, support and access into the program through their partner Crayons. The program is already being accessed by over 7000 Australian school-aged children, with another 50,000 students expected to receive the XO laptops following federal government funding of $11.7 million to the global charity, OLPC. After opening its doors in Australia just four years ago, the program has provided over 7000 laptops to children who attend schools with an Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA) value of less than 1000 and/or national partnership schools. The much-needed funding boost will make
the program more accessible to children in remote and rural communities. Chief Executive Officer of OLPC Rangan Srikhanta said, ‘Any primary-school aged child can benefit from the program, but it is those that meet our eligibility criteria that will benefit most.’ The laptops are called XO machines. Teachers participating in the program receive 15 hours of training, through the One Education initiative, to develop their children into XO mechanics to repair the machines and XO champions of software support. ‘The One Education initiative is an Australian innovation that aspires to rethink the distribution of technology into the classroom, not just locally, but globally,’ Mr Srikhanta said. Mr Srikhanta said the initial pilot programs were very hit and miss. ‘Some schools after three years have very low failure rates (due to children repairing the machines), whereas some early schools had too many teacher and principal turnovers with a lack of staffing continuity to allow the program to flourish.’ He pointed out that after refining the program’s methodology, its success rate has increased. ‘We are starting with fewer classrooms and allowing local capacity to grow organically, rather than forcing adoption.’ With the inclusion of the One Education initiative, teachers and children are being trained to repair and use the machines more effectively, thus creating a better resource for the most underprivileged children. www.laptop.org.au www.crayons.com.au/xo
38 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
educational educationalresources, resources,programs programs++planning planning
Have you ever dindered? Dinder (vb.); To nod thoughtfully while someone gives you a long and complex set of directions, which you know you’re never going to remember. (Definition from The Deeper Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams)
U
sing any technology in the classroom can be a complex task and quite often we end up dindering in response to our local computer guy who has come to spend time with us. It is all too easy to buy an educational device and think that somehow, maybe by osmosis, all the extra information we need to know will somehow sink in. We start with a device. This is the learning device – the main component in our digital toolkit. Importantly, it doesn’t stop there. There are documented educational activities that children can use that lead to learning outcomes in the curriculum. The educational activities will use software applications on the learning device. Finally, the teachers need their own education and training. What are the activities they can use in their lesson plans? How can they use the different software applications? How do I get the best out of the learning device? What can I do when I have a problem? Children are engaged with technology and are driving its adoption in the classroom. The challenge
is to use technology as an integrated tool in the classroom. Gone are the days when we have ‘computer time’ and the children are parked in front of an educational maths game. This is why Crayons has partnered with One Laptop Per Child Australia (OLPC) to bring their learning platform to childcare and preschool centres in Australia and New Zealand. The XO laptop is the learning device and is purpose-built for children. The software applications are designed with education in mind and come with the XO. The One Education initiative provides teachers with training, educational activities (which can be directly used in their daily lesson plans), and access to peers from around Australia. Stop dindering. Start using the XO and One Education from OLPC Australia and Crayons. Call us today and join the One Education initiative for your Centre. www.crayons.com.au/xo or phone on 1300 232 111.
XO
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Over 2.4 Million XO’s Deployed Worldwide Built-in Educational Activities No Internet Access Required Easy to Repair and Maintain No Hidden Costs
Online Self-Paced Teacher Training Example Lesson Plan Ideas by Teachers Collaborate with Educators throughout Australia XO Certification Program -
Information and Registration at
www.crayons.com.au/xo BELONGINGEARLY EARLYYEARS YEARSJOURNAL JOURNAL••volume VOLUME22number NUMBER22••2013 2013••39 X BELONGING
occupational health + safety
Safe food handling Ensure your team is applying best practice with food handling Children are more likely than adults to become ill from eating unsafe food. In early childhood settings, the larger the number of children being fed, the larger the risk of contamination. This is because it is more difficult to handle larger quantities of food safely.
Bacteria in foods There are bacteria present in most foods, and food spoilage is often caused by bacteria. Bacteria often make food inedible and unpleasant, but are not always harmful. Some bacteria, called pathogens, are harmful and can cause food poisoning or gastroenteritis. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach cramps. Different bacteria cause different illnesses – some are short-term and quite mild, while others are more serious and may include dehydration and require hospitalisation for treatment. Food poisoning is especially serious when it occurs in children and elderly people because their immune systems are more vulnerable and they become dehydrated more easily.
Preventing gastroenteritis The most common cause of gastroenteritis is viral illness passed on through contact between people, rather than through food. Good hygiene, particularly handwashing, is extremely important to limit the spread of viral gastroenteritis.
High-risk foods Foods that allow the easy growth of bacteria are those that are moist and contain a lot of nutrients. These foods, called ‘high-risk’ foods, include milk, meat, fish and eggs, as well as any dishes containing these ingredients. Cooked rice also allows some bacteria to grow. If these foods are left out of the refrigerator for long periods of time, they will spoil and not be edible. However, they will only cause illness if they contain harmful pathogenic bacteria. Following the correct cooking and storage procedures will help to keep food safe by controlling any conditions that could otherwise allow bacteria to reproduce and grow to large numbers.
40 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
Low-risk foods Foods unlikely to encourage bacterial growth, or ‘low-risk’ foods, include uncooked pasta and rice, biscuits, packaged snack foods, lollies and chocolates. These foods can be kept safely for long periods of time without refrigeration. Canned food is safe while the can is still sealed, but once opened the food may become high-risk. Lollies, chocolates and many packaged snack foods are ‘sometimes foods’, and are not suitable for settings.
Preparing food safely There are a number of factors to consider when ensuring that food is safe: • Buy food from trusted suppliers. • Buy fresh foods from places where turnover is high. • Make sure that packaging is unbroken and products are within their use-by date. • Transport high-risk foods quickly or in cool containers.
Food storage • Protect low-risk foods by placing them in sealed containers once packages have been opened. • Keep high-risk foods refrigerated before cooking, or until they are ready to be eaten. • Place any cooked high-risk foods back in the refrigerator if they are not being eaten straight away.
Food preparation Always wash hands before handling any food. Wash them again after touching your hair, wiping your nose or a child’s nose with a tissue, sneezing, going to the toilet, assisting a child with toileting, changing a nappy or touching other items that may carry bacteria. Use separate cutting boards for raw meat and fish, cooked items such as meat and vegetables, and fruit and sandwiches. Colour code boards to ensure that they are used only for the right foods. Wash knives after use with uncooked meat and fish, and before use with any foods that are ready to be eaten.
occupational health + safety
Ensure food is cooked or reheated to the correct temperature.
Food preparation with children • Ensure that children always wash hands before handling any food. • Supervise children at all times while in the kitchen. • Take care to avoid any injuries from sharp knives and hot surfaces.
Re-using food • Do not reheat cooked food more than once. • Discard any food served but not eaten. • Discard any food that was not served but has been out of the refrigerator for more than two hours. • When reheating food, reheat it to steaming hot, allow it to cool to serving temperature and then serve immediately.
Kitchen environments • Keep all kitchen areas clean. • Check daily that the refrigerator is working and that food is cold. • Wash dishes between use with hot soapy water and leave them to dry, rather than using a tea towel. Generally, a dishwasher is required for safe washing of children’s dishes.
Serving food safely It is important that both adults and children understand some basic rules for serving food in a hygienic way. Some key points include: • Children and adults should wash hands before eating. • Tongs and spoons should be used for serving food. By providing child-sized serving utensils, children can be encouraged to be independent while still maintaining safe food-handling practices. • All food served to the table or individual plates should be discarded if uneaten, rather than served later. • Any food not served from the kitchen can be covered and refrigerated, then reheated and served later. • Food already reheated cannot be heated again – for example, a curry cooked the day before and refrigerated, then reheated and served the next day in the setting cannot be reheated again and served later. • Children should not share bowls or utensils, or eat from each other’s plates or cups. • Food dropped on the floor should not be eaten.
Handling kitchen emergencies safely What if the refrigerator breaks down? You may sometimes be faced with events that are out of your control, such as the refrigerator breaking down. If this happens, change the menu so that you can use the most expensive foods straight away. If the refrigerator is kept closed, it will keep the temperature low for some time. It may be worth buying some ice to keep food cold, and this gives you time to cook and arrange a refrigerator service and alternative storage if needed. You may be able to store the food you cannot use straight away in another refrigerator – a parent’s, for example. Serve low-risk food items if it is going to be some time before the refrigerator is repaired. Some examples include: • sandwiches with fillings such as baked beans, peanut butter (if it is allowed in your setting), egg or tuna (cooked or prepared just before needed) • pasta, rice, onions and canned tomatoes or tuna (all cooked and served immediately) • canned evaporated or dried milk • canned or freeze-dried vegetables • fresh and canned fruit. Any food not used at a mealtime should be discarded. From ‘Get Up & Grow: Healthy Eating and Physical Activity for Early Childhood – Cooking for Children’. This article was used by permission of the Australian Government. For further information: http://health.gov. au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/gugchildren-toc~gug-children-safety.
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 41
occupationalhealth health++safety safety occupational
What is Solucare? Solucare is a new range of commercialgrade cleaning products designed in a unique controlled dose concept. The products are produced as a correct dose of powder concentrate sealed in a soluble capsule.
Childcare centre cleaning observations After observing numerous onsite childcare centre cleaning storerooms and cleaning regimes, it became evident that there are many industry issues that are encountered daily. Some of these issues are: • inconsistent product use and application • lack of product training/knowledge • time constraints • glug-glug dispensing methodology • using non-approved and non-compliant products • incorrect application • general storage and housekeeping • no foolproof cleaning chemical system • automatic dosage systems are unreliable.
T
here are no more chemical drums, mixing, or mechanical dosing and the application process is simple to follow. The sachet dissolves completely due to its composition. The trigger sprays are re-usable and the distribution costs are reduced, therefore reducing transport and emissions to the environment. Solucare offers an immediate cost saving and sustainable solution, allowing you to forecast usage and cost.
X 42••BELONGING BELONGINGEARLY EARLYYEARS YEARSJOURNAL JOURNAL••VOLUME volume22NUMBER number22••2013 2013
These issues faced by many childcare centre operators have been something that the industry has simply continued to work with, leaving room for error in application, incorrect dosing, wastage, no control on chemical supply, safety issues, and of course, unnecessary costs to a business. Another huge issue is the lack of, and the need for, space to store an adequate supply of cleaning chemicals.
‘The Solucare’ childcare centre cleaning range – simplicity is key. For further details, please contact Essential Hygiene Services on 1300 889 091 or sales@ehservices.com.au www.ehservices.com.au.
Innovative Cleaning Products for Childcare Centres
The Solucare System The Solucare Cleaning System provides an efficient storage solution, with a fraction of the storage space normally needed. The Solucare system was designed to enable a fully-loaded rack to hold between 400-500 litres of chemicals. The rack is simply wall-mounted in a storeroom area or mounted on the back of a storeroom/cupboard door. • There is no cutting or opening • No measuring • No contact with the concentrated product • No overdosing • No mixing pumps • No harmful spillages • Kind to the environment • Works instantly • Saves time • Trigger sprays are reusable • Safer, easier and lighter to transport than any other chemical • You can manage your stock and costs more accurately
For further details or to order, please contact Essential Hygiene Services
on 1300 889 091 or sales@ehservices.com.au.
www.ehservices.com.au
HY F
incursions
I’m not an animal! Oh, yes you are!
By Chris Humfrey
There’s an old adage, ‘never work with children or animals’ – well, I’ve ended up doing both!
F
or the last 20 years, I have been taking my private zoo into childcare centres and kindergartens throughout Victoria, teaching and instilling in children the wonderment, mystery and joy of nature. You may be excused for thinking, ‘How quaint, a petting zoo’. However, you would be far from the truth. My programs are more about life coaching and personal development, rather than just touching a snake. I have long been interested in the connection (or lack of) that mankind has with animals, and the attraction, magic and delight that children (of all ages) experience, learning about all things wild. When I was a child, 30 years ago, I was pretty sick. I suffered from chronic asthma and spent many of my earlier days in and out of hospital. I remember spending hours in my hospital bed looking out the window willing myself to get better and return to my beloved ‘back paddock’ behind the family home. I firmly believe that it was my love of nature that eventually helped me to get better. When I was well, I would take every opportunity to jump the fence to explore, build cubbies, catch tadpoles, swim in the pond, or, dare I say it, disappear for an entire day chasing dangerous snakes. Sadly, these days the wildest experience most children are exposed to is playing their iPad or watching TV. What effect does 44 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
this lack of ‘nature’ have on modern-day children? My mother and father always encouraged me in my pursuits for observing wildlife. Even though my father was frightened of snakes, he built me my very own reptile house in the ‘Humfrey’ backyard to satiate my zoo-keeping dreams. My childhood was all about risk-taking, adventure and animals! Because of my keen interest, I excelled and enjoyed my schooling. My passion as a child helped fuel my desire to enquire, to learn, and to read. As a teenager, I gradually grew out of my health woes, became physically fit and my love for nature enabled me to represent Australia at the world championships in white water kayaking. I was also a keen student and studied a Bachelor of Science at the University of Melbourne, majoring in Zoology. I am now fortunate enough to operate my own private zoo and recently produced my very own TV series on ABC1 called ‘Chris Humfrey’s Wildlife!’ Amazing what nature can do for a kid, eh? For me, there is nothing more gratifying than encouraging children to get in touch with their primal ‘hunter-gatherer’ side. I love to teach kids the language of ecology. I often say to children, ‘read’ the animal. It is amazing how children can learn about an animal by simply looking at morphological traits (body shape/design). Kids quickly notice that a lizard with long legs can run lightening fast, and that a possum with sharp claws is a great tree climber. Maybe these early skills of observation will help them
incursions
communicate and observe better with their fellow ‘humans’ later on in life? It saddens me that at first, most children are fearful and apprehensive around wildlife. More often than not, the children have had their parents’ fears and ignorance instilled in them. Our programs focus on basic ecology and zoology, and YES we are animals too! When children touch a lizard’s scaly skin, it kind of feels like Dad’s face in the morning before he has a shave! I find exploring similarities in animals’ function and survival builds empathy and respect. Funnily for the children I teach, the stumpy-tailed lizard doesn’t have a school lunch box like they do, his food is stored in his tail as a fat reserve, and the leaf-tailed gecko doesn’t have eyelids, so instead of using a face washer to keep his eyes clean, he licks them with his tongue! ‘AAURRGH!’ the children exclaim. I am not advocating that children should catch the next snake they see, or wrestle a crocodile. Simply respect, observe and understand nature. In our programs we encourage interaction with live animals. Tactile discovery and a truly three-dimensional
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The synergies and differences of live mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds, help fascinated onlookers empathise with the natural world. Imagine having a one-and-a-half metre long crocodile, a koala, behemoth python snake, freshwater turtle, cryptic leaf-tailed gecko, kissable green tree frog or even an eye ‘boggling’ barking owl inhabit your classroom – it certainly provides for a creative learning environment!
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I laugh quietly to myself when I challenge the children and state that we are all animals, and they reply, ‘we are not animals, we are people.’ The fact that we have warm blood (endothermic), that we drink milk as babies, and that we have hair on our bodies cements the fact that we are indeed all mammals. This exploration of nature and the animal kingdom brings the children down to earth a little. It helps them to think and question their place in the natural world. Instead of viewing animals in a ‘Godly’ like way, now the children can see a living being which they share the world alongside and connect with.
I have always enjoyed working with kinder-aged participants. In fact they are my favorite audience. Their wide-eyed innocence, fascination and passion for life are contagious. It is my hope that if children love nature, they will be more likely to protect it later on in life. Perhaps understanding nature and wildlife might even save themselves as well.
The program’s aims and objectives are consistent with the Early Years Learning Framework
Melbourne – Sydney Brisbane – Perth Regional Victoria
experience is the perfect way to captivate children’s interest.
Chris Humfrey is a zoologist and Director of Wild Action Productions Pty Ltd. Wild Action ‘The Zoo Comes To You!’ is an eco-educational company, which teaches over 250,000 children a year through five interactive programs encompassing topics such as Australian animals, endangered species, mini-beasts and insects, rock-pool discovery and backyard biodiversity. www.wildaction.com.au
14/05/13 11:38 AM
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 45
nutrition + menu planning
Get Up & Grow changes for your service
By Cherie Lyden New guidelines released in 2013 put a greater emphasis on wholegrains and plant food.
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he Australian Dietary Guidelines have recently changed so there is now one set of guidelines for children, adolescents and adults, with separate guidelines for infants. These Guidelines provide scientifically researched, up-to-date advice about the amount and types of food we need to eat for health and wellbeing and aim to help reduce the risk of dietrelated conditions and chronic disease.
• lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds and legumes/beans • water.
And less: • meat pies, sausage rolls and fried hot chips • potato crisps, savoury snacks, biscuits and crackers • processed meats like salami, bacon and sausages
Essentially there isn’t a lot of change but there is more emphasis on healthy foods. Foods high in sugar, salt and saturated fat currently make up approximately 41 per cent of a child or adolescent’s diet. The net result is that the rate of childhood obesity is now at 25 per cent in Australia. This will inevitably lead to an increase in chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease if we don’t change eating habits now.
The new Australian Dietary Guidelines for Children, Adolescents and Adults suggest we need more: • vegetables and fruit, particularly green, orange and red vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots, capsicum and sweet potatoes, and leafy vegetables like spinach, and legumes/beans like lentils • grain (cereal) foods, particularly wholegrain cereals such as wholemeal breads, wholegrain/high-fibre breakfast cereals, oats, wholegrain rice and pasta • reduced-fat milk, yoghurt and cheese (reduced-fat milks are not suitable for children under the age of two years as a main milk drink)
46 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
Cherie Lyden speaking at the Early Years Exhibition and Conference, New South Wales.
nutrition + menu planning
• cakes, muffins, sweet biscuits and muesli bars • confectionary and chocolate • ice-cream and desserts • cream and butter • jam and honey • soft drinks, cordial, energy drinks and sports drinks.
A summary of the new infant guidelines for six–12 months of age is as follows: • Breastmilk or formula to continue for the first 12 months of age. • Small amounts of cooled boiled water can also be offered from six months of age. • The introduction of first foods should begin ‘around’ six months of age, starting with iron-fortified infant cereal or iron-rich foods (such as puréed meat or tofu), followed by other foods from the ‘five food groups’. Introduce different tastes and textures as the baby grows. • Cow’s milk should not be given as a main drink to infants under 12 months of age. Cow’s milk may be served in small quantities in foods, with cereals and as plain custards without added sugars. • By 12 months of age, infants should be consuming a wide variety of nutritious foods enjoyed by the rest of the family. All milk given to children over 12 months of age should be pasteurised. The Guidelines also form the basis of the Australian Government’s Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Recommendations (HEPAR) in the Get Up & Grow resources where you should expect some slight changes. Printed publications were released in May 2013 and suggested the following: • Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended, with positive support, for babies ‘around’ six months of age. Continued breastfeeding is recommended for at least 12 months – and longer if the mother and baby wish. • We now know from recent research that babies should be introduced to solids somewhere between four and six months of age, rather than ‘at’ six months of age. • If an infant is not breastfed, is partially breastfed, or if breastfeeding is discontinued, use an infant formula until 12 months of age. There has been no change to this guideline; however, children do not need to continue with formula after 12 months of age unless they are lactose-intolerant or have a dairy protein allergy. Pasteurised cow’s milk can be served as a drink from 12 months of age.
Introduce solids ‘around’ six months of age. Previous guidelines said ‘at’ six months but we now know from recent research that solids can be introduced somewhere between four to six months, as guided by the baby. Make sure that food offered to children is appropriate to the child’s age and development, and includes a wide variety of nutritious foods consistent with the Australian Dietary Guidelines. It is important to note that infants need different textures as they develop in their first year such as: silky smooth foods at four to six months of age; lumpy bumpy foods at seven to nine months of age; and, finger foods at nine to 12 months of age. This helps to develop the muscles in the mouth and tongue, which can also affect speech later on, as well as developmental skills such as hand-eye coordination and the pincer grip. Many parents delay the finger
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 47
nutrition + menu planning
food stage in fear of their baby choking; however, babies have very good gag reflexes at this age and as long as the foods given are age-appropriate and not too hard, like carrot and celery sticks or whole nuts, there should not be a problem. Provide water in addition to age-appropriate milk drinks. Infants under the age of six months who are exclusively breastfed can be offered cooled boiled water in addition to formula. Reduced-fat or low-fat milk (not skim milk) can be offered as a drink from the age of two years and up. Children below this age need the saturated fat from full-cream milk for energy and growth.
Plan mealtimes to be positive, relaxed and social. Mealtimes should be happy times. Children are establishing healthy behaviours early in life that they are likely to continue during adulthood. Encourage children to try different food types and textures in a positive eating environment.
Offer an appropriate amount of food, but allow children to decide for themselves how much they will eat.
Children will often forget to ask for food and if the gap between meals has been too long, this can lead to a hypoglycaemic state (low blood sugars), which usually results in emotional outbursts and tantrums. Ensure that food is safely prepared for children to eat – from the preparation stages to consumption. Hands should be properly washed before food preparation. Food should be washed or appropriately prepared. Food should be cooked or reheated to correct temperatures and cooled for safe consumption. Food must be hygienically stored. As for the Physical Activity Recommendations, there are no changes. Physical activity from as early as birth remains an integral part of health and wellbeing and should be encouraged daily. The Healthy Eating Guidelines and Physical Activity Recommendations form part of the National Quality Standard for Early Childhood Education and Care and School Age Care. The value of these Guidelines lies in the fact that they can be applied in a variety of childhood settings, including centre-based care, family day care and preschools. It is important to remember that they are evidence-based and consistent with current thinking on early childhood development, which is when children are establishing behaviour for lifelong health and wellbeing.
Most children are good self-regulators. They will simply stop when they have had enough to eat. It is important not to force-feed or to get a child to finish what is on their plate. Some days children will eat more and some days less. This is very normal for most children.
Information for this article was resourced from the National Health and Medical Research Council and its website Eat for Health. www.eatforhealth.gov.au
Offer meals and snacks at regular and predictable intervals.
Cherie Lyden is a children’s nutritionist and food coach. www.watermelonkids.com.au
Children have small tummies, that fill up quickly; therefore, they need to be offered food regularly.
48 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
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You are
not alone By Matthew Ross Seeking advice is not a sign of failure.
I
t can be lonely owning your business outright. You are faced with challenges on a weekly basis that there is no training for. You have to work it out yourself. You are forced to make key decisions for which again, there is little training. The direction and success of the business, along with the responsibility of employing others falls on you, so it is easy to feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.
You are not alone At times when you are feeling low on energy, low on inspiration, low on direction or low on ideas, there are people to talk to. In fact, it is important that you don’t just wait until you are feeling ‘low’ before you reach out to these people. If you are feeling frustrated, confused, stressed, angry or concerned – which we all do at times – never forget that there are people around to turn to for help. These are the people I’m talking about…
Your staff These people know as much about the business as you do – probably more about the daily running activities of the business than you do (which is the way it should be). Asking for their advice is not a sign of weakness. It will often empower your staff to care more about the business if you are implementing their recommendations because they want to see that they are right too. Remember to listen when asking advice from the staff. Ask questions and listen. The worst thing you can do is dismiss their ideas or advice as soon as the last vowel has left their mouth and entered your ears. Take notes, reflect back on those notes and then report
back to your staff member(s) that you sought counsel from, and show them how their feedback, even if you did not use it, has helped you make a key decision.
Your accountant The numbers talk, the other thing walks. Too many people use their accountants for compliance reasons – to have their tax return and financial reports done after the fact because by law you have to. Accountants are a wealth of knowledge. They can look at your figures and then compare those to the profitability ratios, valuation factors, revenue and expense targets for other businesses so you can get a gauge of things you are succeeding in as well as things that need improvement.
Your competition It sounds bizarre to some people, but your competitors are the people who know how to solve your problems best. If there is one thing I have learned about human nature over the last few years, it is that we want to help each other, even our competitors want to help us. As long as you are willing to share some knowledge, experience and strategies with them, the right people will be willing to help you. In my own profession of financial planning, I have a number of financial advisers that I have coffee or lunch with regularly and we bounce ideas and problems off each other. Matthew Ross
50 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
finance, business + property
Your partner (in the bedroom) No one knows you better than your partner/spouse. They care as much about the business as you do and care more about you than anyone else. If you are not sharing (as opposed to ‘dumping’) some of the issues on your mind with your partner, then it can start to impact on your relationship with that person because they won’t understand why you are feeling angry, frustrated, or <insert other emotion here>. I recently met with a business colleague who was working with a person that I had concerns about. I asked him if his wife trusted this other guy and he immediately said ‘no’. My reply was, ‘that’s game over, mate. If she doesn’t trust him, I don’t trust him and you’re second guessing him; what more do you need to hear?’. He’s since moved on to bigger and better things.
Other trusted advisers Your lawyer, mortgage broker, financial adviser, and property adviser are in business too. Sometimes, when you are feeling defeated the best medicine can be having an independent person look at what you are doing to remind you of some of the great things you have achieved.
Your customers Right now, we are working on a marketing initiative, which is exciting but at the same time confusing and
frustrating because there are no ‘right answers’. There is, however, one group that holds a higher probability of providing a right answer more than any other and that is our clients. Again, it can feel like a sign of weakness to ask for your customers’ opinions, so create context to the question. You might say, ‘we are reviewing how we do things to ensure we move with the times and continue to understand at a deep level what you want, expect and value. We need your help,’ then the right people who you want as customers will go out of their way to help you. The tough thing about school was sitting exams. You were given a blank list of questions that you had to complete. If you didn’t know what to write, you couldn’t go up to the teacher and ask him or her for the answer. The wonderful thing about business is that you can. You can call up any of your customers right now and ask for the answer to any question on your mind and they will give you the answer. The key then becomes making sure you ask the right questions of the right people. Disclaimer: the advice in this article is general in nature. For specific advice, please contact a financial advisor.
Matthew Ross is an independent financial adviser and an Authorised Representative of Australian Independent Financial Advisers Pty Ltd. He is a Director of Roskow Independent Advisory. www.roskow.com.au
Important changes to your super obligations There are some new regulatory requirements affecting the way employers will need to manage their employees’ superannuation.
F
rom 1 July 2013, the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contribution (the amount an employer pays into an employee’s super fund) will increase from nine per cent to 9.25 per cent per annum. This change is part of a new annual cycle of gradual increases, which are scheduled to finish in 2019/20 when the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) rate will be set at 12 per cent per annum. For employers, the main change relates to the compulsory use of electronic data for super contributions. To help, Child Care Super offers a free Super PaySmart Solutions Service, including both an online contribution and a clearing house facility. These provide a number of benefits that have already freed up a considerable amount of time for many childcare centre owners, and avoid any penalties that may apply if payments are not made when due. 323368E RHS_Child Care Super | 1849.indd 24
For further information, or to order a free demonstration disk showing how easy the Super PaySmart Solutions Service is, please contact Child Care Super on 1800 060 215 or visit the website childcaresuper.com.au/free demo Disclaimer: Super PaySmart Solutions is issued by Mercer Investment Nominees Limited ABN 79 004 717 533.AFSL No. 235906. Before deciding about any financial product you should consider the relevant PDS obtainable by calling Child Care Super on 1800 060 215. Guild Trustee Services Pty Limited ABN 84 068 826 728, AFS Licence No. 233815, RSE Licence No. L0000611 as trustee for Child Care Super (part of the Guild Retirement Fund) Fund Registration No. R1000030, ABN 22 599 554 834.
23/05/13 9:31 AM
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 51
finance, business business++property property finance,
Childcare – A driving force in the market
C
hildcare centres being passive investments or business operations are still a major commodity and driving force in the market. Consumer confidence has definitely bounced back with significant acquisitions exchanged this financial year. All Childcare Sales’s Simon Morris has seen a major shift in current listings. ‘Everything is selling at the moment, and not many new opportunities are on the horizon. Childcare is a cash cow and everybody wants to be a part of it. Gone are the days of a buyers’ market; it’s a sellers dream. So if you’re thinking of selling, this is the market to do it in. Supply and demand! It’s here and not going away for a while.’ AllChildcareSales.com.au has turned over in excess of $68 million in sales this financial year. We have buyers knocking on our doors with nothing to sell them. So if you have been feeling apprehensive about selling or you think you may not achieve your desired price, you couldn’t be more wrong. Investment interest is peaking in all facets of childcare.
X 52••BELONGING BELONGINGEARLY EARLYYEARS YEARSJOURNAL JOURNAL••VOLUME volume22NUMBER number22••2013 2013
AllChildcareSales.com.au is run by a highly successful commercial and residential property group located in Brisbane. Over the past 15 years, they have pulled together a dedicated team that has firsthand experience in owning and operating centres. They know all there is to know about the industry and provide expert advice about purchasing, leasing and selling. AllChildcareSales.com.au is a leader in the childcare market and our website is the engine of our business. Whether you are looking to buy or sell a centre, we have the expertise and industry alliances to help achieve the best outcome for all parties. David Jurgensen Childcare Specialist www.allchildcaresales.com.au
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• Mt Isa – 74 Place, $1,745,000
GOLD COAST INVESTMENT • 10+10+5 Year Lease comm Dec 2012 • 75 Place
• Net Rental $140,000 P.A • $1,695,000
CAIRNS INVESTMENT • 10+5+5 Year Lease comm Dec 2004 • 1635m² land • 74 Place
• Net Rental $112,360 Approx • Huge 9.0% Yield
• $1,250,000 FIRM
CHILDCARE LEASEHOLDS • Toowoomba – 75 Place, $1,350,000 • Capalaba – 150 Place, $1,350,000 • Cairns – 106 Place, $1,850,000 • Cairns – 75 Place, $900,000
• Kingston – 75 Place, $700,000
• Capalaba – 75 Place, $950,000
• Brisbane Bayside – 75 Place, $1,350,000
CHILDCARE SITES • Toowoomba – 150 Place Da Approved - $950,000 • Burpengary – 75 Place Da Approved - $650,000 • Mount Crosby – 75+ Da Approved - $800,000 • Macksville – 80 Da Approved - $575,000 • Mackay – 75+ Da Approved - $550,000
For various other Investments, Freehold, Leasehold And Childcare Sites please visit www.allchildcaresales.com.au or contact agents:
Simon Morris P: 0407 000 076 simon@spgmail.com.au
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT SUPERIOR PROPERTY GROUP – ALL CHILDCARE SALES Commercial – Residential – Management – Childcare P: (07) 3848 3000 F: (07) 3848 1515
www.allchildcaresales.com.au www.superiorpropertygroup.com.au
David Jurgensen P: 0408 799 578 david@spgmail.com.au
finance, business + property
Brand damage By Russ Baldwin and Katrina Mark
The rise and risk of social media
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hildcare centres can curtail the potential ramifications of social media through staff training and policy development.
Social media is here to stay, and businesses are increasingly using various platforms such Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or YouTube to promote their services and engage directly with existing and potential customers. The numbers are impressive: LinkedIn has over two million Australian accounts and Facebook has over one billion active users worldwide. Social media is a powerful tool for recruitment, employee communication and developing brand awareness. Many Australian childcare centres have taken the leap online without fully understanding the reputational, legal and operational consequences that can arise from doing so. This article will focus on those risks as they apply to childcare centre operations.
The divergence of professional and personal life The internet has blurred the line between home and work, and employees should not assume that comments made in a private capacity will not have an impact on their employment. The leading authority on whether out-of-hours conduct will impact on the employment relationship is the case of ‘Rose v. Telstra Corporation’ (AIRC Print Q9292 (4 December 1998)). In that case the Australian Industrial Relations Commission found that in certain circumstances, an employer has a right to terminate an employee’s employment for conduct outside of work hours if:
54 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
• the conduct was likely to cause serious damage to the employment relationship; • the conduct damages the employer’s interests; or • the conduct is incompatible with the employee’s duties as an employee. Of course, Rose v. Telstra was decided at a time well before the advent of social media. More recently, in the case of Sally-Anne Fitzgerald v. Escape Hair Design (2010 FWA 7358), Fair Work Australia (as it was then called) found that while it was accepted in Rose v. Telstra that behaviour outside working hours may have an impact on employment ‘to the extent that it can be said to breach an express term of [an employee’s] contract of employment’, a Facebook posting may go further. In that case, the employee was dismissed for posting a negative comment on Facebook about the alleged failure of her employer to pay holiday entitlements and the fact she had received a performance warning. The post did not disclose the identity of the employer and was only accessible to the employee’s Facebook ‘friends’. In finding that the termination was unfair Commissioner Bissett made the following observation: ‘A Facebook posting, while initially undertaken outside of working hours, does not stop once work recommences. It remains on Facebook until removed, for anyone with permission to access the site to see it… It would be foolish of employees to think they may say as they wish on their Facebook page with total immunity from any consequences.’
finance, business + property
A Facebook posting, while initially undertaken outside of working hours, does not stop once work recommences. It remains on Facebook until removed, for anyone with permission to access the site to see it… It would be foolish of employees to think they may say as they wish on their Facebook page with total immunity from any consequences. Commissioner Bissett Risks to your business Brand damage is a real risk that can arise from the misuse of social media. Bad publicity can have severe commercial consequences, particularly in an industry such as childcare where word-of-mouth commentary can make or break a business. Legal risks associated with the use of social media can involve defamatory comments posted online by employees or former employees, and false or misleading information being posted by parents. Such comments have the potential to expose an employee to an action in court, and significant financial penalties being awarded in favour of an aggrieved individual. An employer can be held vicariously liable for the acts of its employees, which can have significant financial consequences as well as insurance implications.
The type of response will largely depend on the seriousness of the attack on the business’ (or individual’s) reputation. For example, an immediate and considered online response may be necessary. Alternatively, it may be better to just say nothing and let the matter rest. In practice, your response will depend on the nature of the comments made and whether you have a policy and procedure in place which regulates the issue. Such policies are critical as the existence or absence of them can have significant legal consequences.
There is also the risk of an employee inadvertently disclosing your business’ confidential information via a social media platform. That information is often of significant commercial value and, once disclosed, can be costly to recover. The use of the internet and social media has caused a marked increase in cyberbullying and harassment claims. The consequences to a business of these behaviours can be both visible and less obvious. Most employers are aware that bullying and harassment claims will invariably cause workplace stress, absenteeism and staff turnover; however, such claims can also lead to protracted and expensive litigation (and out-of-court settlement of claims, the facts of which are never reported).
The importance of planning Your business must have a response management plan in place to effectively manage and respond to negative comments posted on a social media space.
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 55
finance, business + property
Decisions of the Fair Work Commission since SallyAnne Fitzgerald v. Escape Hair Design have confirmed the importance of an employer having a policy or handbook with clear guidelines for appropriate internet and social media usage, and clarifies an employer’s expectations. Such a policy will position the employer to defend a claim from an employee following action taken as a result of the inappropriate use of social media, either at work or at home (for example, an unfair dismissal claim). The case of O’Keefe v. Williams Muir’s Pty Ltd trading as Troy Williams The Good Guys (2011) FWA 5311 made a favourable reference to the fact an employer had such a policy, and reiterated the importance of making it readily available to employees at all times. Of course, employees should also receive initial induction and ongoing training in relation to internet and social media policies. It is also essential that only business owners or designated employees have access to social media accounts and the passwords that relate to them. That means only they will be able to access the accounts and post or amend information. Those people with access to the accounts should also be responsible for monitoring their content. A regular review of your social media sites will not only ensure the information is up to date – it will also enable you to respond quickly in the event damaging or
56 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
misleading information has been uploaded without your knowledge.
Summary The importance of employers keeping pace with technology and taking steps to mitigate the risks associated with the use of social media cannot be underestimated. Social media policies should be reviewed and updated on a regular basis and expectations must be communicated to employees (and, where appropriate, to parents). Employers should also ensure that they have formal and up-to-date employment contracts which include terms dealing with employee obligations in respect of internet and social media usage. Legal firms like Meridian Lawyers can assist in the preparation and review of your internet and social media policies, as well as employment contracts, to ensure you are appropriately placed to respond to both the benefits and challenges associated with the use of social media. Russ Baldwin and Katrina Mark are senior associates with Meridian Lawyers. www.meridianlawyers.com.au Disclaimer This information is current as of March 2013. This update does not constitute legal advice. It does not give rise to any solicitor/client relationship between Meridian Lawyers and the reader. Professional legal advice should be sought before acting or relying upon the content of this update.
finance, business + property
finance, business + property
How is your super invested? Your super may seem like something you have no control over until you retire, but nothing could be further from the truth. You may not be able to access your super whenever you want, but chances are you can choose how it is invested within your fund.
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hether you’re a new or experienced investor, HESTA makes it easy to make an investment choice that can help fund the retirement lifestyle you want. Depending on how involved in your investment choice you want to be, you can leave your money in the Core Pool (our default option), choose one of our ready-made investment pools, design your own choice portfolio, or mix and match from the above. The key to making your investment choice is deciding how much risk you’re comfortable taking balanced against what level of investment return you want. Each HESTA investment option has its own objective, strategy and level of expected risk and return. The option(s) you choose should be shaped by your own needs and goals. We understand that, no matter what stage of life you’re at, making the right investment choice to suit your retirement needs can be confusing; however, X • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • VOLUME 2 NUMBER 2 • 2013
personal advice on your super is available to HESTA members through your Superannuation Adviser, at no extra cost. For more information on the investment choices available through HESTA, request a Member investment choice presentation at your workplace. Visit hesta.com.au for a copy of our ‘Investment Choices’ guide, or free-call 1800 813 327 to arrange a consultation with a HESTA Superannuation Adviser. This material is issued by H.E.S.T. Australia Ltd ABN 66 006 818 695 AFSL No. 235249, the Trustee of Health Employees Superannuation Trust Australia (HESTA) ABN 64 971 749 321. Information provided is of a general nature. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or specific needs. You should look at your own financial position and requirements before making a decision and may wish to consult an adviser when doing this. This information contains H.E.S.T. Australia Ltd’s interpretation of the law but should not be relied upon as advice. For more information, free call 1800 813 327 or visit hesta.com.au for a copy of a Product Disclosure Statement, which should be considered when making a decision about HESTA products.
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 57
human resources management
Leadership: an art form in the making By Anthony Semann
If your leadership were an artwork, which famous painting, sculpture or installation would best represent your leadership style? If this artwork required a ‘touch up’, and you had free reign to readjust or add to this artwork so it was more closely aligned to the leader you would like to be, what adjustments would you make?
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eadership is always ‘under construction’ and as such, leadership is never static; we all have the opportunity to rethink our approach to leading ourselves, and others. The central question during this experience is, ‘what kind of leader do I wish to be’? We are often asked in leadership development programs to consider the leadership style we use in our workplaces, and whilst this is a reasonable question to consider, on reflection more contemporary understandings of leadership challenge the validity of such questions. Leadership is a complex phenomenon, and a clear distinction between the experience of the leader and the experience of the follower is an absolute necessity if leaders are to maximise the impact of their leadership. Effective leadership is contextual and must be tailored to both the workplace and the followers. As such, claiming one approach to a leadership style is
58 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
both questionable as well as problematic. Leaders must therefore ask themselves: • What do followers require from me? • How can I best have a positive impact through my leadership? • How can I lead from a place of authenticity?
What do followers require from me? A traditional understanding of leadership simplifies the relationship between the leader and followers by suggesting that a leader’s decisions and actions have a direct impact on followers. For example, a leader wishing to empower followers may do so by providing them with additional tasks and responsibilities in order to achieve this outcome. The theoretical basis for this phenomenon is known as cause and effect. In practice we know this theory is questionable. Using the example provided above; allocating additional tasks and responsibilities to followers in order to empower them may in fact lead to resentment or a sense of being overwhelmed on behalf of the follower. This is not to suggest that there isn’t a cause and effect between leader and follower, but rather leaders must pay close attention to the impact they are having on those around them rather than just assuming their intentions will come to fruition as they had planned.
How can I best have a positive impact through my leadership? Leadership does not always deliver positive outcomes. History is full of leaders who have had a negative impact on those around them. Effective leaders are constantly questioning the impact of their leadership while also checking in with those they are reportedly leading to ensure they are delivering
human resources management
what is required. This is not to suggest that followers have positive intentions as well. Followers may in fact desire their leaders to participate in less than desirable behaviours. For example, they may turn a blind eye to a questionable behaviour in order to ‘keep the peace’. However, the relationship between leaders and followers and the checking in with each other may act as an audit of sorts and allow a deeper level of reflection on the requirements of both the leader, follower, and the context in which they operate.
How can I lead from a place of authenticity? Authenticity is a challenging concept to come to terms with. It suggests that we understand who we are and can be ‘true’ to ourselves. In part, this is not a negative way of operating. The challenge at hand is that if we are always ‘under construction’ or always ‘becoming’, being true to ourselves brings up more questions than answers, such as, ‘true to what, given that who I am now is not who I was yesterday?’ One might suggest that we can be true to our values and this is a place where authenticity in our leadership should operate. However, our values change over
time through our lived experiences and through our growth and development. So what does it mean to lead from a place of authenticity? I would like to suggest that to be authentic we must embrace the complexities of leading ourselves and others. We must resist a claim of being static as a leader, and embrace the idea that as leaders grow they will change and develop. Authenticity in this sense means being authentic to evolution and self-growth. So what does this all mean in practice? For some of us we are drawn to artworks that leave us perplexed and puzzled, such as a contemporary art installation that raises the question, ‘is that really art?’ Our leadership is no different to this. Leadership is hard to understand and come to terms with. Some people may be drawn to your leadership style while others are not. The central question for all leaders is, ‘who am I and who do I wish to be?’ Anthony Semann is a Director of Semann & Slattery, a consulting and professional development firm based in Sydney. He is currently completing a PhD at Macquarie University exploring the relationship between courage and leadership. www.semannslattery.com
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BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 59
child health + safety
Making child protection a habit By Tracey Jackson
Child protection skills need to be included in everyday routines, according to an industry expert.
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hild protection should not be complicated and it does not have to be all doom and gloom. In fact, the most effective child protection strategy is fun, simple and engaging; and, it seamlessly merges with any early childhood curriculum or daily routine. It is not hard to do, and it doesn’t take any extra time or skill. It’s simply about understanding how things you do every day can help to create habits that work subconsciously for both you and the children in your care to protect them from abuse – without them even knowing it or you even being there! It is critical that everyone, particularly those working with children, learn how to recognise abuse, report and document their concerns within a legislative framework, and comply with duty of care obligations. Importantly, there are other ways to practise child protection that are more effective in preventing abuse. Early years educators can learn to recognise vulnerable families and children, and feel confident in providing early intervention to prevent the abuse starting or escalating. They often establish a good rapport with parents, and their advice and support, in cases where children are not yet at risk of significant harm, can be more effective than routine referral to authorities. Whole-of-population prevention, that is, strategies applied to all children, is by far the most effective
60 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
approach to child protection. Early years educators can learn how to teach children skills and behaviours they will use all the time. These soon become subconscious habits that enhance a child’s social development in good times, and protect them in bad times. This is where child protection can be fun. We use the ‘7 Steps 2 Safety’ program to help childcare professionals and parents implement this preventative child protection strategy. The ‘7 Steps 2 Safety’ program has its foundation in building communication and support networks for families and children, making them unlikely victims or offenders of child abuse. We teach children to recognise their feelings; make decisions to be safe based on their emotions and instincts; and, to have a similar respect and responsibility for the feelings and rights of others. This teaches empathy, a quality we know is a powerful crime-stopper. We ‘unteach’ some dangerous lessons such as ‘do as adults tell you’ and ‘don’t answer back’ and ‘be quiet and respect adults when they are talking’. Children learn to use correct terminology when referring to all their body parts – so that they can protect their entire body, including their sexual areas. The steps are simple, easy to implement, and involve no extra work or expert knowledge. Just as the steps become habits for children, it becomes a habit for adults to teach them. Abuse and sex are not topics that young children usually know a lot about, so giving them rules about abuse is like giving childcare professionals rules about how to build a combustion engine. How many rules about combustion engines could you easily learn,
child health + safety
and then remember in a time of crisis? We need to stop teaching children about child protection the old fashioned way where they need to first recognise abusive situations and then follow particular rules. Firstly, we cannot teach children to recognise every abusive situation. We would struggle teaching this to adults! Even if children recognise an abusive situation, we can’t expect them to recall and deploy the appropriate conscious response, such as holding up their hand and saying ‘no’, or running and getting help, or telling five people, or fluffing up big like a scary cat! Usually, by the time children realise they are caught in an abusive situation, it is too late for these responses. Children feel guilty about their involvement, and are frightened by threats of losing their parents, being removed from home, being punished, or seeing their abuser punished, so they don’t tell anyone. Relying on children ‘telling’ when they have been abused does not work. Imagine a situation where a busy family has four children and every Tuesday and Thursday night the three older children have netball and football training. A friendly Uncle Bill offers to help out and take the little brother Johnny every Tuesday and Thursday night. He tells them not to drag the little fella out in the cold – they can drop him off and he’ll feed and bath him and watch a movie while his wife is at bingo. The parents are relieved and even though they are a little nervous at first, they soon feel comfortable because Johnny is having such a wonderful time and clearly loves his Uncle Bill. After all, Uncle Bill is doing all the things busy parents can’t always find time to do. He’s spending one-on-one time with Johnny, talking to him, sharing a movie with him, and having lots of fun. Uncle Bill tells Johnny all the time about how much fun they are having, what a special time they are having together, and how much they love each other. Every now and then Uncle Bill will give Johnny a little treat – maybe a lolly, or a piece of chewing gum – and he tells him that it is their little secret. ‘Now don’t tell Mum and Dad – this is just our little secret.’ After two or three months of building that special relationship with an undercurrent of secrecy, Uncle Bill starts ‘cuddling’ Johnny while they’re watching movies. At first it is just cuddles that anyone would think were normal. Then as he is patting Johnny’s leg, the thumb might just brush up under his shorts, and then a little more next time, and then under the underpants – briefly at first – then lingering as though by accident. By the time Uncle Bill has his hands on Johnny’s genitals, and Johnny realises he is being abused, it is too late.
If Johnny objects or asks his uncle to stop, Bill reminds Johnny ‘that they’ve been doing this for months’; ‘this is their special thing’; ‘he can’t tell now because he’ll be in trouble for doing it, too’; and, ‘mum and dad will be in trouble because they drop him off there all the time.’ He might even suggest that mum and dad are happy with this. Johnny won’t tell anyone now. There can also be a big difference between children thinking they have told someone about the abuse, and an adult knowing they have been told. For example a young child might go to their parent and say, ‘I don’t like Uncle Bill – he isn’t nice.’ A parent may just brush this aside with a general reply about Uncle Bill just being old and grumpy. The child walks away believing they have ‘told someone’; the parent doesn’t have any idea that they have just been ‘told’, and the abuse continues. The likelihood of the child telling someone else then decreases significantly. They might muster the courage to ‘tell’ someone else, and if again they are not heard, then the rule about telling until someone listens becomes almost impossible for them to follow. So when it comes to child protection training, don’t stop once you’ve learnt how to recognise and report abuse. Broaden your skillset and learn the simple prevention and early intervention strategies that will not only help you discharge your duty of care, but will provide the best protection for children. Tracey Jackson is a Director of In Safe Hands Educators in Safety. She has 14 years’ experience in law enforcement, and has acquired expertise in the investigation of child abuse and sex offences, dealing with children as offenders, victims and witnesses of serious crime. She received recognition for her role in developing and implementing ongoing police education programs – teaching safety and protective behaviours in schools. www.insafehands.net.au
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 61
play areas + sustainable practice
The chicken and the egg
In Belonging’s second part of looking at sustainability in education, we speak to consultant Kiri Combi about establishing a chicken coop.
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hildcare centres looking to add value to their environmental studies could consider installing a chicken coop in the yard.
Sustainability advocate and former Ecopreschools owner Kiri Combi said a chook pen will provide ‘a unique service that sets a centre apart from other facilities in the area.’ The chickens provide entertainment in the outdoor play space. ‘Kids are drawn to them instantly and have a keen interest in what they are, what they need and how they can help support the chickens to live.’ Ms Combi said using animals as examples can be a great teaching aid for discussions on empathy and respect for all living things because children instantly bond with the chickens they see daily. The care of chickens can lead to more education about their requirements to survive and what can happen if the children or staff members fail to do certain tasks, such as feeding, watering or collecting eggs. ‘It’s great for inquiry-based education and project-based learning of thematic units of study,’ she said. When considering sustainable education practices, Ms Combi said it is important to consider the positive long-term impact on children. ‘Establishing a connection with nature early means this experience is
62 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
...using animals as examples can be a great teaching aid for discussions on empathy and respect... more likely to stay with the child into adulthood. This helps create a generation of people who not only value, but have practical experience in managing and living with nature,’ she said. Ms Combi changed careers from preschool management to sustainability advocate when she created the Backyard in a Box (BYIAB) modules. The modules help early childhood settings to introduce elements of sustainability into their daily practice. One module is based on chicken coop establishment, and it provides a curriculum plan, teaching materials such as flashcards and worksheets, and child readers
play areas + sustainable practice
to help extend learning and to assist teachers who currently do not have an environmental science background. Ms Combi said installing a feature like a chicken coop allows the children and the teachers to learn at the same time. If childcare centres are interested in a chicken coop installation, the BYIAB module will include all the materials to create the pen, including the chickens! Ms Combi said materials include a minimum of two chickens, the coop (a large range of designs available to suit a variety of environments), feed and water troughs, nesting boxes, feed pellets and grains, an egg collection basket and feed scoops. ‘To ensure health and wellbeing, you need dusting powder, worm liquid, a rake, dust pan and brush, broom, organic insect and cleaning sprays,’ she said. Ms Combi was quick to allay concerns about whether a chicken coop would create a great burden on already busy staff. ‘It doesn’t create extra work for teachers beyond what they already do to prepare and facilitate learning experiences for children. There is a classroom roster of duties, which ensures all children take collective responsibility for the care of the chickens. Their by-products are worked into the other sustainable systems within the centre: their nitrogen-rich waste is used to fertilise the garden, their eggs are used for cooking and the shells for craft.’ To keep a chicken coop safe, a lock needs to be used to prevent free access. There are standard
Kiri Combi with some fresh eggs
occupational health and safety issues such as keeping feed, water and sprays in safe locations. Ms Combi said rules for a chicken coop include always wearing shoes, taking an egg collection basket, taking in food scraps and using gloves when necessary. When children are in the coop, Ms Combi said children must
BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013 • 63
play areas + sustainable practice
be taught to move around slowly, using ‘inside’ voices and ensuring the eggs are in a sturdy container before exiting. After children have left the coop, they must return all the materials to the correct places, wash their hands and then they can talk about their experience with their peers. Ms Combi said maths experiences from the coop include logging data on the number of eggs collected over a period of time, the colour of eggs and a chart on what the eggs have been used for in the centre. ‘There are cross-curriculum areas so the kids learn about how the entire system works in unity together. The social impact of this education is huge. It lays the foundation for future learning and works in well with the pedagogical concept of scaffold-learning or “scaffolding”,’ she said. The benefits of a chicken coop can help from the moment a child enters a centre, when they need to separate from their parent. ‘I just love watching a timid child come into a centre, clinging to his/her mum. Normally, we try to detach with toys, food, books – almost everything! Once some animals like chickens or guinea pigs have been sighted, the child separates easily,’ she said. ‘Invariably the child cries to stay at the centre! It’s so funny to watch the transition.’ Ms Combi said children feel at ease with nature. ‘Children trust animals they have just met in a way they don’t trust humans they have just met. They connect on a level that is non-verbal. That is what I call magical!’ In her childcare management experience, Ms Combi said staff needed more encouragement than children to embrace the chickens. ‘The kids wanted to charge full-steam ahead while staff were worried about dirt or accidents.’ She said it was important for staff to ‘look at the chooks as a “new material” or “learning centre” in the outdoor classroom. Yes, there are inherent risks as there are with slides, swings, bats and balls and climbing frames. It’s about minimising the risk through policy procedure, communication and modelling the correct behaviour.’ Helping staff to understand that chickens were not ‘another task getting in the way of teaching’ was an important stage to overcome. ‘It’s not the destination, it’s the journey. In other words, the process of caring for the chook is the learning experience for the children.’ Ms Combi said, ‘It’s so simple, yet it was totally overlooked by 95 per cent of teachers across 10 years in my two centres!’ For more information about Backyard in a Box, email kiri@ecopreschools.com.au. www.ecopreschools.com.au 64 • BELONGING EARLY YEARS JOURNAL • volume 2 number 2 • 2013
A chicken coop provides the following Early Years Learning Framework outcomes for children Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity • Children develop their emerging autonomy, inter-dependence, resilience and sense of agency. • Children learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect.
Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world • Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation. • Children respond to diversity with respect. • Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment.
Outcome 3: Children have a strong sense of wellbeing • Children take increasing responsibility for their own health and physical wellbeing.
Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners • Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity. • Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, inquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating. • Children transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another. • Children resource their own learning through connecting with people, place, technologies and natural and processed materials.
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators • Children begin to understand how symbols and pattern systems work. • Children use information and communication technologies to access information, investigate ideas and represent their thinking.
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