children Archives - Page 5 of 7 - Early Learning Childhood Education

11/04/201812/04/2018

The secret to becoming a thriving child care centre

As many of you know, ACECQA recently announced our ‘Excellent’ Rating under the National Quality Standard which was a proud achievement for Bonkers Beat’s flagship centre in Victoria. Now we think it’s time that you and your centre discovered how excellent you really are too!

We’ll let you in on a little secret…

The secret behind our ‘Excellent’ Rating is actually no secret at all.

The Bonkers Beat Music & Wellbeing Programs are the key to the success of Bonkers Beat Music Kinder in Victoria — and the success of many other centres across the country.

The benefits of the Bonkers Beat Programs are effective and proven.

Centres incorporating these tried and tested programs experience:

More enrolments
Increased engagement from children and families
A distinct and effective point of difference in the market
More motivated educators
Reduced staff turnover

These are only a handful of the benefits that Bonkers Beat programs provide for centres!

The Bonkers Beat Programs directly impact how your centre addressed the NQF, giving you the tools and support to improve your NQS Rating.

This is what the centres that utilise the Bonkers Beat Programs are already enjoying:

Daily Music Program
Daily Wellbeing Program
Exclusive conferences for the whole team
Online training for all educators
Educational resources
Weekly support for Educational Leaders
Management support
Educational resources for parents
Music & Wellbeing newsletters for parents
Live webinars for parents

A special offer for a special centre — YOURS!

To celebrate our ‘Excellent’ Rating and encourage you to take action towards your own centre’s success, we are offering you a special limited time offer!

You won’t believe what we are giving you FOR FREE!

Click here to take a look at this incredible offer and for the opportunity to grab it for yourself.

If becoming a sought-after, in-demand child care centre is on your to-do list, then securing this limited time special offer for yourself should be too.

Of course, if you do have any questions, simply give us a call on 1300 022 328 or email info@bonkersbeat.com.

19/03/201820/03/2018

Bonkers Beat Music Kinder is Rated Excellent by ACECQA

We are thrilled to share with you the great news – Bonkers Beat Music Kinder & Childcare Aspendale has been awarded the ‘Excellent’ rating by Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA)!

The Excellent rating is the highest rating an education and care service can achieve under the National Quality Framework.

This acknowledges the exceptional standard of education and care that Bonkers Beat Music Kinder is providing and its commitment to improving outcomes for children and families.

As at 31 December 2017, 14,687 children’s education and care services in Australia have received a quality rating from ACECQA and only 50 services are rated as Excellent. Out of these 50 services, there are 25 long day care centres, and the others are Preschools, OSHC and Family Day Care providers.

Currently, Bonkers Beat Music Kinder is one of only two privately run long day care services in Victoria, which are rated Excellent by ACECQA.

We congratulate all our educators, current and past families and our beautiful children with this significant achievement and thank our followers who’ve been supporting us over the years.

We’re thrilled with the outcome and delighted that many services who run Bonkers Beat Music & Wellbeing programs are part of our success story.

To read the special report on ACECQA website about Bonkers Beat Music Kinder rating please follow the link below:
www.acecqa.gov.au/media-releases/excellent-rating-awarded-bonkers-beat-music-kinder-childcare-aspendale

To see our video submission to ACECQA, watch the video below:

08/03/201809/03/2018

Creating an ‘Ethical Curriculum’ in Early Childhood

Have you heard of an ‘ethical curriculum’? It’s an important and worthwhile topic to understand if creating the best early childhood education experience for children is at the top of your to-do list.

Catharine Hydon is an early childhood expert with extensive experience working in a range of early childhood settings. We were lucky enough to have Catharine as a speaker at our recent Wellness Summits in Melbourne and Sydney, and educators couldn’t get enough of her presentations. She shared invaluable insights with us about ethical curriculums and how to create one.

Catharine says creating an ethical curriculum is really about celebrating children’s right to participate within their communities.

“When we choose ethical dimensions to add into our curriculum, we’re really connecting with who children are and how they’re living their lives right now, at the moment”, says Catharine.

Catharine wants children to grow up knowing how to engage in the world and enjoying it, not fearing it. How we do that is by listening to the children and families and delivering back an inclusive early childhood experience for all to enjoy and learn from and within. That is at the core of an ethical curriculum.

Ethical dimensions to incorporate can be chosen by finding out what matters to families and children and creating a learning environment that reflects their cultures, individual circumstances and interests. Catharine is passionate about educators growing more confident and raising our voices about the decisions we make for children in our care. Open up and speak out to communities and families about what you’re doing in your centre and why, because the work we do has a real impact on entire communities.

A big congratulations to our Bonkers Beat educators across the country — Catharine noted the enthusiasm of you all and how willing you were to give things a go. What beautiful role modelling for our young people, so congratulations to you on demonstrating your passion and motivation for our special industry.

To learn more about what we got up to at our Wellness Summits, you can take a look through our event albums in Melbourne and Sydney on Facebook. If you’re interested in joining us with your team of educators at the next Wellness Summits, get in touch to find out how!

Enjoy our chat about creating an ethical curriculum with Catharine here:

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

15/02/201815/02/2018

Building strong teams and positive culture

Working in early childhood education, collaboration is essential. Not just between centres and families, but also among staff. Building teams and a positive culture in early childhood education paves the way for a centre and its educators to thrive. Of course, a thriving centre means the best experience for families and children too.

Over the years we have asked countless educators what their biggest challenges are, and we frequently hear that one of the challenges is staff motivation, culture and turnover. Sound familiar?

In 2016 the Queensland University of Technology surveyed 1,200 early childhood educators across Australia about their jobs. Of those surveyed, one in five planned to leave their position within the following year. The reasons cited for this included feeling undervalued and not enjoying the working environment.

Creating a positive culture in your workplace can help your team feel bonded, supported and appreciated. A little effort can go a long way to keep your staff turnover low, and your centre’s culture brimming with positivity and happiness!

A team that is motivated and appreciated is one that will help your centre and its children reach their full potential. Take a look at these ways that you can build teams and a positive culture within your organisation and consider giving them a try:

Focus on the positives:

Often when we have staff meetings or changes, the focus is on what we can do better. While improvement is important, try to shift the focus to the positives. Hearing what is being done well will encourage everyone to want to do it more.
Make responsibilities clear:

Clashes in teams can arise when there is uncertainty over who is responsible for what, or if someone feels they have an unfair share of the workload or have drawn the short straw. Keep it clear and make sure everyone feels comfortable in speaking up in the right way if something is displeasing to them.
Involve your team in decisions:

A democracy is always better than a dictatorship, so make sure your team feels they have some say in the workplace. Friendly negotiations, votes, team discussions – it’s important changes happen from within a team, not to them. That way, they’ll feel they’ve accomplished something together.
Spend quality time together:

Don’t let it become all work and no play! After all, in early childhood education, we are experts at playing! Organise some team dinners or even a yearly staff retreat! Don’t forget to mark the end of the year with a celebration too. Some centres have a list of all staff birthdays so that if that member of your team is in on their special day, you can all sing happy birthday to them. A lovely gesture!
Group professional development:

A team that learns together can grow together, in the same direction. This is one of the reasons the Bonkers Beat programs and our Wellness Summits are so effective for centres and their culture – because we work with the entire team together. Take a look at teams having a great time and growing as educators together at our recent Bonkers Beat Wellness Summits here.

We’d love to hear how you help your team to bond and create a positive culture in your early childhood education service? Share with us on Facebook!

08/02/201808/02/2018

What you need to know about the new NQS

As you are probably aware, the National Quality Standard (NQS) changed on February 1, 2018. These changes are Australia-wide, and every approved childcare service will be rated based on this updated NQS.

To help educators, directors and owners, we’ve put together a Q and A to answer some of the common queries people may have at this time.

Parents may also be interested to learn of the changes to understand what areas a centre is rated for and what is expected of childcare services.

Getting to know the new NQS

What has changed?

According to ACECQA the changes are summarised as:

The number of standards of the NQS has been reduced from 18 to 15, and the elements from 58 to 40.
The language is clearer, and each standard and element now describes a single unique concept.
The new guidance will clarify the difference between the Meeting NQS and Exceeding NQS rating levels for each standard.
The application fee for the Excellent rating will be removed. Services must be rated Exceeding in all quality areas to be eligible.
The definition of the Significant Improvement Required rating will change from ‘unacceptable risk’ to ‘significant risk’ to increase clarity for families. Regulatory authorities will continue to work with these services to improve quality and impose sanctions where needed.

The hard work you have put in to achieve your NQS rating will not go to waste with these changes, that’s for sure.

We are excited to see the specific addition of wellbeing in Quality Area 2!

Why were NQS changes made?

Australian education ministers agreed to make changes to the NQF and NQS with the aim of continuing to strengthen and improve the standard of early childhood education across the country. The changes should make sure centres can deliver childcare and education to the youngest members of our communities more effectively and efficiently.

Will my current rating remain?

Yes, the rating you have that is based on the old NQS will remain until you are reassessed. Of course, your next assessment will be based on the new NQS.

Where can I learn more about the changes?

To see a side by side comparison of the old NQS and the updated version, head here.

You can also visit this page to see a summary of the changes to each area.

How do I keep up to date with the National Quality Framework on which the NQS is based?

The best thing to do is save this link to the online version of the Guide to the National Quality Framework. You can order a print version, however, the online version will always be the most up to date.

These changes should make getting your centre in shape for a top NQS Rating easier to understand. And at Bonkers Beat, we can’t wait to help you kick all your NQS goals in 2018 and beyond!

01/02/201802/02/2018

1 Day Workshop to give you the best start this year

With the first month of the year done and dusted already, many centre owners and directors are wondering: have we got 2018 off to the best start so far?

A good way to make sure you get 2018 off to the best start is with a free workshop covering all the biggest challenges faced by childcare centres today.

Music Kinder in Action and 7 Stones are free early childhood workshops in Melbourne and Perth and you’re invited!

Specifically designed for owners and directors of childcare centres and educational leaders, Music Kinder in Action and 7 Stones allow you to have a firsthand experience of what the right approach to early childhood education can do for your centre.

Chances are many of you are feeling the pressure from the influx of new centres popping up on every corner. But you’re not alone.

Centres that once thrived caring for children over decades are wondering how much longer they can keep their doors open. A childcare in Rosebery, Sydney has gone from full occupancy to on some days only having one baby to care for. Within 1km radius of their centre are eight new centres, all with vacancies too.

Standing out from the crowd and demonstrating that your centre delivers outcomes that benefit children in every aspect of their development is now crucial. Music Kinder in Action and 7 Stones will give you tools and strategies to do just that.

Our concepts are based on the approach of the award-winning Bonkers Beat Music and Wellbeing programs. It’s worth noting that centres running Bonkers Beat’s programs are showcasing a strong point of difference, incredible outcomes for children and impressive occupancy rates to show for it.

These workshops won’t cost you a thing, just an investment of your time into this inspiring and practical session.

Let’s achieve something great together.

Hope to see you there.
Galina and the Bonkers Beat Team

24/01/201825/01/2018

We’re in the Top 100 Early Childhood Education blogs!

Early childhood education is what we dedicate our time to – our spare time, our working time and well, all our time! Most weeks of the year we take the time to put together an email and blog to our followers offering them valuable and useful information about all aspects of early childhood education including industry, theory and the day-to-day aspects too.

At the end of last month, we were informed that our blog has been selected as one of the Top 100 Early Childhood Education blogs on the web!

The honour of being named among the top early childhood education blogs came to us from Feedspot. Feedspot is a content compiling site that gathers the best online content from all over the world and puts it all together in one spot for readers to enjoy in the one place.

Anuj from the Feedspot team explained that “This is the most comprehensive list of best Early Childhood Education blogs on the internet and I’m honoured to have you as part of this! I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world.”

Through our blog in 2018 we will continue to aim to deliver lots of valuable information as well as ideas, encouragement and inspiration to you all as you continue to commit yourselves to the early childhood education industry.

In fact, as we begin our regular blogging again, we’d love to know what you would like to read about on our blog! We’d also love to know what you think of our blog and hope to receive your feedback via email. Our goal is to remain among the top early childhood education blogs!

Head over to Facebook and comment if you have a topic in mind that you would like us to cover in 2018!

20/12/201720/12/2017

A Merry Bonkers Christmas (And thank you)!

As each year goes by we feel more and more grateful to work with passionate, dedicated early childhood education professionals and parents. I can say without a doubt that 2017 was no exception – and I’ve got a good feeling about 2018 too!

This year we have all worked together to the same very important and honourable goal: to deliver the best education to young children. The children we care for each day are the reason we keep working so hard, striving to improve and find the most effective ways to build their resilience, enhance their wellbeing and empower them to explore, learn and grow.

I think we all did a great job! And next year we will continue on this journey together as educators and parents, doing all we can for young children and their futures.

To our wonderful readers and supporters, from the bottom of my heart and from all of us at Bonkers Beat, we say thank you and Merry Christmas!

Enjoy our special Bonkers Beat Christmas song ‘Ring The Bells’ and spread Christmas cheer to all your loved ones including animals too.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a New Year that is fulfilling, empowering, inspiring and full of happiness.

I hope you will have a well-deserved break.

Keep singing and stretching,

Galina

and the Bonkers Beat Team

16/11/201717/11/2017

Understanding and handling allergies

Did you know that allergic reactions in children range from a mild itch to full anaphylaxis? As an early childhood educator, it is useful to have an understanding of allergies, because prevention, identifying symptoms and responding effectively are all essential to protect children from allergies.

Allergies and what they are

An allergy is what occurs when the immune system reacts to a substance, the allergen, that a child has come in contact with. The allergen is something that is ordinarily harmless, like pollen from flowers, an insect bite or a type of food. The body reacts with allergy antibodies, which react with foreign substances.

The reaction could be minor and mild, or even life-threatening.

What can trigger allergic reactions?

A common trigger for children’s allergic reactions is food. You might find children in your centre who are allergic to foods like:

Milk or milk products
Eggs
Peanuts or other nuts
Fish or certain seafood
Soy products
Wheat

Another trigger you might find is animals, particularly those with more fur. A cat or dog with long hair is an example of an animal a child could be allergic to. There are also allergens like pollen from plants that can even be in the air, bites or strings from a bug or even medications.

What to watch for

Allergic reactions in children could have a range of symptoms. These signs might be:

A rash or itchy skin
Swelling of the face, lips or eyes
Stomach discomfort, nausea or vomiting

In the case of an anaphylactic reaction, the symptoms can be quite severe:

Difficulty with breathing
Tightness in the throat
Swelling of the tongue
Wheezing
Dizziness
Loss of consciousness

Preventing allergic reactions in children

Avoiding children’s allergens is the number one way to prevent allergic reactions in children occurring at your centre. While restrictions can seem frustrating at times, they can be life-saving if a child in your centre suffers from an allergy.

Make sure your centre has an action plan in place for any children who have allergies, and take care to ensure the environment, food and experiences at your centre don’t involve allergens for your children.

More helpful information about allergies, find below:
Developing an allergy policy and allergy action plans
Managing food allergy and anaphylaxis in child care