Australian Childcare Alliance Archives - Early Learning Childhood Education

30/08/201830/08/2018

Saying THANKS on Early Childhood Educators Day!

As a career, early childhood education roles often do not receive the recognition and respect they deserve. The early childhood profession is one of the most important and the work the educators do is invaluable. Next Wednesday 5 September is Early Childhood Educators Day and we encourage you to consider taking the time to acknowledge the amazing educators in your life.

The work of early childhood educators is meaningful and vital for families. Parents choose to trust educators with their precious children and educators take great pride in ensuring the children in their care are getting the best start in life.

Educators also do so much to make parents and families feel special. Beautiful crafty creations for special occasions, new songs children go home singing and wonderful memories to last a lifetime.

So, how are you going to say thank you? We think early childhood educators deserve to know just how amazing they are, and Early Childhood Educators Day is the perfect time! These children have some ideas:

The Early Childhood Educators Day website has more ideas for families and children to explore how they could ‘say thank you’: https://earlychildhoodeducatorsday.org.au/families

Centres might like to explore ways to acknowledge the day too with these ideas. Even a wall or tree of thanks can be a simple but thoughtful gesture to allow families to write a note of appreciation to educators when they come and go from the centre over the coming week.

We would love to see your Early Childhood Educators Day celebrations. Please share with us via Bonkers Beat Music and Wellbeing facebook page your ideas, or even use the official hashtag #EarlyChildhoodEducatorsDay so we can all explore the festivities around this occasion.

22/02/201822/02/2018

Essential facts about the new child care package

From 2 July 2018 the current child care system, which includes the Child Care Benefit and Rebate, will be replaced. The new childcare package will provide families of approved childcare services with a new Child Care Subsidy and result in a few changes for providers.

We’ve taken the time to go through some of the main changes to the childcare package so families and early childhood educators, directors and owners can be prepared when July 2 arrives.

Changes for childcare services:

Types of childcare services

Instead of the seven types of childcare providers we currently have, there will only be three. There are Centre-based Day Care (CDC), Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) and Family Day Care (FDC). Depending on what type of childcare service you run, this may affect you.

Operating hours

Currently, there are many regulations for childcare professionals when it comes to their operating hours, however, with the new childcare package childcare providers will have more freedom in choosing their operating hours to suit their local area and demand. This includes how many days and hours they offer care each week, however, some regulation will still apply.

Reduced admin time

According to the department, the new child care IT system that will roll out with the childcare package is designed to support childcare providers in reducing admin time and giving you a highly functional IT system to work with.

Display this poster at your centre to remind families of the upcoming changes.

You can get plenty of information and resources here: https://www.education.gov.au/new-child-care-subsidy-system

Changes for families:

One payment system, not two

Instead of a two-payment system, the Child Care Subsidy rolling out in July will be one payment. This will completely replace both the Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate.

Annual cap

While currently your subsidised childcare hours are capped at $7,500, the new Child Care Subsidy will not have a cap on the majority of families. If your family earns over $185,710 your cap will remain but will be extended to $10,000 from July 2.

Means-tested subsidy

As with the previous funding, the Child Care Subsidy remains a payment that is determined by your combined family income.

Take a look at how your subsidy level will be calculated:

Meeting the activity test

The activity test shows the required number of hours a family must undertake in an approved activity to access the Child Care Subsidy. This is to make sure parents who need childcare to work can access it fairly.

Childcare funding for parents not working

To ensure all children can access a quality early childhood education, the Child Care Safety Net offers low-income families who don’t meet the activity test up to 24 hours of subsidised childcare per fortnight.

For complete information about the Child Care Subsidy and new package launching as of 2 July 2018 visit https://www.education.gov.au/child-care-subsidy.

Families, you can learn more and work out your funding level with this online calculator: education.gov.au/childcare

31/08/201731/08/2017

Early Childhood Educators Day

We place the future of tomorrow’s leaders in the hands of early childhood educators each and every day – that’s a big responsibility! And thankfully it’s one that is viewed as a true privilege by early childhood educators. It is a job that, while rewarding, is challenging and requires a lot of patience. And it is a job that deserves more recognition and celebration than it perhaps receives.

The first Wednesday in September each year is Early Childhood Educators Day – a chance to show early childhood educators that their work is recognised, appreciated and valued. So next week on Wednesday 6 September, let’s do something special for early childhood educators.

Ways to Celebrate Early Childhood Educators Day

The Australian Childcare Alliance has many fantastic ideas to celebrate Early Childhood Educators Day.

Here are just a few:

Create an ECE Wall of Appreciation. Templates here. Encourage parents to help children to write down what they love about their educators. Parents might like to say what they value most about them too.
Colour-coordinate clothes for the day. Everyone comes to work in costume!
Create a giant “thank you” card for display in the reception area of the centre/kindergarten
Design a certificate of appreciation for each educator, or use one here.

Early childhood educators care for children during one of the most critical developmental stages in a human being’s life – the first five years. This care and focus on their early learning enable families to work as needed with the peace of mind that their children are safe and sound and receiving the best start.

To all early childhood educators, we commend you on your hard work, your kindness and your patience. And we thank you for all that you do each day.

Get involved in Early Childhood Educators Day on social media by using the hashtags:

#EarlyChildhoodEducatorsDay #LoveMyECE

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