E ar l y
Vol. 5 No. 2
In this edition
September 2010
words The newsletter for the Early Childhood Education sector
The Role of a Central Governing Body (CGB): IEUA-QNT Submission The IEUA-QNT has raised a number of serious concerns over the future of community kindergartens in light of current policy changes and the move by the state government to have each kindergarten affiliate with a Central Governing Body (CGB) by 30 June 2011. The role of a CGB, and the identity of the proposed CGBs, may be confirmed later this month.
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IEUA-QNT Submits Central Governing Body (CGB) Criteria Collective Bargaining Update ECE Area Meetings: Queensland
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Small funding increase: KFS
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IEUA-QNT in talks with government
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Professional Development with Louis Bradfield
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Small Talk with Suzanne
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Member Profile
IEUA-QNT wrote to the Office for Early Childhood Education and Care (OECEC) to present a list of requirements that members had identified for the role of a CGB. The IEUA-QNT believes that any organisation wishing to become a Central Governing Body must: 1.
Demonstrate experience in the delivery and/or support of early childhood education programs; 2. Demonstrate ability to provide support and advice to services regarding program management and administration; 3. Demonstrate experience in effective management of funds; 4. Demonstrate ability and a preparedness to provide a state-wide service; 5. Support an inclusive quality education program for all children; 6. Develop and implement policies which are fair for parents, children and employees; 7. Allow kindergarten committees discretion as to how the kindergarten is managed; 8. Not unreasonably discriminate against or between kindergartens which may wish to use its services; 9. Be subject to monitoring by the government; 10. Be subject to a dispute settling procedure, overseen by the government, to resolve disputes between a kindergarten and a CGB; 11. Be able to be removed from its role if it is shown to have acted in a manner which is manifestly unreasonable or fraudulent.
Members have raised a number of concerns regarding the role of a CGB including the ability of new CGBs to fulfil the requirements of the role and what information the CGBs will require according to government policy. The ability of new bodies to fill the CGB role Kindergartens exist for the sole purpose of providing an educational program. Members have identified concerns that CGBs must be able to understand early childhood education and the needs of kindergartens in Queensland. IEUA-QNT shares this concern and considered that the list of requirements submitted to the government would cover all aspects of early childhood education in regard to the “demonstrated ability” and “effective management” of a kindergarten program. CGBs will collect statistical information from Kindergartens A CGB would be required to provide the OECEC with data from its member kindergartens for the purpose of funding entitlements and to monitor early childhood development outcomes. IEUA-QNT understands that the government intends to use kindergarten statistics to monitor its goal of achieving universal access for all children enrolled in a kindergarten program. Community kindergartens will need to be associated with a CGB by 30 June 2011 to receive kindergarten funding from 1 July 2011. To arrange for IEUA-QNT to visit your kindergarten for further discussion, please contact your Union Organiser on (07) 3839 7020 or email enquiries@qieu.asn.au
Negotiations Commence for next C&K Certified Agreement Negotiations for a new Certified Agreement to cover employees in C&K branch centres commenced on Wednesday, 1 September 2010.
Employee representatives noted with approval the employer proposal to increase wage rates and allowances by four per cent in line with the ‘going rate’ in education.
Employee and employer representatives met to address a number of concerns in the existing agreement (due to expire 31 December 2010) with the 15 hours of education program a significant matter under discussion.
Due to the current requirement for new kindergartens to deliver a 15 hour educational program, changes to the existing agreement were proposed by employer representatives.
A number of proposed variations to the existing agreement were tabled for discussion, including proposals to: • extend the expiry date of the current agreement from 31 December 2010 to 31 December 2011; • alter the wage schedules to reflect a four per cent increase from 1 July 2011; • increase the Director’s Allowances, Relieving Director’s Allowances and Senior Teacher’s Allowance by four per cent from 1 July 2011; and • include new services in the table of services eligible for the teacher’s locality allowance, remote area incentive payments and emergent leave.
Employer representatives suggested a model for a different approach to teacher hours, including: Each term is assigned a designated number of ‘additional’ relief hours for the teacher; Over the four term period, teachers would receive the same number of contact and non-contact hours as they would under the existing agreement; and Teachers/kindergartens could elect the best method of arranging relief hours for their own centre. Employee representatives will be consulting with members in relation to the proposed changes. The negotiating team proposed a second meeting in Term 4.
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Queensland ECE Network Meetings Brisbane North
Kawana Waters
Far North Queensland
Townsville
Small funding increase for KFS The Queensland government has announced that the ‘per capita’ funding for each child enrolled in a kindergarten program will be slightly increased from $2,100 to $2,168.25 under the new Kindergarten Funding Scheme (KFS). This 3.2 per cent increase, the first ‘indexation’ increase, was backdated to 1 July 2010.
IEUA-QNT in talks with government Political delegations have been organised to approach ALP State members of Parliament to express member concerns about changes to funding and the implications of the 15 hours of education program for children.
Community kindergartens may be eligible for additional funding if they are in a remote area (as defined by the Accessibility Remoteness Index of Australia), if they are in a low socioeconomic area (as defined by the Social Economic Indexes for Areas), or if parents hold a Health Care Card.
IEUA-QNT has also sought further discussions with the Queensland Minister for Education, Geoff Wilson to raise recurring funding concerns and discuss the future viability of community kindergartens.
Funding still woefully inadequate, much more is needed
The IEUA-QNT will continue to approach both federal and state governments to advocate for a viable community kindergarten sector to ensure its future as a provider of quality early childhood education.
The IEUA-QNT commissioned financial modelling from an expert in funding non-governmental education. That extensive modelling allows detailed funding comparisons. “The Government’s new level of funding still leaves a gap of over $100 per child compared to the original DECKAS funding for an ‘average’ city kindergarten,” IEUA-QNT Senior Industrial Officer John Spriggs said.
Despite the $68.25 increase in funding as part of the Kindergarten Funding Scheme, the Queensland government’s allocation of funds is still of particular concern to ECE members.
“But more significantly, the KFS does not take into account the extra labour costs incurred by the introduction of the 15 hours of universal access,” Mr Spriggs said.
Any amount of funding for community kindergartens must ensure that staff receive appropriate wages and conditions and that the affordability of kindergartens for parents and families is not adversely affected.
Once the increased labour costs are acknowledged, the same average community kindergartens faces a shortfall of between $300 and $400 per child per annum. Whilst this increase is a small step in the right direction, significant extra funding will be required to cover kindergarten costs as the current ‘per capita’ funding falls short of maintaining the original DECKAS funding benchmark.
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Community kindergartens that are eligible for one of the three funding subsidies including the ARIA Subsidy, SEIFA Subsidy, and Health Care Card Subsidy may have the advantage of receiving additional funding that will meet the expectations of parents, staff and the community.
words early words early words early words early words early words early words ear Early Childhood Professional Development:
Louis Bradfield speaks about children at the centre of child-directed learning and the professional development education professionals need to support their growth “Early childhood teaching is about supporting children to explore their own potentiality. Having the skill to do this is another thing.” Early childhood teachers are passionate education professionals who strive to deliver an educational experience for children that is not limited to the constraints of a curriculum or play space. While professional development gives teachers and assistants the opportunity to increase their understanding of early childhood theory and practice, the importance of the ‘child’s perspective’ has been the starting point for creative exercises at Maridahdi Early Childhood Community School in Toowoomba. IEUA-QNT member and experienced teacher Louis Bradfield (pictured below right) has dedicated his 22 years of teaching at Maridahdi to challenging the current construction of play and questioning the existence of play in the early childhood educational landscape. A study by Broadhead (2004)* found that through play, children gained the best opportunity to increase their social interaction with their peers and to absorb what they had learnt through their own exploration of expressing their desires. Using Broadhead’s research to inspire some of his own findings, Louis presented two masterclass sessions at this year’s Early Childhood Teachers’ Association (ECTA) State Conference in front of many teachers who were keen to gain new teaching approaches from the professional development day. “Early childhood programs position themselves as holding the preferred approach; as the only educationalists who value the child, who allow them to learn through play,” Louis said. “Yet in reality, children’s voices are silenced and opportunities for thought are limited because curriculum guidelines are often tailored to an adult mind. “Maridahdi’s approach is about offering children repeated opportunities to think. “Play is seen as an educational experience and one that is essential to unlocking the ways that children learn and interact with their environment,” he said. Louis is concerned that the current changes taking place in the ECE sector pose a serious threat to the future of play-based learning. “This is a huge fear of mine, as I believe the current changes have already impacted on play-based learning,” he said. “Children need the time to grow and discover who they are, yet with the narrowing of the curriculum, not only are teachers concerned
for the future of play-based learning but also the future of quality teaching.” For Louis, to be involved in every aspect of a child’s development means that teachers must be equally equipped to nurture each individual child. Although professional development conferences and events are organised by some early childhood organisations regularly, early childhood education in Australia still lacks a significant focus on the area of professional development for teachers and assistants. “There certainly needs to be a change in culture around teacher learning,” Louis said. “Professional development in this sector often focuses on the disconnection between teachers and children rather than the connection.” Little research exists to indicate what methods of professional development would be most likely to enhance early childhood teacher learning. “There is not enough professional development out there for teacher learning, so at Maridahdi we create our own,” Louis said. Professional development for teachers at Maridahdi focuses on connecting with children and being able to offer children opportunities through play and the arts to get the best out of their daily learning. Maridahdi uses natural materials and elements of art as a way of allowing teachers to use their leadership to explore new teaching approaches. Recently, Louis completed his final phase of professional development in the Leading Australian Schools Program. “The quality of professional development was second to none with 40 valued professionals reflecting on their own potentiality to experiment with ways of moving forward with better approaches.”
Small Talk with Suzanne Experienced teacher Suzanne Burdon from St Thomas’s Riverview Kindergarten shares some community and employee concerns about the future viability of community kindergartens. Community kindergartens offer parents and children an educational experience different to school-run kindergarten centres. Many years ago, I recall a parent saying to me that one of the benefits for her children attending a community kindergarten was community kindergartens were not systemic and did not adhere to any sector of education. From my experience, community kindergartens provide parents with the only opportunity to be the employer of their children’s teaching staff. It is the commitment and community spirit of parents that directs the course of community kindergartens throughout the sector and in turn maintains a wonderful teaching resource for their children. However, changing government policies will result in the number of kindergartens which are community operated being reduced, and in * Broadhead, P. (2004) Early Years Play and Learning: Developing Social Skills and Co-operation. London: Routledge Falmer.
turn parents will have less options when choosing a kindergarten for their children. The inflexible requirement to extend the child contact time for the target age to 15 hours per week from 2012 will result in many unfortunate changes in the community kindergarten sector. All employees in the sector are already faced with increased workloads. This latest requirement for 15 hour programs, which could result in 30 contact hours each week, is simply unrealistic. Unfortunately, the only option to avoid this additional imposition on staff will introduce further financial demands on community kindergartens and parents. Our union is the only voice which has consistently and clearly called for the protection of the employment conditions for employees. The collective voice of ECE members is needed to strengthen our union to ensure that community kindergartens can continue to deliver a strong community-focused education.
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What an exciting profession early childhood education has been and continues to be! How privileged are we, to work so closely with young children, their families and our communities. There is so much vitality in living and learning in a connected and collaborative way, which is such a feature of our community kindergartens. When it comes to job challenges, my immediate thought is the lack of time. My teaching assistant and I would love to have more time together, to unpack our day – time to think, question, reflect, plan and document. Time constraints affect everything we do, personally and professionally.
“I remember my male Zoology teacher in Year 12,
asking despairingly, ‘why on earth do you want to be a kindergarten teacher’? ”
Deb Stanley
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St James Lutheran Community
eb Stanley has Kindergarten been a teacher in Cleveland the early childhood sector for 34 years. The current challenges facing the sector are of great concern to Deb, who believes with the support of our union we have the best chance of advocating for the future of quality education in community kindergartens. This is her story. Most of my teaching career has been in C&K Kindergartens. My early years of teaching were at Norman Park Kindergarten before I then spent time teaching in kindergartens in Sydney and Melbourne before returning to Brisbane. I had a break from teaching and began a working holiday overseas (mainly Europe) for 18 months. For six glorious months I worked as a children’s bookseller at the famous Heffer’s Children’s Book Shop in Cambridge, England. This was a wonderful job meeting interesting people (especially authors!) and I revelled in storytelling and reading with lots of children and their families who were visiting from all over the world. On return to Brisbane, I was very fortunate to work at another C&K kindergarten at Bellbowrie for three years. I was then appointed as a Preschool Advisor with C&K. Working at what is now termed ‘C&K Central’, was a great privilege. I had the wonderful opportunity to visit and support colleagues and parent committees in their community kindergartens and child care centres. I witnessed the incredible professionalism and skill of teachers and assistants in community kindergartens and child care centres and felt very blessed to be part of such an exciting and dedicated profession. I have been responsible for 34 kindergartens stretching from the western suburbs of Brisbane through to Ipswich and Rosewood and north from Coolum to Maryborough. After three years of constant travelling, I decided to set down roots again and moved to Dayboro. I was teacher/director at Dayboro Kindergarten (C&K) for five years before the birth of my son. Now with a precious new baby, I began work as a contract teacher at Southbank TAFE, teaching adults completing certificate and diploma level studies in child care and education. I also worked as a teacher in child care and was able to empathise with families who walked that tightrope of having to work, and needing the best child care and education possible for their children. After four special years at Camira Kindergarten, an opportunity arose to work closer to home and I took the position as teacher/director at St James Lutheran Community Kindergarten.
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The challenge of the implementation of the national reform agenda in early childhood education and care, is both exciting and a little daunting at the same time. From a social justice perspective, I celebrate the fact that the federal government has made the important commitment to provide all four year olds with a kindergarten program taught by a university qualified, four year trained early childhood teacher. I remain optimistic about the future and hopeful that as teachers (linked to membership of great professional early childhood education organisations) we will continue to sharpen our professional practice and be knowledgeable and determined advocates for our children’s right to high quality early education. One of the issues of great concern to me is, what I consider to be, the low pay rates of our teaching assistants. Our valued colleagues, who are essential partners in the provision of effective teaching and learning environments for young children deserve wages that appropriately acknowledge them as professionals!
“Now more than ever we need our voice heard at both state and federal levels of government.” I feel relaxed and confident knowing that I have an industrial advocate in the form of our union, to protect and promote my professional interests. Our union has developed strong and specialised early childhood knowledge over time and is in a position to provide appropriate legal and industrial advice to its members. Our union is in a position to assist us to advocate more strongly and effectively for better outcomes for our children and our profession. We must stand together in a united way to achieve our goals.
JOIN YOUR UNION To join IEUA-QNT, download a membership form from www.qieu.asn.au or call our membership department on FREECALL 1800 177 938.
ISSN 1446-8972 early words was prepared by John Spriggs and Lauren Bremner Editor: Mr Terry Burke, Secretary IEUA-QNT PO BOX 418, FORTITUDE VALLEY QLD 4006 PH: (07) 3839 7020 FX: (07) 3839 7021 Email: enquiries@qieu.asn.au Website: www.qieu.asn.au ABN: 74 662 601 045