Child Care News

Medich Foundation gifts $1M to MCA in support of Early Learning Programs
The Sector - Freya Lucas - December 20, 2019

Christmas came early for the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) with the announcement earlier this month of The Medich Foundation as Major Benefactor of the Museum’s Early Learning Programs... which include specialised learning experiences for early childhood groups.

Neighbouring towns Taroom and Theodore desperate search for kindy teachers
Queensland Country Life - Helen Walker - December 20, 2019

Two neighbouring towns, Theodore and Taroom are desperate to find kindergarten teachers for 2020. Both towns require a part-time teacher to meet their childcare and kindergarten needs for five days a fortnight. Despite these towns being just one hour apart, the Education Department cannot...

SA closures: Department of Education closes child care centres on catastrophic day
7 News - Emily Olle - December 19, 2019

The Department of Education has announced a number of school vacation care services, pre-schools and kindergartens across the state will be closed on Friday due to catastrophic fire danger conditions. All vacation care, long day care, rural care and childcare services on Department...

Hutson dukes it out over ASIC enforcement manual
Australian Financial Review - Liam Walsh - December 19, 2019

A legal clash has erupted over whether the corporate regulator must hand over its enforcement handbook in the criminal hearing of former top corporate lawyer and director Jenny Hutson.The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is challenging requests by Ms Hutson’s...

You were my village: a love letter to all childcare workers
The Sydney Morning Herald - Jessica Irvine - December 19, 2019

On Thursday I will drop my son at daycare for the very last time. Big school starts in January. It’s the end of an era. I confess I have, at times, felt a degree of guilt about my decision to leave my child and return to work when he was six months old. Despite the march of women into the workforce...

St Matthews Church, Sherwood, trying to derive income from childcare
The Courier Mail - Darren Cartwright - December 19, 2019

A decline in worshippers has led to a religious group wanting to supplement its income with a childcare centre within the grounds of a century old church. Anglican Church Southern Queensland has submitted plans to build a childcare centre adjacent to St Matthews Church on the corner...

Vocational education starved of funding as demand for skills soars
The Sydney Morning Herald - Adam Carey - December 19, 2019

Government investment in vocational education and training slumped to its lowest level in at least a decade last year, despite predictions the sector will drive almost half of Australia's expected employment growth in the next five years. Funding cuts by state and territory governments...

From childcare to high school, this is what to do if you don't like your kid's friends
ABC News - Laurien Beane, Michael Chambers and Natasha Wardman - December 19, 2019

If you suspect your child — whether they are in early childhood education and care, primary or secondary school — has a questionable friend, here are some tips on how to deal with it. Early childhood education and care centres enrol children from birth to five years old. One of the learning outcomes...

'When you've got a child with you, everyone talks to you'
The Sydney Morning Herald - Ellie Dudley - December 19, 2019

On the two days a week Robyn Hamblin spends minding her 16-month-old grandson, Sammy, she takes him to playgroup, goes on outings to the park and plays games around the house. Describing this time as an “absolute pleasure”, the 63-year-old Cammeray resident says spending time...

You were my village: a love letter to all childcare workers
The Sydney Morning Herald - Jessica Irvine - December 19, 2019

Because for all the failings of the system, one thing has become clear to me over the past half decade. The people who work in childcare are, in my experience, absolute angels. Working in childcare has got to be one of the toughest jobs in the world...

Why school holiday care makes the Christmas period a strain on working families
ABC News - Kate Midena - December 19, 2019

It is meant to be the most wonderful time of the year, but the weeks over the Christmas school holidays often prove to be a logistical nightmare for those among us who are working parents. Having to fill a five or six week block of child care, depending on where your...

From childcare to high school – what to do if you don’t like your kid’s friend
The Conversation - Laurien Beane, Michael Chambers & Natasha Wardman - December 19, 2019

Early childhood education and care centres enrol children from birth to five years old. One of the learning outcomes of the governing Early Years Learning Framework is to teach and assess if children can “learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect”...

Free TAFE program to help meet demand for early childhood educators
Bendigo Advertiser - Emma D'Agostino - December 18, 2019

Bendigo TAFE is expecting a surge in enrolments in early childhood education courses for the new year as students become eligible to study fee-free. Both the Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care and the Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care...

Fake Queensland childcare boss jailed
Brisbane Times - Aaron Bunch - December 18, 2019

A dodgy Queensland childcare worker forged her qualifications to land a director's job, then pocketed parents' cash when they paid their children's fees. Heather Clare Foster's fraud came to light after it was discovered the 40-year-old used a fake TAFE diploma to win a senior role...

SNAICC welcomes Alice Springs Declaration noting commitment to quality
The Sector - Freya Lucas - December 18, 2019

While SNAICC supports the aspirations of the Declaration, the group noted that it fails to respond specifically to SNAICC’s calls for universal access to high-quality early education for all three and four-year-old children, to strengthen investment in community-controlled...