ISSUE 92 SUMMER 2019
THE MAGAZINE OF FAMILY DAY CARE AUSTRALIA
Sector Viability Brief released FDCA Professional Learning Portal launched Developing the role of the educational leader ALSO INSIDE
2019 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards National winners and fnalists profled
FDCA 2021 National Conference payment plans announced
H� Seeing and cultivating the mathematical activity of designing in family day care H�Happy children, happy and healthy lives H�Vision Family Day Care and Be You H� Business insights H� Story time H� Out and about in family day care
PLUS
Win toys and resources for your family day care
regular
ISSUE 92
A word f rom the ceo Welcome to the 2019 summer edition of JiGSAW magazine. Again it seems that the end of another year is unexpectedly upon us.
Published by Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) PO Box 571 Gosford NSW 2250 ABN: 93 094 436 021
2019 has been a year during which much has been achieved in representing, supporting and promoting the family day care sector.
Telephone: 1800 658 699 Insurance and Membership Services: 1800 658 699 Email: enquiries@fdca.com.au Web: www.familydaycareaustralia.com.au Editor: Matthew Asmanas Advertising: FDCA Marketing Design and Art: 2MI Design Printer: 2PE Intelligence Pty Ltd ISSN 13263528
Editorial Policy The material published in the magazine will aim to be inclusive of all participants of the Australian family day care program (including children) wherever they live, regardless of their gender, class, culture or nature of any disability. The magazine will not publish material which runs counter to the wellbeing and equal valuing of all children, their families and those who work with them. All unattributed articles will re�ect FDCA’s broad policy. As far as possible the language will be non technical. The �nal decision about inclusion of any article will be made by the Editorial Board. As there are differing descriptors used for the direct service provider, the generic term ‘educator’ will be substituted in every case.
Advertising Policy FDCA will publish advertisements which seek to positively support the wellbeing of children, their families, the early childhood profession and the maintenance and growth of the family day care program. For advertising rates and copy deadlines please contact the FDCA Marketing Department JiGSAW, PO Box 571 Gosford NSW 2250. Phone 1800 658 699. Email marketing@fdca.com.au.
FDCA Disclaimer The views expressed in this magazine are those of the authors and not necessarily those of FDCA . The Editor reserves the right to shorten/edit submitted material.The Publisher reserves the right to alter or omit any article or advertisement submitted and requires indemnity from the advertisers and contributors against damages or liabilities that may arise from material published. Acceptance of advertisements for JiGSAW does not constitute FDCA’s endorsement of the product. Copyright © no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission of the Publisher.
Membership fees and JiGSAW subscription Individual Membership Service Membership Organisational Membership JiGSAW Subscription (free to members) All prices quoted include GST
$49.90 $199.00 $95.00 $50.00
Products available include: • Public Liability Insurance • Personal Accident and Sickness Insurance for Educators • Personal Accident Insurance for Children • Management Liability Insurance • Home and Contents Insurance • Motor Vehicle Insurance • Travel Insurance • Family Day Care Legal Services • Commercial Legal Expenses Cover Freecall 1800 658 699 for more information. Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) ABN 93 094 436 021 is a licensed general insurance broker (AFSL 329 616). Throughout this issue we advertise various insurance products and we receive commission and/or fees for arranging these insurances. For full details see our Financial Services Guide (FSG). The information we provide is general in nature only. You should consider your needs and read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) or Policy Wording (PW) before making a decision to buy insurance. Please call us on 1800 658 699 for a copy of the FSG and PDS/PW.
Inside this edition of JiGSAW we pro�le FDCA’s ‘Sector Viability Brief’. The brie�ng is the culmination of an 18-month period of sector consultation and research that forms the evidence base for the positions and recommendations we have proposed. As our blueprint for the future viability of the family day care sector, it forms the basis for a rolling series of meetings with State and Territory Ministers, the Federal Minister and Opposition, ACECQA and associated stakeholders across the country. We are also extremely excited to launch our new Professional Learning Portal (PLP). Through the PLP members will enjoy free access to an interactive online learning platform with tailored content for educators and services. Find out more in our feature article inside. Following the recent launch of the FDCA 2021 National Conference, inside you will �nd more information about this �agship event, along with details regarding the much anticipated launch of conference payment plans. We also share the dates and details of our 2020 National Engagement Program. In this, our last edition of JiGSAW for 2019, it is our pleasure to close out the year by celebrating excellence in family day care through our feature on the winners of 2019 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards. Close to 200 local and interstate guests came together for the Gala Dinner in Hobart. The evening saw the announcement of our national winners with the 2019 National Educator of the Year Award presented by the Deputy Premier of Tasmania, the Hon J eremy Rockliff MP. My congratulations go out to everyone who was nominated as part of the Awards program with special congratulations to our winners. You can read their stories and see all of our winners inside this edition of JiGSAW. At our recent Annual General Meeting we are delighted to have formally appointed three new Directors to the FDCA Board; Georgina Zadelj , Fiona Pattinson and Edward Burrell. Read their pro�les in the special feature on page 13. Inside, you will also �nd the �nal instalment of Dr Sheena Elwick's Seeing and Cultivating Mathematics series, as well pieces from our regular contributors, Dr Michael Nagel and Be You. My thanks also to former Excellence in Family Day Care Awards National Service of the Year and Hall of Fame inductee, Wynnum Family Day Care for sharing their journey in developing the role of the Educational Leader. I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the amazing work of our sector in supporting children, families and communities across Australia and to thank you for your support and engagement throughout 2019. I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season and hope you have the chance to enjoy the company of family, friends and loved ones during this time. Andrew Paterson Chief Executive Of�cer Family Day Care Australia Cover image: Alistair Bett
Summer 2019
2
IN BRIEF 5
Industry snippets
7
Keeping you up to date
10
FDCA working for you
10
FEATURES
7
13 14
14 2019 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards - National winners announced
21
21 Developing the role of the educational leader 23 Seeing and cultivating the mathematical activity of designing in family day care
REGULARS
33
29
25
Dr Michael Nagel's Grey Matters: Happy children, happy and healthy lives!
27
Business insights
29
Be You: Vision Family Day Care Service and Be You
31
Fun with FDCA
32
Story time
33
Out and about in family day care with Adventure Patch Family Day Care
in brief
Latest Child Care in Australia report released - 4,578 outside school hours care (OSHC) services (35%);
The latest quarterly Child Care in Australia report was recently released by the Department of Education. The report presents information about the child care sector for the J une 2019 quarter. Based on data from the child care system that was implemented in J uly 2018, it presents data for the J une quarter 2019 period and provides information on child care across child care usage, availability, fees and entitlements in Australia including states and territories.
- 477 family day care services (3.6%)
INDUSTRY SNIPPETS
•
Almost 1 in 4 (24.5%) family day care services charged above the cap of $10.90 (as at J une 2019).
•
Family day care children's average weekly attendance hours were 18.7 hours and charged hours were 24.2 (22.7% of charged hours not attended), compared to CBDC which was 19 used and 29.7 charged (36% of charged hours not used).
•
25.8% of the children in family day care reside in regional and remote areas.
- 44 in-home care services (0.3%) •
1,293,990 children attended approved child care and were eligible for Child Care Subsidy. Of these, 115,190 children, or 8.9%, attended family day care.
•
Centre based day care continued to hold the highest proportion of children (738,410 or 57.1%) followed by outside school hours care with 473,310 children or 36.6%.
During the J une quarter 2019: •
This compares to an average hourly fee of $10.00 for CBDC and $ 7.60 for OSHC.
13,075 approved child care services operated in Australia, comprising:
•
- 7,976 centre based day care (CBDC) services (61% of all services)
The average hourly fee across all care types (ex cluding In-home care) was $9.70, with the average for family day care at $10.30.
To view the full report, visit the Australian Government Department of Education website at www.education.gov.au
FDCA releases September 2019 FDCA Family Day Care Sector Prof le report The FDCA September 2019 Family Day Care Sector Prof le is now available online. This report, now twelfth in the series, provides an analysis of the family day care sector, drawing on FDCA internal member data as well as data from the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
•
Almost half (48.4%) of educators fall between the ages of 35 and 49;
•
Almost a quarter (22.5%) of educators continue to reside in areas of highest socio-economic disadvantage (deciles 1 and 2) as de�ned by the ABS, and over half (51.4%) of all educators are located within deciles 1-5. These proportions have not altered markedly over the years; and
The latest sector pro�le report focuses primarily on the period from June 2019 - September 2019. Key observations include: •
There are currently 13,156 educators and 454 services nationally in the family day care sector, representing a decline over the past quarter of 2.9% and 11%1 , respectively;
•
Based on ACECQA’s Quality Area rating data, family day care services continue to demonstrate small improvements in all Quality Areas since the last reporting period.
1 This spike is partially attributable to FDCA altering service membership to a common annual renewal date as of 1 July 2019.
5 Summer 2019
You can access the September 2019 FDCA Family Day Care Sector Prof le report at www.familydaycare.com. au/representing-you/sector-pro�le. FDCA distributes the Family Day Care Sector Prof le report each quarter to key stakeholders including federal and state Ministers for Education, relevant Departmental contacts and academics in the �eld.
in brief
Supporting Family Day Care providers By The Australian Government De partment of Education
We’ve made a start, we are extending and updating resources and tools, including some you already know and some new things that cover particular subj ect areas or rules you told us you are worried about. We are also working in partnership with other organisations on proj ects and developing a range of online resources to help you better understand and comply with the rules including:
To help with this the Department of Education has developed the Child Care Financial Integrity Strategy (www.education.gov.au/ �nancial-integrity). A key focus of the strategy is working with you, the sector, to make sure we are helping providers, services, educators and families gain the necessary skills and knowledge to do the right thing.
•
How are we doing this? As a �rst step, we had a series of focus groups talking about what you think of the things we are already doing. You’ve given us some good feedback; you want us to tell more of a story that you can relate to and you want us to keep it simple. You’d like information delivered in multiple ways, digital and non-digital and in other languages. You also want us to keep in mind that providers, educators and families are all different and that people take on information in diverse ways!
•
•
The Child Care Provider Handbook —supporting and improving understanding of the legal requirements around administering Child Care Subsidy. The Child Care Compliance Obligations fipchart — a reference guide to support and assist approved providers to understand their obligations. The Family Day Care Education and Support Proj ect - the project is funded by the department and assists services and educators in every part of Australia. Information provided is designed to help educators comply with a range of laws that impact on Family Day Care service operations.
115,190
The number of children using family day care in Australia
Source: Australian Government Department of Education, Child Care in Australia Report, June 2019
•
Fact Sheets – These are published by FDCA and address a range of member concerns such as the rules around child swapping and relative care
•
Educational mini videos — Short animated videos explaining obligations under the Family Assistance Law in relation to speci�c topics. We have uploaded three and there are more on the way.
We are adding new resources so please check in regularly. Keep up to date by subscribing to weekly emails sent out by the department at www.education.gov. au/new-child-care-packageinformation-resources-providers. As always, there is more to do. Over time, the department will keep working to identify opportunities to improve the way we communicate about compliance and your obligations.
INDUSTRY SNIPPETS
Providing the best possible start in life for our children in a safe, secure and high quality service is important. So is making sure that the �nancial support that Government provides to support families is used properly and consistently with the Family Assistance Law. To do this, providers and educators need to understand what is required of them and where to get help when they need it.
If you have any suggestions or feedback, please contact us at childcareintegrity@education. gov.au.
79,550
The number of families using family day care in Australia
Source: Australian Government Department of Education, Child Care in Australia Report, June 2019
Summer 2019 6
in brief
Kentish celebrates 25 years with dinner under the stars
KEEPING Y OU UP TO DATE
On Saturday, 27 J uly 2019, Kentish Lifelong Learning and Care Inc. celebrated its 25th anniversary. Over 120 guests consisting of representatives from the Kentish Board of Directors, family day care and out of home care educators and co-educators, Kentish staff and partners, Aboriginal facilitators, Moulden Early Learning Centre Management, various community representatives and long-time friends of Kentish participated in this world class event and dinner under the stars at the Darwin Sailing Club. Several guests had travelled from Alice Springs, Katherine and the Gold Coast to take part in the special event. Sue Sorby, Kentish's accountant and longest serving staff member, gave a snapshot of the history of Kentish and shared fond memories of Kentish's founder, the late Lavinia Mills, who was well loved by the family day care community and Darwin locals alike. Although the Mills family were unable to j oin the celebrations in Darwin, Lavinia’s huge commitment to Kentish’s growth was recognised. Kentish also introduced a 'Lavinia Mills Annual Award' for educators who re�ect Lavinia’s passion and commitment to our profession. 7 Summer 2019
Sarah Fowler, Kentish CEO and Deputy Chair of the FDCA board, gave an overview of Kentish today, the growth over the last decade, which has included expansion into Katherine, Alice Springs and more recently Tennant Creek and the purchase and maj or renovation last year of the Moulden Early Learning Centre.
Congratulations to Kentish Lifelong Learning and Care for your outstanding achievements in the last 25 years. May they grow and become even stronger over the next 25 years.
Kentish firmly believe that they will continue to lead the way with accessing leading edge professional development for their staff and educators. Kentish will also continue to remain open to commercial opportunities that may present in the next five years and beyond. The senior management, staff, family day care, out of home care educators, co-educators and Aboriginal facilitators were collectively acknowledged as the Kentish spine, and gratitude was shown for the amazing j ob that is done on a daily basis with the children in their care and their commitment to Kentish . Partners were also recognised for their patience and flexibility in living and loving people who are committed to their Kentish roles. Kentish were also proud to have the FDCA Board of Directors as guests on the evening, who had
President of the Kentish Board of Directors, Bill Triffitt, acknowledged the extraordinary j ob that Sarah has done as CEO and addressed the future of Kentish , and although no one can accurately predict the future,
met in Darwin earlier on the day for their quarterly board meeting. A wonderful night was had by all – fine food, a great band, lots of dancing, interesting speeches and great camaraderie.
in brief
Associations Family Day Care Educators’ Associations State family day care educators’ associations represent educators and provide a range of memberbased services, including advice, training, resources and assistance to educator members. Executive committee representatives work in a voluntary capacity to support fellow educators to provide quality home-based child care services.
Little Gumnuts is building relationship capital
At Little Gumnuts Child Care these relationships are developed and enhanced through daily conversations with parents, grandparents, children and siblings, face to face and in her daily blog. Becci’s blog, private and unsearchable, is rich in information about each day, including photos, quotes and context. Becci loves receiving feedback and her posts are linked to pedagogy and theorists, the outcomes of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and her own service philosophy. Becci �rmly believes that when you combine best practice in family day care with the guiding principles of the EYLF, family day care educators are best placed to harness �exibility and diversity to achieve those meaningful outcomes. When celebrating cultural days, diversity and individuality are acknowledged. Becci introduces the children to music and literature of the world, sharing songs, chants, picture books and non-�ction books too, all chosen to welcome every
child and to avoid stereotyping. Earlier this year Becci sought collaboration from her families to celebrate NAIDOC week with a well thought out and inclusive incursion. I am in the process of preparing an event f or the children f or J uly/ August and would like your f eedback f or the risk assessment. It is something we trialled last year, the children were very enthusiastic and talked about it f or months af terwards. NAIDOC week is a time to acknowledge the history, culture and achievements of Indigenous Australians. As part of these celebrations, Little Gumnuts will prepare a � re (contained in � re pit) and use the � re f or cooking. The incursion was a highly appreciated testament to what can be achieved through planning and collaboration. The uniqueness of every family day care setting is a celebration of diversity, Becci’s service, hidden in a stunning bushland setting at the edge of a metropolitan area, offers indoor and outdoor learning environments which are embedded in the natural environment. Free play is scaffolded in meaningful routines and transition activities, play stations are always available, children’s voices are heard, and children’s agency is encouraged. Becci is a family day care educator registered with New South Wales service, Coastwide Family Day Care.
Each association operates independently of FDCA. New South Wales • Family Day Care Educators’ Association NSW Inc 0490 776 339 www.fdceducatorsnsw.com •
NSW Family Day Care Association 02 9779 9999 www.nswfdc.org.au
Tasmania • Family Day Care Council of Tasmania Inc. 0439 307 273 South Australia • Family Day Care Educators’ Association of South Australia 0423 303 093 www.fdcassocsa.com.au Western Australia • Family Day Care Educators’ Association, Western Australia, Inc. 08 9255 5290 •
Family Day Care WA 08 9251 5777 www.familydaycarewa.com.au
Northern Territory • Alice Springs Carers’ Support Group 08 8952 2906 Queensland • Family Day Care Association Queensland Inc. 07 3399 3737 www.fdcqld.org
Summer 2019 8
KEEPING YOU UP TO DATE
With a philosophy based on a passion for professional practice, critical re�ection and collaborative relationships, Thornleigh educator, Becci-Anne Armytage values her relationship capital above all else. Acknowledging her own capacity to listen, learn and nurture, Becci’s everyday practice is a real-life testament that learning occurs best when collaborative relationships are fostered between adults and children.
Family Day Care Associations State family day care associations provide a range of memberbased services including advice, training, resources and assistance to members. This support strengthens services and assists staff in their vital role of providing effective support services to educators and families. The association works actively to promote family day care within their respective states.
in brief
Katie is keeping the 'f amily' in f amily day care Queensland family day care educator, Katie Kerrisk, says that family day care has shaped her into the person that she is today.
KEEPING Y OU UP TO DATE
When Katie was 14 her mother, Adrienne, decided that the Real Estate industry was no longer for her and that she missed having children in and around the family home. It was at this moment, when Adrienne made the decision to open her own family day care, that family day care would forever be part of her life. Once Katie's mother opened her business Katie knew that she wanted to be an educator but, unfortunately at the age of 14, she was not able to work alongside her mother. This meant that for a period of time Katie worked in a long day care centre, however
she very quickly began to notice a number of differences between the two settings. When working in a large centre, Katie says that one of her main challenges was �nding the time to be able to provide the children in her care with one-on-one time. Katie found that with the large class sizes this was almost impossible while, in contrast, a family day care environment provided the opportunity, as an educator, to observe and plan appropriate learning goals for each child as an individual.
primary educator at her home. This arrangement saw Katie working as a family day care educator for four days per week, with Adrienne working one day per week and also working a relief educator for Katie.
It was in 2010 that Katie was given the opportunity to do what she had always wanted to do, become a family day care educator. Fittingly, this chance came when Adrienne decided to take a step back from her role and ask Katie to become the
Since then, Katie has moved her family day care business to her own home; however Adrienne is still working as a relief educator for Katie. Both Katie and Adrienne couldn't imagine family day care not being part of their families' lives.
Stems Family Day Care is making a diff erence During 2019, Sally Lovell, along with the children and families from Stems Family Day Care, have been very busy making not only a difference to the environment, but also to children all around the world. Sally, who is registered with Tasmanian service Clarence Family Day Care, embeds sustainability into all aspects of her practice, which has been re�ected in the work that Sally and the children in her family day care have been undertaking.
who use this to fund Wheelchairs for the disadvantaged in South Africa. Sally says the children at Stems love arriving with big smiles as they hand over bags of bread tags that they have collected with their families and love the outing to drop them ready to be sent away to be recycled. So far Sally and the children have donated over 60kg of bread tags for the cause.
9 Summer 2019
It takes 500 lids to create a single hand for one child, and it is no surprise that the children at stems take great delight in arriving with a stash of plastic lids to hand over to Sally. Sally, who is the Hobart & State Coordinator for Lids4kids and Bread Tags Collector for Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs, says that since commencing these proj ects, the sense of empowerment and levels of self con�dence within the children at Stems has blossomed.
Throughout the year Sally, the children and their families, have been tirelessly collecting bread tags and plastic bottle lids for two charities, Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs and Lids4Kids Tasmania. Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs, which works on behalf of the Bread Tags for Wheelchairs organisation, as the name suggests, collect bread tags from all around the country and then sends them off for recycling. The money generated from the recycling is then passed onto Bread Tags for Wheelchairs
the environment, it sees them recycled into mobility aids for children in the form of superhero arms and hands.
Stems Family Day Care have also been helping Lids4Kids Tasmania support the Envision Hands proj ect. This proj ect not only helps to prevent plastic lids from entering
Sally says the support from the families of the children has been amazing and that this has been a great way to support the children to become environmentally friendly. They can see that they make a difference not only to their environment but to other children and adults in both their immediate community but further a�eld as well.
in brief
Photo by Alastair Bett
Photo by Stuart Gibson
Photo by Alastair Bett
HOBART 2021
FDCA 2021 National Conference
Conference payment plans to launch in January 2020! Following on from the recent announcement of the location and date of the FDCA 2021 National Conference we are excited to announce that payment plans for the conference will be available exclusively to FDCA members from 1 J anuary 2020.
2021 National Conference; a 12month and a 6-month plan. Members will be able to access the 12-month payment plan up until the end of August 2020, while access to the 6-month payment plan will close at the end of February 2021. FDCA member early-bird tickets purchased by payment plans will be available for $624. In order to access the payment plans members will need to make their ticket purchase via credit card.
Two types of payment plan will be available to members for the FDCA
Taking place in Hobart from 28-30 October 2021, the conference will be
With Hobart's unique history, picturesque harbour, rugged mountains, gourmet food, arts and cultural scene, the FDCA 2021 National Conference will be an event not to be missed! To fnd out more about the FDCA 2021 National Conference and to purchase your tickets, visit www.fdca.com.au/conference.
FAMILY DAY CARE AUSTRALIA
NATIONAL
LOCATIONS AND DATES ANNOUNCED FOR 2020
ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM
FDCA is pleased to announce that our very popular National Engagement Program forums will again be returning in 2020.
The forums, which will move into their fourth year, will again provide professional development and support that is speci�cally tailored to suit the unique needs of family day care services and educators. In 2020 the forums begin in February with a visit to Melbourne and will be followed by forums taking place in Canberra, Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Launceston, with the �nal forum being held in Adelaide. The forums will take on a change in format in 2020, with services and educators coming together to take part in single day forums. This will allow both audiences to work together across the day and collaborate during sessions. The forums will include sector updates, professional development sessions, a networking lunch and free entry is included as part of your FDCA membership. Seats are limited at all forums, so be sure to register quickly to secure your spot at www.fdca.com.au/nep .
SECTOR UPDATES
FREE NETWORKING LUNCH
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SESSIONS
FREE TO FDCA MEMBERS
LOCATION
DATE
MELBOURNE
14 MARCH 2020
CANBERRA
18 APRIL 2020
PERTH
9 MAY 2020
BRISBANE
18 JULY 2020
SYDNEY
22 AUGUST 2020
LAUNCESTON
19 SEPTEMBER 2020
ADELAIDE
21 NOVEMBER 2020
Summer 2019 10
FDCA WORKING FOR YOU
Conference payment plans were an extremely popular option for the FDCA 2018 National Conference and can make it much easier for members to purchase their conference tickets.
held at the Hotel Grand Chancellor which will provide delegates with a stunning waterfront location and easy access to a range of attractions.
in brief
FDCA releases Sector Viability Brief FDCA was pleased to recently launch its Sector Viability Strategy through the release of the FDCA Sector Viability Brief.
FDCA W ORKING FOR Y OU
The Brief was sent to all state and territory Education Ministers, all Regulatory Authorities, the federal Minister for Education, the federal Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Development and ACECQA in October. The Brief is supporting ongoing, collaborative dialogue with state, territory and Commonwealth governments around how FDCA, the family day care sector, policy decision makers and regulators can work together to further promote: •
increased quality of family day care service provision;
•
growth in higher quality service provision; and
•
the long term viability of the family day care sector.
The Brief, which is part of FDCA's Sector Viability Strategy, also seeks to, where necessary; change any negative compliance-oriented perceptions of the sector held by policy makers by promoting the key bene�ts and strengths of family day care.
•
The Hon. J ohn Gardner MP, Minister for Education, SA
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The Department of Education, VIC
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The Hon. J eremy Rockliff MP, Minister for Education and Training, TAS
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The Department of Education, NT
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Yvette Berry MLA, Education and Early Childhood Development, ACT
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The Hon Amanda Rishworth MP, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education
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The Hon. Grace Grace MP, Minister for Education , QLD
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The Hon. Simone McGuirk MLA, Minister for Community Services, WA
FDCA CEO, Andrew Paterson pictured with the Hon. Sarah Mitchell MLC, Minister for Education, NSW.
The Brief has underpinned discussions during face-to-face meetings with Ministers and Departmental executives. By the end of 2019, FDCA will have held meetings with the following stakeholders to discuss the Brief: •
The Of�ce of the Hon. Dan Tehan MP, Minister for Education
•
The Australian Government Department of Education
•
Gabrielle Sinclair, CEO, ACECQA
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The Hon. Sarah Mitchell MLC, Minister for Education, NSW
11 Summer 2019
FDCA certainly realises that there are a signi�cant number of other key issues that affect service viability; however, through the extensive consultation undertaken by FDCA, the above recommendations have
emerged as clear policy or regulatory mechanisms that will directly result in improvements to viability to both individual services and to the sector as a whole. Thank you to all members that have contributed to FDCA's many extensive consultations over the past two years, which have all informed the development of the FDCA Sector Viability Brief. The brief represents the culmination of your views and issues and collates them into a number of concrete recommendations for policy or regulatory changes that will assist in achieving the strategic goals outlined in this article. FDCA will keep members informed of progress made through the Sector Viability Strategy and we will communicate with members if the needed arises to mobilise the sector to bolster our advocacy efforts. FDCA's Sector Viability Brief can be viewed at www.fdca.com.au/ representing-you.
in brief
FDCA launches the Prof essional Learning - FREE AND EXCLUSIVE Portal TO FDCA MEMBERS FDCA was proud to recently launch the FDCA Professional Learning Portal (PLP). The PLP delivers on FDCA's ongoing commitment to supporting our members in their work; delivering quality outcomes for children in family day care.
The PLP will give services and educators access to self-guided, selfpaced tools and resources that can be delivered how and when it suits; saving time, money, administration and fuss in the day-to-day operations of a family day care business.
We also recognise that in our ever-changing sector, it's critical that services and educators have timely access to high quality professional learning.
The �rst learning resources available to all FDCA members are:
This is why we have developed the PLP.
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The Compliance Assessment Tool (for services)
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The Child Saf e, Child Friendly critical re�ection resource (for educators)
To access the FDCA Professional Learning Portal, visit www.fdca.com.au/members. Introducing the Compliance Assessment Tool for services In recent years the family day care sector has seen the introduction of more robust regulatory and compliance mechanisms, which has led to increased administrative burden. Therefore, it is more important than ever that services are vigilant in their compliance and risk management strategies. It is with this in mind that FDCA has partnered with Deloitte to create the very �rst online Compliance Assessment Tool dedicated for family day care services that is exclusively available, for free, to FDCA service members. The Compliance Assessment Tool has been developed to support services in assessing their compliance against the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Job for Families Package) Act 2017 and other key legislative instruments.
Introducing the Child Saf e, Child Friendly critical re�ection resource for educators The �rst guided critical re�ection resource that is available to educators is the Child Saf e, Child Friendly resource. Developed in consultation with DelRoy Consulting, which is led by former ACT Children and Young People Commissioner, Alasdair Roy OAM and Samantha Dellamarta, the Child Saf e, Child Friendly resource is an interactive professional learning and critical re�ection resource speci�cally designed for family day care educators and provides information and tools to assist educators keep children safe. The resource consists of three key components: 1. Educator Self-Assessment: Child’s Perspective tool 2. Child Saf e, Child Friendly framework and accompanying Professional Learning Practice Guides 3. Educator Self-Assessment: Con�dence and Competence tool The resource is an all-encompassing guide to keeping children safe that includes examples of best practice, scenarios, and self-re�ection questions. It will give educators the opportunity to re�ect on how well they know the children in their care and self-assess their own levels of competence in relation to the many different aspects of child safety they must consider in their day to day work. Summer 2019 12
FDCA WORKING FOR YOU
The PLP, for the �rst time, provides FDCA members with exclusive members-only access to free and interactive online professional learning resources that can be accessed via the FDCA website.
We understand that, for family day care services and educators, access to high quality professional learning resources that are tailored for family day care can be dif�cult and expensive to access.
in brief
Three new Directors welcomed to FDCA Board
FDCA W ORKING FOR Y OU
Following the FDCA Annual General Meeting in November, FDCA is pleased to announce the appointment of Georgina Zadelj , Edward Burrell and Fiona Pattinson to the FDCA Board of Directors. Georgina was appointed as a memberelected Director to the FDCA Board in June via a casual vacancy, and has worked in the early child care sector for the past 17 years, including a period as a centre based director. However, it was 10 years ago that Georgina found her true passion when she began working as a family day care educator. In 2013 Georgina was awarded the National Educator of the Year Award and was again a national �nalist in the 2017 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards. Family day care has been Georgina's platform for connecting with her community; regularly collaborating and forming partnerships, building secure and respectful relationships and providing quality outcomes for children through participation, fund raising and community events.
Georgina prides herself on making a difference by educating and inspiring children Joining the FDCA Board in late August as a Board Appointed Director, Edward Burrell is a Senior Legal Counsel at Lendlease and former Special Counsel at Clyde & Co. Edward has worked as a practicing lawyer for more than 10 years and has developed extensive expertise across key aspects of insurance law, risk, claims, coverage and compliance. Through his work with FDCA in his former role as Special Counsel at Clyde & Co, Edward has developed a very strong working knowledge of the regulatory framework, along with the legal, �nancial, contractual and operational frameworks surrounding the family day care system. The diversity of Edward's experience has afforded him strong skill sets across advocacy and negotiation, management and communication, and the ability to work in complex and time sensitive environments. Fiona Pattinson was recently appointed as a member-elected
Director in November this year and has worked in the sector for more than 34 years. Fiona has gained a wealth of experience across all dimensions of early childhood working in a variety of early childhood services, including preschool, long day care and family day care. In 2016 Fiona joined Greater Hume Children Services as Playgroup/ Support Coordinator with Family Day Care and is now Team Leader. Fiona has successfully managed and led the coordination unit delivering family day care services across a large geographical area in southern New South Wales and north-eastern Victoria. During 2019, in response to community needs in the Greater Hume Shire, Fiona continued to lead and expand the family day care service, whilst establishing two centre based services using a nature play based philosophy. FDCA would also like to note special thank you to Sol Ibrahim , who stands down from the Board after three years of service with FDCA.
L to R: Sarah Fowler (FDCA Deputy Board Chair), Phil Naylor (FDCA Board Chair), Fiona Pattinson, Andrew Paterson (FDCA CEO), Georgina Zadelj and Edward Burrell
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2019
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National winners announced n Saturday, 23 November, at the Excellence in Family Day Care Awards Gala Dinner, FDCA had the honour of announcing the national winners of the 2019 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards.
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Kellie Still, from Queensland service We Belong Family Day Care, took out the newly established Coordinator of the Year title, while April Eaton, from Queensland Service Kids at Home Family Day Care, was named the 2019 National Educator of the Year.
The awards ceremony took place at the Grand Chancellor Hotel in Hobart in front of almost 200 guests that had made the j ourney from all parts of Australia to be part of the sector's annual night of nights.
Victorian service, City of Greater Geelong Family Day Care, was named as National Service of the Year, making history by becoming the �rst Victorian service to take home the National Service title.
Family Day Care Australia would like to thank all of the families, coordinator, educators and services who took part in the 2019 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards and congratulate all who were nominated or won an award. We would also like to thank our sponsors Clyde & Co, Early Childhood Australia, the Australian Government Department of Education, ACECQA and the Tasmanian Department of Education. Without the support of these organisations the awards prog ram would not be possible.
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Kellie Still - NT/QLD We Belong Family Day Care (QLD)
April Eaton - NT/QLD Kids at Home Family Day Care (QLD)
City of Greater Geelong Family Day Care (VIC) TAS/VIC representative
Kellie has worked in the family day care sector for 10 years and has high expectations of both herself and the educators she works with, an approach that ensures that educators and children alike thrive.
April has worked as a family day care educator for more than 30 years with this being April’s �rstNA O O TH AT R F H year as a regional or national �nalist, winning the Brisbane North and Sunshine Coast Regional Award.
City of Greater Geelong Family Day Care has been operating in Victoria for 25 years, with this being their �rst time named as a national �nalist in the Excellence in Family Care Awards. STA ERG INGDay E W RD 2019 R
Working closely with educators, children and families, Kellie supports educators and children through all stages of their family day care j ourney, including offering support with the transition from family day care to primary school.
April’s philosophy is that all of her families and children should have a strong sense of belonging to the community that is her family day care service. April truly makes her house a second home to the families she cares for, hosting special events so that her families can get to know each other and spend quality time with their children.
In 2018 April worked with local community groups, including her own family day care, kindergartens, Queensland Police and the Department of Youth Justice, to begin the ‘A Step in the Right Direction’ program, which went on to donate over 600 kilograms of clothing and hygiene items to children, teenagers and adults that are victims of domestic violence.
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In addition to forming the heart of her own family day care community, April consistently supports other educators and her wider community through her work as a family day care educator. As well as hosting weekly playgroups for fellow family day care educators, April also mentors and supports new educators, believing that it is the duty of experienced educators to nurture and support the next generation.
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Kellie not only supports the educators she works with in her service, but has also founded a local group called ‘Partners in Pedagogy,’ which allows a wide range of local early childhood professionals, school communities and health professionals to meet and foster age appropriate pedagogy. Kellie has also helped establish ‘Our Nangara,’ a local group that promotes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives within the community.
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Constant research and the improvement in her knowledge of early childhood pedagogy, forms the basis of Kellie's practices in family day care. She believes that each educator and each child is unique and ensures that each educator in her service is empowered in a way that embraces their unique strengths and interests.
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Committed to a strength based approach not only for children, but also educators, City of Greater Geelong Family Day Care operates within a model where educators and families that require more support receive more frequent and in-depth sessions of support. This means that some educators are visited by support staff as often as weekly in order to ensure that all educators and children in the service are given the support they need. Professional development is a key part of City of Greater Geelong Family Day Care’s model, with multiple professional development opportunities provided to educators every year. This includes an annual conference that is open not only to educators from the service, but any family day care educators that may wish to attend. High expectations for all in the service, including educators, staff, families and children, form the basis for City of Greater Geelong Family Day Care’s philosophy. High quality practice is celebrated and supported through an annual ‘Shining Star’ awards program for educators, providing everyone involved in the service, including children and families, with an opportunity to celebrate and support each other.
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Victoria Edmond - ACT/NSW Rainbow Bridge Family Day Care (NSW)
Lynne Brooke - SA/WA Bright Futures Children's Services (WA)
Julie Metselaar - TAS/VIC Baw Baw Family Day Care (VIC)
Northern New South Wales based coordinator Victoria Edmond has worked in the family day care sector for over 10 years.
Lynne has been working in the early childhood sector in both the UK and Australia for over 19 years.
Julie has worked in the family day care sector for over 25 years and believes that family day care is about enabling children to become independent, competent and resilient.
As a coordinator, Victoria prides herself on her problem solving abilities and seeing each problem as an opportunity for growth. Getting to the heart of any situation, Victoria empowers the educators she works with to re�ect and improve on their own professional practices. Believing in treating the educators in her service as partners rather than employees, Victoria hosts quarterly meetings with all of her educators which focus on elevating the professional quality of each educator. She also hosts monthly professional development sessions tailored speci�cally to family day care educators. Victoria considers her educators and families in everything she does, going beyond the requirements of her role to support them. The development of a Curriculum Planner and Educator Diary, in consultation with educators, highlights Victoria’s dedication to her educator team. These documents have allowed Victoria’s educators to meet their programming requirements and ensure they are compliant, while also taking some of the burden away from educators, allowing them to focus more on the children and families in their care.
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Lynne is passionate about the role of the natural environment in early childhood education and uses research to inform practice as an early childhood professional. Having completed research into Forest Schools in the UK, Lynne took an interest in Bush Kindy programs when she began working in Australia and has used this to develop weekly playgroups in the park for educators and children in her service. Believing in the importance of communication between families, educators and coordinators in order to ensure the best possible outcomes for children, Lynne has revolutionised the way Bright Futures communicates with their educators. Ensuring that each interaction, whether face-toface, a phone call or an email, is meaningful and documented, allows all educators to be supported by any member of the coordination unit. Lynne supports all educators in her service to achieve the best possible outcomes for the children in their care, providing professional development opportunities that are accessible to educators, including developing programming and planning books and providing regular weekly interactive livestream videos tailored to the needs of educators in the service.
Julie puts this at the forefront of her work as a coordinator, creating learning and mentorship programs for the educators in her service in order to provide them with as many training and networking opportunities as possible. Believing that her primary role as a coordinator is to support and counsel the educators in her service. Julie uses her 25 years of experience as an educator to bring genuine empathy and respect to her role. This allows her to develop strong relationships with the educators in her service and break through the isolation that can be a part of being a family day care educator. Julie feels that this level of respect and support �ows through from the educators to the children in their care, providing the best possible learning and welfare environment for children in the service. Respect for every child and educator in the service underpins Julie’s practices as a coordinator. Julie strives to create a sense of belonging for every child, family and educator at Baw Baw Family Day Care.
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Winner of the Adelaide Regional Award, Meenakshi Mahaj an has been a family day care educator for less than two years yet has shown a true passion for it in this short time.
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Through a combination of both planned and spontaneous activities, Meenakshi embeds the philosophy that each child is both capable and creative throughout her service. In addition to her role as a family day care educator, Meenakshi is a quali�ed Respite Care provider, collaborating with a variety of local services to provide the best possible care and opportunities for development for the children in her care. Providing a dedicated space in her home for Applied Behavioural Analysis therapy for children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, Meenakshi understands the unique needs of each child in her care and works closely with these children, their families and relevant community services to ensure the best possible outcomes for every child. With children from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds in her care, Meenakshi incorporates a wide variety of foods, stories, art, language and music into her family day care environment, ensuring that each child feels represented and also develops an understanding of those around them and appreciation for the multicultural world they live in.
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Winners of the New South Wales Central West Regional Award, Mark and Michelle Tregillgas are the �rst ever dual educators to be named as national �nalists in the Excellence in Family Day Care Awards.
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Mark and Michelle Tregillgas ACT/NSW Blue Mountains Family Day Care (NSW)
Mark and Michelle use these programs to encourage and support the development of children’s natural curiosity and empathy, with the aim that by the time the children leave their care, they have developed a strong capacity for empathy and awareness of the world around them.
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In addition to their philosophy on play, Mark and Michelle have embedded a strong sense of social justice and community into their family day care. In 2019, Mark and Michelle, along with their families and children, supported the ‘Water for Wilcannia’ initiative, which donated much needed water supplies to drought-affected remote Indigenous communities.
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Both believe that play is a crucial part of a child’s learning and development and have embedded this into the heart of their program through regular excursions, the provision of safe and open spaces for children to crawl, walk and move freely and daily outdoor adventures.
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Melissa Dreger - TAS/VIC City of Ballarat Family Day Care (VIC) PET AL STAR P RW A AR 2 19
Victorian educator Melissa Dreger has won the Ballarat and Central Highlands Regional Award three times since beginning her career in family day care in 2015, with this being Melissa’s �rst time named as a National Finalist. Communication and the development of positive relationships form the heart of Melissa’s philosophy as an educator. Working closely with each child and their families, Melissa strives to give each child, including those with additional needs and working families, a sense of stability and consistency. Believing that every child should feel respected and valued, Melissa sees herself not only as an educator, but as a mentor and guide to the children she cares for, with a passion for ensuring that each child’s voice is listened to. Melissa achieves this through daily group discussions and informal conversations on topics that are important to each of the children. Diversity is also a cornerstone of Melissa’s philosophy, with education around a variety of cultures playing a key part in Melissa’s daily curriculum. Acknowledgment of Country, learning about local Indigenous culture and communicating with pen pals overseas are all key activities in Melissa’s program.
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Leichhardt Family Day Care (NSW) ACT/NSW representative
Kids at Home Family Day Care (QLD) NT/QLD representative
Bright Futures Children's Services (WA) SA/WA representative
Leichhardt Family Day Care has been providing education and care for over 40 years and this is their �rst time being named a national �nalist in the Excellence in Family Day Care Awards.
Kids at Home Family Day Care has been operating in Queensland for ten years, with this being the second time that Kids at Home have been named a national �nalist in the Excellence in Family Day Care Awards, having previously won the National Service of the Year award in 2017.
Based in the city of Kwinana in Western Australia, Bright Futures Children’s Services has been operating for over 30 years. This is the third time that Bright Futures Children’s Services has been named a national �nalist in the Excellence in Family Day Care Awards, previously achieving this in 2015 and 2018.
Despite growing into one of Queensland’s largest family day care services, Kids at Home are proud to have been able to retain a small service feel with a tight knit team of educators and mentors.
Bright Futures pride themselves on taking a research and data-driven approach to achieving the best possible outcomes for children, analysing local trends in children entering primary school and using these to inform their programming, setting children up for success in their ongoing education. The service also uses data to inform professional development for their educators, ensuring that they have the tools they need to best support the children in their care.
The service pride themselves on including all team members, including educators, in their decision-making process, ensuring that everyone involved in the services feels included and supported. Feedback from educators and families is taken on and used to develop training and programs that are implemented across the service. The support of families is a cornerstone of Leichhardt Family Day Care, with a guarantee that an alternative, experienced educator will be available whenever a family’s regular educator is sick or on leave. Educators at Leichhardt Family Day Care are also able to adjust their hours and days to meet the needs of families, ensuring that the service is as �exible and supportive as possible. Supporting the mental health of educators is considered vitally important to Leichhardt Family Day Care. In addition to implementing the Be You mental health initiative across the service, free weekly Pilates sessions and regular coffee and chat catch-ups have been made available to all educators, providing them with an opportunity to develop positive relationships with fellow educators and other service team members.
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The service is underpinned by the knowledge that each educator is running their own small business, and they strive to support them with this from induction through to providing day-to-day support in business operations. This allows each educator to receive the support they need to thrive, allowing them to provide the best possible quality of education and care. Kids at Home place a strong emphasis on mentoring and setting an example of best educational practice, with educators supported by regular mentoring visits. Respect for each educator's individual approach to managing their businesses and educating the children in their care is crucial to Kids at Home Family Day Care.
The physical and mental health of all of those connected to Bright Futures, including educators, staff, children and families, is a priority to the service. Bright Futures now has over 41 participants in their learning community involved in Be You, a mental health initiative, an approach that is seeing bene�ts across the entire service. This service-led approach to health has led to the development of a community vegetable garden for educators and children, a mindfulness space for staff and educators to relax and, overall, a more engaged service that directly bene�ts outcomes for children and their families.
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Heather Walters • Devonport & North West Sally Lovell • Hobart & South Maxine Burr • Launceston & North
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Tracy Lechte • Bairnsdale & Gippsland Melissa Dreger • Ballarat & Central Highlands Yattowita Withana • Bayside & South Eastern Suburbs Allison Evans • Bendigo, Gold�elds & Macedon Ranges Cath Bezemer • CBD & Inner Suburbs Thanushka Samarasinghe • Eastern Suburbs J ulie Zurrer • Geelong & Great Ocean Road Natalie Templeton • Horsham & Grampians Bronwyn Williams • Mildura & Murray Carleen Montgomery • Mornington Peninsula & Bass Coast Sureka Heeraluge • Northern Suburbs Tamara Ruf�n • Shepparton & Goulburn Valley Martha Smith • Traralgon & La Trobe Valley Kumudini Kurukulasuriya • Western Suburbs O T E OR F H R F THE OR OF TH OR OF TH TO OF TH TO E AT AT AT AT A • Yarra Lorraine Thomas Valley & High Country ED
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Hayley Blomeley • Albury Wodonga & Murray Mark and Michelle Tregillgas • Blue Mountains & Central West O T Lourdes Hernandez Alvarado • CBD, InnerN OWest & AT R F H Eastern Suburbs Victoria Wilkie • Coffs Harbour & North Coast Emily Thompson • Dubbo & Central Rebekah Charnock • Far West & Central North Elizabeth Shanahan • Gosford and Central Coast Brooke Druett • Goulburn & Southern Tablelands Helene Gatland • Lismore & Far North Coast Nadine Statham • Newcastle, Maitland & Hunter Carolyn Douglas • North Shore & Northern Beaches Sylvia Arotin • North West & Hills District Chytali Suneel Naik • Parramatta & Western Suburbs Kaylene Milligan • Port Macquarie & Mid North Coast Emma McMullan • Richmond & Hawkesbury Ellie Pring • Ryde & Macquarie Park Melanie Weeden • South West & M5 Corridor Renata Stipanovic • Southern Suburbs & Sutherland Shire Valerie Hume • Tamworth & North West Stephanie White • Wagga Wagga & Riverina Rachel McGuire • Wollongong, Illawarra & South Coast
Meenakshi Mahaj an • Adelaide Rhiannon Lampard • Mt Gambier & Limestone Coast J annifer Thiele • Riverland & Murray Mallee Tara Utting • Whyalla & Eyre Peninsula J acquelyn Best • Yorke Peninsula & Clare Valley
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Caroline Boocock • Albany & Great Southern Robyn Sealey • Bunbury & South West Emma Fox • CBD, Inner & Western Suburbs QLD E OF T E Y E OF TH Y E OF TH Y C O T E VI VIC VI VI • Eastern Suburbs April Eaton • Brisbane North/Sunshine Coast Erica Ferris Roselyn Lawrence-Williams • Fremantle Paula Leigh • Brisbane South Tennille Zammit • Brisbane West/Ipswich/Boonah & Southern Suburbs Felica Burridge • Cairns & Far North Sri Morgan • Geraldton, Gascoyne & Midwest Carlene Cox • Logan/Redlands/Gold Coast Roslyn Humbles • Kalgoorie, Gold�elds & Esperance Amanda Atherton-Synge • Mandurah & Peel Toni McFarlane • Rockhampton/Central Qld TOR OF TH A O O T TOR OF T AT R F TH N N • Northern Suburbs & J oondalup J anelle McIvor • Toowoomba/Darling Downs HannahA Mason Tara-Lee Bua Giancarro • Port Hedland, /Somerset/Lockyer Alysha McNeill • Townsville/Northern Qld Karratha & Pilbara Belinda Crosbie • Wide Bay/Hervey Bay/Maryborough Deborah Hudson • Rockingham & Kwinana ATIONAL NATIO AL FI ALIST 201F9INA IS 2019
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COORDINATOR - Lisa Brooke • Adventure Patch Family Day Care, Tasmania
COORDINATOR - Samantha J ackson Van Hummel • Wynnum Family Day Care, Queensland
EDUCATOR - Heather Walters • Mission Australia, Tasmania
EDUCATOR - Carolyn Douglas • Northern Beaches Council Family Day Care, New South Wales
SERVICE - Empowered Family Day Care, Queensland
SERVICE - Baw Baw Family Day Care, Victoria
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Developing the role of the
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ynnum Family Day Care (WFDC) is program managed within a distributive leadership model. Each team member’s contribution to the whole of service success demands careful attention to the time allocated to each program. One of these dedicated programs within this model is implementing the educational leader role.
The continued administrative burden of the Child Care Subsidy System (CCSS) offered an opportunity to look forward and plan how to best utilise the skill sets of the existing team members. There was a need for organisational change to better accommodate the roles of each team member and identify where any additional hours would be best applied. Positive organisational culture gave us the capacity to further develop the operational model – we have engaged strong benchmarking strategies, enj oy the bene�ts which come from team longevity (coordination unit team and educators), a shared vision of quality care for all children, collaborative practices, educators operating with supported autonomy and distributed leadership, drawing 21 Summer 2019
on each team members strengths and expertise. With the engagement of a new team member who was able to provide 33 hours of additional administration support, the coordination unit team members were released from other duties. However, the question now was how to fully utilise the expertise of each coordinator to direct greater coordinator hours towards educational program and practice support? The regulations do not specify a minimum quali�cation or the number of hours the educational leader should work, or whether this person must work directly with children – so in short, we had the opportunity to make this role what we wanted – important, valued and not ad hoc or tokenistic. In response to the requirements of the educational leader, the extended WFDC team value and respect the role as a driver for quality outcomes for children. Therefore, the educational leader was to be the primary role of the coordinator rather than an add-on task/responsibility. We determined the resources available to support the role – speci�cally the hours allocated to the role to be effective (in addition to other responsibilities),
a budget to support the work and an ongoing budget for resources and professional development. Professional development began with enrolling in the Early Childhood Australia Leadership Program. This provided the rationale that effective leadership is vital to the success of education and care settings. The ECA Leadership Capability Framework de�nes a set of capabilities – values, attributes, skills, knowledge, dispositions and practices that support effective leadership in early childhood settings. Engaging in this study provided focus to the goals of the service and supported the collaborative decision making about the role of the educational leader in the service. This study and the release of the ACECQA Educational Leader Resource earlier this year provided the incentive to review the role of educational leader in our service to ensure the learning and wellbeing of children is upheld as the key purpose at all times. The educational leader of the service plays a signi�cant role in guiding and developing educators’ and families’ understandings about play and leisure-based learning, and the signi�cance of the early years in the
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and producing a weekly ‘Pedagogy in Practice’ Newsletter to provoke professional conversations between peers and on visits with the coordination unit team. Topics to date include, for example:
WFDC views practice as something to be worked on by the collective – the coordination team works alongside educators in the feld... education continuum for children. Educational leadership of a service is a group effort – it is all about people, relationships, systems, innovation and harnessing the enthusiasm of the extended team of committed early childhood professionals. As a team, the coordination unit has a wide scope of expertise and each member takes responsibility for different aspects of the educational program and the promotion of professional practice and curriculum decision making. Each team member is delegated responsibilities bearing in mind their specialised skillset. The educational leader works side by side with the combined team of coordination unit colleagues and the extended team of educators in the �eld to support and guide decision making about the design and delivery of quality programs for children. WFDC views practice as something to be worked on by the collective – the coordination team works
alongside educators in the �eld, the approved provider, our sisterservice (LDC) and many professional partners, supporting the role of the educational leader. Educators are autonomous in the design, system , frequency and content of the program tailoring for their individual style, experience and expertise, setting, clientele, and philosophy as well as re�ecting back to the WFDC philosophy and shared vision of ‘Quality outcomes for children – every child, every day in care’. How does an educational leader in family day care effectively take responsibility for the oversight of the curriculum and planning consistent with the requirements of the National Quality Framework ? The nature of our work is that often we are providing support from afar and the opportunity for whole of team meetings is not readily accessible. Currently the role includes the educational leader being a visiting coordinator
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Building a learning community and promoting the service subscription to a professional webinar series;
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Discussing pedagogy – how theory informs practice; re�ection; the planning cycle, especially analysing and planning of the teaching and learning process; philosophy;
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The educational leader role is still in the developmental phase. There is the capacity, with the recent allocation of additional hours, to expand this role in line with the demands from educators and other stakeholders. Leadership in this role is de�ned by what the educational leader does to in�uence learning in others; to read widely and share concisely the ideas, learning styles, theories, and approaches. As a coordination unit team, we mentor, guide and support educators - there is no ‘one size �ts all’ approach. The relationshipbased partnership model drives us as a team to know each educator’s knowledge base and professional learning goals drawn from the ongoing process of self-assessment. Effective educational leadership is a j oint endeavour. Bringing the extended team together to decide how the available hours allocated to this role will ensure the role is clearly de�ned, supported and working to build knowledge and a culture of professional inquiry. Summer 2019 22
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Seeing and cultivating the mathematical activity of
DESIGNING in f amily day care
By Dr Sheena Elwick1, Brianna Lambert & Nicky Spalding, Charles Sturt University
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of designing, and ask you to re�ect on what you could do to provide children with opportunities for designing within your family day care environment, and within your teaching approaches.
he ‘Seeing and Cultivating Mathematics’ (SCM) proj ect2 took place in 2018 in collaboration with a regional NSW family day care service. As part of the proj ect, a member of the research team spent two half days in two family day care homes — one half day in each home — and used four GoPro cameras to simultaneously record videofootage from different viewpoints. One camera was worn by a child aged two; one was located in a low stationary position and one in a high stationary position to record the family day care environment; and one was worn by the educator on a chest harness.
Alan Bishop’s Six Universal Mathematical Activities According to Alan Bishop there is not one version of mathematics that you need to know and teach. Instead, for him, there are many versions of mathematics and each version depends upon the culture in which it is being used and the social expectations of that culture.
Sections of the recorded videofootage were used in two professional learning sessions: one face-to-face and one online. In both sessions, service staff were involved in a range of activities involving the videofootage, and Alan Bishop’s (1988)3 six universal mathematical activities: counting, locating, measuring, designing, pl aying and explaining. So, what are Alan Bishop’s six universal mathematical activities? How can they help you to recognise and encourage the mathematics that features so much in the family day care day ? In earlier editions of JiGSAW we explored Bishop’s mathematical activities of counting, locating, and measuring. In this, the �nal edition of our series, we explore the mathematical activity 1 All correspondence to Sheena Elwick (selwick@csu.edu.au)
23 Summer 2019
However, despite Bishop’s suggestion that there are many versions of mathematics, he found six activities that lead to the development of mathematics in all cultures: counting, locating, measuring, designing, playing, and explaining. He argued that all six activities are important, both on their own and together, for the development of mathematical ideas.
Designing Bishop’s mathematical activity of designing is concerned with creating an abstract or symbolic plan, structure or shape on a surface or space. The essence of designing is transforming something into something else – for example, transforming a pile of blocks into a farmyard. One thing to keep in
mind is that children do not need to actually make the design for it to be mathematically important. For example, they may talk about using the blocks to make a farmyard (or have a design ‘in mind’) but not actually create it. To see the activity of designing happening throughout the day, look for the children engaging in activities such as: •
Transforming something into something else.
•
Using 2D shapes along with natural materials, glue and scissors to create a design or represent something (such as a house, an animal, or their family).
•
Using blocks to create something such as a house, a paddock for some animals, a �ower, a spaceship, a car, a person.
•
Talking about or transforming a blank page into a drawing.
You can also listen for the use of language related to designing. For example, you may hear children say things such as: “I’m making a house……”; “I’m going to build…….”; “Can you help me make this…..” There were many examples of children using the activity of designing in the SCM proj ect. The following image (still-frame from video-footage) and accompanying transcript shows four children and their educator in a room containing
2 The SCM project was funded by a Charles Sturt University Research grant. 3 Bishop, A. J. (1988). Mathematical enculturation. Kluwer: Dordrecht.
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a light box and various resources. The researcher (seated on the couch holding a camera) is also shown in the image.
In the image, the children can be seen using a range of small blocks and other open-ended resources to design things, such as �owers. The following short transcript outlines some of what happened: Educator to child in red: “You can make a �ower as well.” Older Child (looking at own design): “It’s a fower . It’s a Sunfower .” Younger child (positioned at back of light table) to Researcher and others: “I made it. I made it.” (Referring to her representation of a �ower) In the above transcript, we have bolded the words that suggest the children were involved in the activity of designing. For example, when the educator suggested to the younger child that they could “make” a �ower, the word make
directed the young child’s actions towards transforming the provided resources into a design (which in this case was a �ower). While the
word make is perhaps not usually recognised as a mathematical word, Alan Bishop’s ideas about mathematics remind us that any discussion related to transforming something into something else is actually very signi�cant to children’s development of mathematical knowledge. Likewise, the older child’s exclamation “it’s a fower ” “it’s a sunfower ” may often be overlooked as mathematically important. And yet if we look closely at what is happening here, this child has not only drawn on her prior knowledge of sun�owers to successfully transform open-ended resources into her representation of a sun�ower; she has also demonstrated an early awareness of mathematical concepts such as scale, ratio and proportion when she scaled down the size
Reflecting on your own work with children, and with the above examples in mind, have you seen the children ‘designing’ at any time?
Reflection
of a real sun�ower to allow her representation to �t onto the lighttable. Along similar lines, the younger child’s exclamation “I made it. I made it ” (that she made when describing her representation of a �ower) may be seen as an indication of her desire to share her work with others. However, if we consider her words in light of the educator’s earlier suggestion that the young child “make” a �ower then it is possible that her apparent ability to do that successfully demonstrates an early mathematical awareness of shapes and how to transform shapes in various ways to create a �nal design (for example, �ipping, turning and sliding shapes). Some ideas that may help you to intentionally support the activity of designing and development of related mathematical understandings include: •
Providing children with obj ects they can use in their constructions and design work. Be on the lookout for resources that offer interesting shapes and textures.
•
Providing natural materials and obj ects that are sparkly and colourful and that can easily be incorporated into children’s designs. Some examples include small tiles, marble pieces, fabric and fur pieces, scarves and lengths of sheer fabric.
•
Talking with children about the shapes they have incorporated into their designs and the properties of those shapes.
•
Supporting children to look for similarities and differences between the shapes they are using.
Reflect on what you could do to provide children with opportunities for designing within your family day care environment, and within your teaching approaches Summer 2019 24
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Covering everything from technology through to tantrums, Dr Michael Nagel from the Univ ersity of the Sunshine Coast is regarded as one of Australia’s foremost experts in child development. If you have a question about neurological development, cognitive development, behaviour and early learning contact Dr Nagel at media@fdca.com.au
Happy children, happy and healthy lives!
S
pring is often a time of j oy as winter moves on with people happy knowing that the approaching summer is not far away. But what if the secret to happiness did not have to wait for the days to be longer and was right in front of your face all this time but you failed to see it? For many, happiness lies in wealth, the accumulation of things, or success, however success is de�ned. But are you aware that j oy is now quanti�able and can actually be measured. Researchers are now able to watch the brain and measure hormone changes, endorphin levels, blood oxygen and what happens when people connect with one another through language and facial mannerisms. Neuroscience is telling us that it's actually the obvious things that make us happy and improve our health. Some of these things are echoed in wisdom of previous generations… always look on the bright side, laughter is the best medicine, and smile and 25 Summer 2019
the world smiles with you. Some are so obvious that we often overlook them — the importance of smiling, laughing, singing and dancing, as well as friends, family, fun, exercise, sunshine, children, community and celebration. These are the things that elevate our moods, strengthen our immune systems, lengthen our lives and actually change our body and neuro-chemistry. Importantly, most of the things noted above are free and the truly exciting part is that we can get much better at cultivating j oy and happiness and providing the children around us with avenues for j oy and happiness as well! Although we place tremendous importance on the pursuit of happiness, it is the pursuing of j oy itself that may prove more rewarding. The key is that while happiness is an ephemeral concept, j oy is quite measurable. Researchers looking at the brain in action are often amazed at how much of it is dedicated to positive emotion,
or j oy. The key is engaging those regions of the brain and importantly doing so is not all that dif�cult. Here are a few ways you can do it to help children, and indeed yourself, release powerful chemicals that can literally foster j oy and happiness and most importantly, better mental health. First of all, and at the risk of stating the obvious, it is important to create and have fun and �nd ways to continue having fun. Neuroscience is telling us that fun is healthy, a powerful de-stressor, boosts our immune systems and increases social connection. This is because fun, especially through play, is the source of some critical positive behaviours like laughter, bonding, smiling and humour. One study in the U.S. found that even the anticipation of laughter and a good time causes a momentary positive increase in immune function. Therefore, even thinking about having fun is good for you and the research evidence tells us that
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children, and adults, need to play and have as much fun as possible while doing so. Second, sing and even if you are not that great at it �nd ways to sing with the children around you or at the very least get them singing. Singing actually improves health and longevity. A scienti�c study of choir members showed they had fairly stunning increases in immune function before and after performances. The global insurance giant AIG advocates that regular singing can add 16 years to anyone’s lifespan while numerous studies have demonstrated how singing and all aspects of the creative arts are positively associated with all aspects of child development. So sing, play instruments, paint, dance and get the kids around you to do so too! Third, ensure your cup is always half-full. Seriousness can be a manifestation of permanent stress and while many of us get told to lighten up when we get too serious, science is arriving at similar conclusions. Seriousness is usually signalled by the promotion of stress, lack of a sense of humour and a resentment of fun. Cardiologists at the University of Maryland believe an overly serious attitude leads to heart disease and they are in the midst of proving it. Seriousness itself mimics stress reactions where blood vessels tighten and the often damaging hormone cortisol seeps into the bloodstream. Previous issues of JiGSAW explored the debilitating aspects of stress and how detrimental it can be to the developing brain. It is also important to remember to look on the brighter side and think positively. Positive thinking is one of the key components of cognitive therapy, an effective and non-medical approach to counter depression. The newest research available suggests that meditation, mindfulness and a positive outlook can �ght depression and elevate mood. While this may seem to focus on you, always remember that children are incredibly
perceptive at reading stress in adults and mimicking that behaviour. Therefore, when life has got you down, so to speak, �nd a way to work through it so you do not pass your stress on to the children around you. One way of mediating such stress might be to engage in breathing, yoga and/or mindfulness activities on your own and with the children in your care. Such programs are quickly becoming mainstays in many schools and research suggests that the earlier we start to learn to breathe effectively and relax, the better, so take time each day to do something with children to relax everyone’s busy mind. Finally, please remember that j oy and happiness are contagious. We know that positive emotion creates more positive emotion. A large study published in the British Medical J ournal by an American research group that analysed data looking for happiness trends found that happy people passed on their cheer to people they didn't personally know. When you pass a stranger and smile you can actually change the neurochemistry of their brain and you will know this is the case if they smile back at you. Smiling releases powerful chemicals that make us feel good. In other words passing on happiness is as easy as smiling and saying hello. The study mentioned above even found that such transferred happiness can last for up to a year! Happiness is important and an integral component for nurturing a healthy mind and adults play a signi�cant role in creating and displaying happiness for children. As 2019 comes to a close with summer approaching and the festive season not too far into the future, try to keep some of these things in mind when engaging with the children around you... smile lots, sing often, frequently laugh out loud and have as much fun as possible.
I have a child in my care who is going through a rough time at home with parents separating. His mum and dad both love him, but it does mean that the home environment isn’t proj ecting the happiest energy at the moment. How can I, in my limited time with him, help to instil happiness in him, despite what is going on in his home lif e? - Beth
Family break ups are one of the most dif�cult things children can have to deal with... outside of the home it is important to provide as many fun and joyful activities and opportunities as possible. These will help to balance some of the other challenges being faced by a child and help to counteract any stress. It is also important to ensure that routines are consistent and predictable. The home environment may be a bit �uid and as such any consistency that can be provided outside of the home helps to build resilience and adaptive capacities. In the end, smile lots, provide routines and as much fun as possible. Summer 2019
26
PUBLIC LIABILITY
PERSONAL ACCIDENT
HOME & CONTENTS
MOTOR VEHICLE
MANAGEMENT LIABILITY
BUSINESS PACK INSURANCE
LEGAL SERVICES
POLICE CHECKS
BUSINESS INSIGHTS Are you covered in the event of an accident or sickness? EDUCATOR CASE STUDY
Family day care educators are well aware of the need to ensure they hold insurance, such as Public Liability insurance to protect themselves against incidents such as a child or other person getting injured or their property getting damaged.
While an educator was conducting their family day care business at home, they fell and injured themselves due to a slippery surface. The educator suffered severe soft tissue damage to their knee, ankle, neck and shoulder area. This injury left them unable to perform their normal family day care duties and meant they were unable to work or earn an income for the unforeseeable future.
However, did you know that as most family day care educators are self-employed, they do not have the bene�t of sick leave or workers compensation payments in the event of an accident or sickness?
Luckily, they were covered by FDCA’s Personal Accident and Sickness policy* and contacted FDCA the day following the injury. The claim was lodged and quickly assessed by the insurer who agreed to pay a weekly bene�t amount until the educator was able to go back to their normal work duties again.
Managing the risk of an accident or sickness are important considerations that all educators should take into account when running their business.
This educator now has peace of mind and can focus on their recovery without the stress of not having a regular income.
To date, this educator has received $16,500 in weekly bene�ts for this one claim alone.
To fnd out more about FDCA’s Personal Accident and Sickness insurance, visit www.fdca.com.au, email memberservices@fdca.com.au or call 1800 658 699.
Disclaimer *Pre-existing conditions are not covered. The maximum weekly bene�t payable is up to 52 weeks with a 7 day deferment period.
Public Liability insurance... which policy covers what? At FDCA we regularly �eld enquiries from members who are confused about the Public Liability insurance they have to take out for their family day care business and the Public Liability insurance that is included when they purchase a home and contents insurance policy. It is very important to understand that these Public Liability policies cover very different risks. A Public Liability policy with FDCA covers third party claims
27 Summer 2019
for negligence that arise out of the running of a family day care business. The Public Liability insurance included with a home and contents policy covers third party claims for negligence in the use of the home but outside the family day care business. For examp le, a p arent is dropp in g off a child at your home f or f amily day care and f alls down a step that was f aulty . Because it happ ened in connection with your business, FDCA 's policy will respond. However, if you were having a p arty on a Saturday night and a guest f ell down the same f aulty
step, the home and contents Public Liability policy would be the only policy that could respond. A Home and Contents Public Liability insurance policy does not cover an educator's business activities, so it is crucial that educators make sure their Home and Contents insurer knows that they are running family day care from their home. If you have any concerns please call the FDCA Insurance Team on 1800 658 699.
FAMILY DAY CARE
LEGAL SERVICES
T URN Y OUR PROBLEMS INTO SOLUT IONS
12
months of support from legal experts
All from as little as
$3.15 a week*
Access legal advice valued at
$1,500 per enquiry**
Telephone legal advice and debt recovery services available
One of the biggest distractions when running a successful family day care business is debt recovery, with a growing number of services and educators often seeking assistance with managing cash �ow and other legal matters. As your national peak body, FDCA is committed to helping y ou deal with the stress of any issues related to your family day care business requiring legal assistance.
For more information about Family Day Care Legal Services, visit fdca.com.au/legal or phone 1800 658 699 . *Based on upfront payment for an educator Legal Services package. **Based on a limit of 4 hours billable time per enquiry. Family Day Care Australia ABN 93 094 436 021 AFSL 329 616 receives a fee for referring this service. Because we don’t know your legal needs, we can’t advise if this service will suit you. The legal advice scheme is delivered by Clyde & Co Australia ABN 72 157 316 912.
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VISION FAMILY DAY CARE SERVICE AND BE YOU By Namita Pathak - Nominated Supervisor/ Educational Leader, Vision Family Day Care Service
O
ur educators and staff see Be You as a self-directed learning experience. It supports the whole team to become responsible, competent, capable, focused and alert in their roles and responsibilities.
Be You recognises individual educators and leaders’ extensive knowledge, expertise and skills in the care and education of young children. 29 Summer 2019
The educators at Vision Family Day Care Service are participating in Be You , learning and working collaboratively to assist others around us to be part of this amazing journey. This has become possible because of our educators’ involvement, excellent time management skills and selfencouragement in wanting to gain the professional knowledge and essential skills to support and promote mental health and wellbeing.
We believe Be You is a great beginning and excellent support for educators in early childhood education. Vision Family Day Care Service is con�dently participating in the Be You self-paced professional learning which consists of �ve domains with modules sitting within each domain. The knowledge and skills gained from the professional learning underpins the educator’s self-
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Explore more about Be You Explore Be You: beyou.edu.au Registering with Be You is quick, easy – and FREE! Register to start Be You: beyou.edu.au/register
con�dence to make a positive difference in children’s lives. We as a team have learned to prioritise assisting children and ourselves in achieving the best possible mental health. This includes looking after our own mental health and wellbeing. Be You has fostered each team member’s capability to think critically and re�ect positively about their daily practices in all aspects of learning and care. I acknowledge the Be You Consultants from Early Childhood Australia, who have been supporting our learning community. I remember my �rst phone call in February 2019, when I was encouraged to explore Be You and make a realistic learning goal for Vision Family Day Care. What we have learned from Be You helps us identify and recognise speci�c behaviours which impact daily functioning in children and young people. Speci�cally, the Behaviour, Emotions, Thoughts, Learning, and Social Relationship (BETLS) Observation Tool and Mental Health Continuum that provides educators with a means to understand children’s development and changing behaviour. Understanding individual families’ uniqueness, their beliefs, values, culture and their expectations assists educators in developing meaningful strategies to support children’s mental health issues collaboratively with family and community. At Vision, we actively work together to support positive mental health in children through focusing on scaffolding children’s learning to develop their social and emotional skills and build resilience. We guide educators to involve families in developing strategies to support positive outcomes. We focus on
inclusive community connectedness and family partnerships to promote positive mental health and wellbeing for children and young people. Vision’s educators made this j oint statement about Be You learning and implementation: "Be You has helped us develop and expand our existing strategies to deal with mental health issues and has suggested practical ways to support children across different ages.Be You has guided inclusive practices to create a sense of connectedness and appreciate the diversity in the early learning community."
The knowledge and skills gained from the professional learning underpins the educator’s selfconfdence to make a positive difference in children’s lives.
It was a proud moment to see Vision’s team working hard to bring the learning community together with multiple outdoor excursions and we also celebrated Pyj ama day, See More and J eans for Gene’s day . These organisations provide for
the mental and physical health of children and young people in need and supported the development of a sense of community in our families too. We share the stress management techniques with many families that assist them to provide their children with the best possible care. Educators use the Stop, Re�ect, Act framework and focus on a strengthbased approach when responding to any concerns from families about their child’s mental health and wellbeing. Overall, implementing Be You at Vision Family Day Care Service means we are working with governing bodies, families and community for children’s holistic development. Be You learning is an insightful experience for us and we have compared our educators’ knowledge and skills before and after participating in the professional learning. We have embedded our learnings in everyday practice, critically thinking and re�ecting on the activities and teaching approaches before and after. It is a great experience for me to have so many Be You educators who support other team members in their professional learning and practice, for the bene�t of everyone in the learning community. We encourage every educator to explore Be You and contribute to creating a mentally healthy learning community. Now , Vision’s team members are more capable and con�dent to foster children and young people to achieve their best possible mental health and wellbeing. Each team member is passionate and proud to use their expertise in laying the foundations for future mental health. Summer 2019
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Sudoku Enter the Sudoku competition and you could win a Measuring and Pouring Plastic Water Play set valued at $76.95.
Red Star House
With this water play set children can practice measuring and pouring with the measuring cups
Enter the Red Star House competition and you could win a Twigz Garden Tools Starter set valued at $109.95. The Twigz children’s gardening buckets are a strong steel construction with a riveted swivel handle. The squat shape and large rim of the bucket make is easy for children to �ll up and hard for children to tip over when placed on the ground. Children can use them to �ll with potting mix, water or carry their hand tools around in. Suitable for ages one and over. To win this fantastic prize all you have to do is �nd the Red Star House which is hiding somewhere in this magazine. Enter your answer online at www.fdca.com.au/competitions by clicking on the Red Star House competition link. Competition closes 26 J anuary 2020.
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7 5 8 1
2 5 4 8 2 5 8 7 6 4 3 5 6 4 2 1 6 2 9 3 5 3 2 7 2 4 9 1
play set. The set consists of 2 sets of spoons, 2 funnels, 2 sections of 1 metre x 6mm diameter tubing, 2 spray bottles, 2 pump bottles, 6 water basting pipettes and 3 play jugs. The water play set consists of a grand total of 34 pieces. Enter your answer online at www.fdca. com.au/competitions by clicking on the Sudoku competition link. Competition closes 26 J anuary 2020.
Word Teaser Enter the Word Teaser competition for your chance to win a $50 Booktopia gift voucher. Complete the 3-letter words and the middle row across will reveal the solution. Enter your answer online at www.fdca.com.au/competitions by clicking on the Word Teaser competition link.
...to the winners f rom Issue 91 Find the Red Star House Melissa Thomas New South Wales
Competition closes 26 J anuary 2020. CLUES: 1. Poem 2. Admirer 6. First number 7. Self-pride
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3. Career golfer
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4. Travel by air
5. Half a dozen
S O E
Sudoku Chitra Weerasinghe Victoria Word Teaser Natalie Tif�n Tasmania
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Macca’s Makeov er By Matt Cosgrove
Who doesn’t lov e a Macca story! The book shows Macca wh at it is that makes him truly special . Macca is gentle, . sharing, thoughtful and caring l. coo is he k thin But he doesn’t ice He asks his friends for some adv ll and we go ’t don and ideas. But things ke ma to his friends rally around him him see he is already special . just It has a lov ely message about being yourself.
Macca’s Christmas Crackers
Once, I was Loved By Belinda Landsb erry
A heart-w arming story of an old toy rabbit called Tock that �nds him self in a box of toy s being donated to charity . But it wasn’t alw ays this way as Tock sadly re�ects, "On ce I was lov ed." This story relates with those tha t have ever cherished a childhood toy . A celebration of the timeless nature of lov e, the story is set against the backdrop of iconic moments in 20thcentury history . The War, Roc k and Roll, V-Day, The Moon Landing, Americas Cup , and the internet. Tock starts his life with a girl called Sam in 1939, and somehow, after nearly 90 yea rs, Sam is �nally reunited with her beloved Tock. Recom mended for school age
Hopping around the Christmas Tree Written by John Marks Performed by Benj amin Johnst on Illustrated by Colin Buchanan
By Matt Cosgrove Our book reviewer for ok A great Christmas bo This book celebrates all the Aus edition of JiGSAW this n. sie to add to the collectio Brown Abigail is Animals attending a Christmas is d an ed ss shindig, se ob tmas from Bright Futures with lots of decorations for the Macca is a little Chris is g in giv of t euc iri alyptus n. The sp Children's Services. tree and food to share with frie excited for the seaso buy gifts to ts nds an . The w He st. be illustrations are cheeky and fun what Macca loves . ey on m , wit no s h ha he t many counting opportunities. for all his friends, bu eir th e ad m ey th nd e So, with a fri Closer to Christmas, this story lised that could make for own crackers and rea ve a ha great sensory tray activity for n’t es do nt se re p ct the children rfe pe the to play with, while g! in th a to cost listening to the bonus were easy to Both 'Macca' books C.D . d rhyming read with humour an The children enj oyed -beat. that is catchy and up a sing along to this all in true The illustrations are new Australian version and are Matt Cosgrove style of the classic song, and rich beautiful, expressive Roc kin ' Around the e th es in colour. This catch Chr istm as Tree. right away . children’s attention Recommended for es. ag all for d chi ldren under 4. de en m Recom d to these stories e ten lis ily pp ha r fou The children under t was coming anticipation to wha h t wi d ite xc e , es many tim ged and enjoyed e children also enga Summer 2019 32 next. The school ag er children. g to read to the young in fer of e, lin y r sto e th
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Do you have a story ab out a family day care excu rsion that you would lik e to share?
with Adventure Patch Family Day Care
Send your pictu res and stories throug h to marketing@fd ca.com .au
A playgroup with a POP! parts and a whole lot of imagination and creative play.
Whilst playgrounds are eye catching, exciting, colourful, fun and promote challenge and a bit of risk taking, the children from Adventure Patch Family Day Care set aside the slides and climbing equipment for the morning to unlock some discoveries and a whole lot of fun during their �rst Pop-Up Playground. A ‘what’ you ask, that’s right, on a cool morning in the beautiful Tasmanian suburb of New Norfolk, Lynne and Scott from Adventure Patch created a Pop-Up Playground in a lovely grassed area of Tynwald Park as part of a roaming playgroup for our family day care educators and children. The Pop-Up Playground consisted of loose parts materials such as cardboard boxes, ropes, tyres, tubes, pallets, pool noodles and sheets. As these resources were scattered across the grass it didn’t take long for the children’s inquisitive nature to come out as they started to check out what this ‘Pop-Up’ was all about. A tyre rope swing was suspended over a branch of one of the large trees and the children were quick to explore different ways of swinging on the tyre: laying in it, sitting in it and on top of it. Some children challenged their strength, courage and coordination by standing on top of the tyre to swing! Unlike the park next door where the �xed equipment gives children a clear guide on how to play, the loose parts created a bit more of a challenge. What do I do with a rope? What fun can I have with a tube? With a little scaffolding of ideas from our Pop-Up experts and educators,
33 Summer 2019
the children were soon immersed in shared play ideas with a whole range of loose parts resources. Measurement concepts were tested as children explored what tubes the pool noodles could and couldn’t �t into. Ropes were being threaded through tubes with waiting anticipation at the other end to see if and when the rope was going to appear. Soon children were gathering nature’s loose parts with sticks and tree nuts being brought into the play, adding another level of creative ideas and discoveries. The morning was �lled with enquiry, problem solving, team work, science, maths, challenges, risk taking and smiles galore, all from a few loose
This playgroup experience was one of many roaming Playgroups that J anice our playgroup leader offers for our children and educators and this was the �rst one held in the New Norfolk area where some of our educators live. Adventure Patch operates a mini bus and this has given some of our educators the chance to come along to these playgroup sessions, opening up positive networking opportunities and for children to share adventures out in the local community. Seeing the reaction from the children during this Pop-Up Playground was so valuable and rewarding that we are already planning our next one in the Kingston area coming up next month. We would also like to provide this opportunity to our family day care children and educators living in the Huon area opening them up to our whole service to share the joy and wonder that Pop-Up adventures can bring!
Melbourne
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3 - DAY
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SAT & S UN
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MCEC South Wharf
ICC Darling Harbour
Adelaide Showground
Sydney Showground
BCEC South Bank
Claremont Showground
MCEC South Wharf
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BCEC South Bank
Feb 22 & 23
2 - DAY
Mar 21 & 22
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Phot o by A lastair Bett
HOBART 2021
FDCA 2021 National Conference
Grand Chancellor Hotel • Hobart • 28-30 October 2021 Payment plans to launch 1 January 2020 FDCA is proud to announce that, by popular demand, payment plans for the FDCA 2021 National Conference will be available. FDCA members will have exclusive access to 6 and 12 month payment plans from 1 January 2020.
Photo by Off t he Pat h
EARLY-BIRD TICKETS ARE NOW AVAILABLE!
Access your payment plan at www.fdca.com.au/conference