Child Care News
‘Scrambling for certainty’: WA education sector calls for COVID plans to be released
WA Today - Holly Thompson - January 19, 2022As Western Australia prepares to burst its COVID-free bubble, concern is growing in the education sector with teachers calling for clearer instructions on what will happen in schools and childcare centres if an outbreak hits. Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson announced...
Gunnedah childcare shortage to be lessened by new centres, expansion
Namoi Valley Independent - Vanessa Hohnke - January 18, 2022In the biggest development Gunnedah has seen in the early childhood sector, more than 240 new places will ease the shire's demand for child care, with two builds and an expansion on the horizon. Li'l Achievers Early Learning Centre will add 48 places, and new centres...
Childcare, preschool ‘crucial’ to economic recovery: Perrottet
Financial Review - Finbar O'Mallon - January 18, 2022NSW is including childcare and early education in its back-to-school policy because repeated closures of those facilities would increase workforce absenteeism by 5 per cent. Premier Dominic Perrottet is considering whether staff and students should take two rapid tests...
‘Much needed’: Green light for new 115-space childcare centre at Yeppoon
The Courier Mail - Darryn Nufer - January 18, 2022Yeppoon is set to get a new 115-space childcare centre after Livingstone Shire gave the proposed development the official green light on Tuesday. Councillors heard a deputation from the applicant, the Thomasson family, before wasting little time in voting unanimously...
Port Macquarie Community Preschool's director Megan Jones says childcare environment is safe
Port Macquarie News - Liz Langdale - January 18, 2022Port Macquarie Community Preschool's managing director Megan Jones says parents can be reassured that a childcare service is a safe space for their children to attend. "In fact they're probably far safer than moving about the community and shopping centres," she said...
Separate break rooms, always wear masks – life in ECEC under new exemption rules
The Sector - Freya Lucas - January 18, 2022Effective Wednesday 19 January 2022, early childhood teachers, educators and staff working onsite at an ECEC service (excluding family day care) who are household or household-like contacts may be exempted from isolation requirements in order to attend work...
Childcare centres call for free rapid antigen tests, more support during COVID-19
ABC News - Shannon Schubert - January 18, 2022Childcare centre staff have worked throughout the pandemic, enabling frontline healthcare workers to go to work. But there was growing frustration that early childhood educators were not given the same protections despite working in close proximity to young children...
Priority will be given to ECEC staff in ACT booster drive
The Sector - Freya Lucas - January 18, 2022Early childhood education and care (ECEC) staff will be prioritised to receive a COVID-19 booster at the Canberra Airport vaccination clinic when it reopens on 24 January 2022, alongside teachers and other education staff. The clinic will initially prioritise booster appointments...
SA childcare closures: Covid shuts more than 70 centres
The Advertiser - Gabriel Polychronis - January 17, 2022The number of South Australian childcare centres that have been forced to close due to staff and children catching Covid has more than doubled in less than 14 days. There are now as many as 73 SA centres that have been temporarily closed, causing many families...
'I'm an Early Childhood Educator. I don't know if I have another year of this in me.'
Mamamia - January 17, 2022I am an Early Childhood Teacher, working in a system under complete pressure. This pressure is not unique to our sector and I am certainly not oblivious to that faced by health care, hospitality, transport and so on. We are in a situation that only Hollywood could have...
Multiple Gold Coast childcare centres forced to close amid ongoing Covid-19 pandemic
Gold Coast Bulletin - Keith Woods - January 17, 2022A NUMBER of Gold Coast and Tweed childcare centres have been forced to close temporarily – creating havoc for parents – as mounting Covid cases take a toll on the industry. The Bulletin understands five centres were forced to close their doors last week because...
Goodstart reflects on 2021 NSW contributions as COVID challenges continue
The Sector - Freya Lucas - January 17, 2022As NSW continues to face the challenge of COVID-19, this time with the Omicron variant, early childhood education and care (ECEC) provider, Goodstart Early Learning, has reflected on 2021, saying the way in which the state, and Australia more broadly, responded...
NSW childcare costs: How much you pay in your suburb
The Daily Telegraph - David Barwell - January 17, 2022Families across NSW are spending big to send their kids to childcare as new figures reveal average fees in some suburbs are topping more than $900 each working week. Eight Sydney suburbs have cracked a nationwide top 10 list of most expensive suburbs...
Grants up to $10,000 approved for preschool program to support Aboriginal children and those from low income families
Port Macquarie News - January 17, 2022Local Aboriginal children and children from low income families will have additional support to participate in 600 hours of quality early childhood education in the two years prior to school. Six services will receive grants to allow local preschool students to engage...
Preschoolers to start the year on time while other SA children wait in COVID-safe plan
The Sector - January 17, 2022The South Australian Government has mirrored the path taken by Queensland and has delayed the start of the 2022 academic year by two weeks in a bid to ensure children miss the fewest face-to-face learning days possible, while also ensuring the state keeps on top of...
