Child Care News
‘Chronic au pair shortage’: COVID chases off foreign workers
The Courier Mail - Matthew Killoran - June 24, 2020A chronic shortage of au pairs is striking Australia, especially in regional areas, as working-holiday visa holders flee the country and new ones are barred from entering the country due to the pandemic. It means many families are being forced to choose between returning to work...
Kids Academy Hope Island suddenly closes after dispute with landlord
Gold Coast Bulletin - Kylke Wisniewski - June 24, 2020When a popular Gold Coast childcare centre’s teachers ended shifts on Thursday, none knew it would be the final time with their kids, due to an operator-landlord court wrangle. For two years the Kids Academy Hope Island operator Scott Hookey and its landlord John Whitelaw...
State extends kinder fee subsidy to term three to help sector recover
The Age - Adam Carey - June 23, 2020Kindergarten fees will be capped at half-cost in term three to give Victorian parents and preschools more time to recover from the economic hit many have felt from COVID-19. The state government will extend its $45 million kinder-fee subsidy program into term three, after making...
Childcare 'super profits' spurred by assistance package
Australian Financial Review - Tom McIlroy - June 23, 2020The federal government's $708 million transitional funding for the childcare sector is set to deliver "super profits" for private operators, a specialist agent has told providers. Peritus Childcare Sales boss Peter Fanous told providers the pandemic assistance package, announced by Education...
Thrive By Five CEO Jay Weatherill backs Murchison MLC Ruth Forrest's call for childcare sector change
The Advocate - Sandy Powell - June 23, 2020Childcare has once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for reform thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. That is according to former South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill, who is now the CEO of Thrive By Five, an initiative which advocates investment in childcare and early childhood learning...
Fairfield matters with Frank Carbone: Investing in early childhood education
Fairfield City Champion - June 23, 2020Quality early childhood education is one of the most important commitments parents can make for their children. It gives children a great start to their education and supports parents to go back to work or study and continue their careers. Every child deserves access...
Free childcare cut off will set back thousands of Australian school starters
The Daily Telegraph - Clare Masters - June 23, 2020For the little kids heading into big school next year, now is the time. Now is when their educators will start to work with them on pencil grip, opening lunch boxes and putting on their socks and shoes. Now is the time when the children who have birthdays in April, May or June...
Victoria's coronavirus cases rise by 17 as two schools in Melbourne's hotspots close
ABC News - June 23, 2020Victoria has recorded its seventh consecutive day of double-digit increases in coronavirus cases, and two primary schools in COVID-19 hotspots have been closed following student infections. One of the new cases is from a child who attended the Villa Bambini childcare centre in Essendon...
NSW education overhaul to deliver new curriculum for kindergarten to year 12 within four years
ABC News - Ashleigh Raper - June 23, 2020The State Government will today unveil a plan for all school students in New South Wales to be learning a new curriculum within four years. The curriculum is facing its biggest overhaul in 30 years and could include the scrapping of the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR)...
'It has been truly amazing': play-based language app transforms early years learning
Education HQ - Olivia Petkofski - June 23, 2020Every chance the students in my Year 1 classroom have, they plead to play with our friend, ELLA. ELLA isn’t a student or our class pet, but more of a well-loved, digital exchange student, helping to instill a multicultural appreciation and awareness in my young learners...
Great Beginnings early learning facility closed due to coronavirus exposure
7News - Alex Chapman - June 22, 2020A childcare centre has been forced to close and undergo deep cleaning after a toddler tested positive for coronavirus. Great Beginnings in Reservoir, north of Melbourne, will close on Monday. Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos says contact tracing and thorough cleaning will be carried out...
The homeschooling pandemic that accompanied COVID-19 taught many parents valuable lessons about teachers
Herald Sun - Diana Jenkins, News Corp Australia Network - June 22, 2020Homeschooling may be history for now but lessons learned are set to linger, as a generation of parents move ahead with a whole new appreciation for teachers. And this can only help schoolchildren, both primary and secondary, as parents step up and also manage their expectations...
Calls for greater childcare assistance for smaller centres
The Courier - Greg Gliddon - June 22, 2020Small childcare centres are missing out on funding due to their inability to access the JobKeeper payment, claims Ballarat MP Catherine King. Ms King said the planned rolling back of the JobKeeper payment for childcare from the middle of July was a blow to the sector, particularly ...
Transition payment advice as Vacation Care services gear up for winter break
The Sector - Freya Lucas - June 22, 2020A number of outside school hours care services who operate “vacation care only” programs have been left confused by the timing of transitional payment arrangements, which for some states commence in the middle of the winter school holiday break, meaning families will have...
Eastern suburbs mums up in arms as childcare centre hand picks lucky few
The Sydney Morning Herald - Lucy Manly - June 21, 2020Yummy mummies of the eastern suburbs are up in arms about the way their children's privately-owned preschool has handled COVID-19 restrictions. The exclusive eastern suburbs childcare centre in question is attended by the offspring of some of Sydney's wealthiest and best-known families...
