Child Care News
Most ACT childcare centres fail to meet benchmarks
The Canberra Times - Ewa Kretowicz - May 5, 2013Canberra childcare centres are falling behind the rest of the nation with more than 70 per cent failing to meet Australian quality benchmarks. Nationally 44 per cent of centres have been rated as "working towards" the new standards but in the ACT 35 of the 51 centres assessed failed to meet...
Drivel getting in the way of early learning
Sunday Herald Sun - Susie O'Brien - May 4, 2013THEY'RE not celebrating Mother's Day this year at a growing number of kinders and childcare centres. No, it's Special Person's Day instead. And forget about Easter - that's being replaced by Harmony Day, which is a celebration of many different cultures. Christmas is also on the way out...
Childcare costs tipped to surge
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - May 4, 2013PARENTS are being warned their childcare fees will rise by $10 a day because the Gillard government's wage boost to workers in the sector is badly designed and rewards only some providers. In a letter sent to centres and to be passed on to parents, the peak body representing...
Out of the box: escaping disadvantage in remote communities
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - May 4, 2013PUPPET shows, singalongs and a bus to and from preschool have helped to give these kids access to an education revolution sweeping remote indigenous communities. A study of census and survey data to be released today reveals an explosion in preschool participation in remote Aboriginal...
Grandparents under pressure
The West Australian - Elle Farcic - May 4, 2013A Perth academic wants to investigate the value of child care provided by grandparents amid claims they are under increasing pressure to provide free child care during their "golden years" of retirement. With figures showing about a quarter of Australian children under 12 receive regular...
Six childcare gurus that have changed parenting
BBC News (UK) - Alex Campbell - May 3, 2013It's been 70 years since the idea of the "good enough mother" was popularised by psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott. Since then, there's been a plethora of parenting advice, with everything from the naughty step to a time limit on cuddling catching on. History has provided no shortage of...
People power saves park
Hobart Mercury - Linda Smith - May 2, 2013CHILDCARE provider Lady Gowrie Tasmania has scrapped plans to build a new headquarters on a popular West Hobart recreation ground after an outcry from park users. Lady Gowrie board of directors chairman Scott Adams confirmed the $4 million child and family centre would not go...
G8 group picks up a bargain
The Australian - Lisa Allen - May 2, 2013DEMONSTRATING the continued poor health of the Gold Coast commercial office market, childcare operator G8 Education has forked out $3.3 million to buy a Varsity Lakes office block which sold for $6.085m six years ago. G8 will relocate from its existing Bundall headquarters to the 159 Varsity...
Union defends childcare standards
ABC News - May 1, 2013The union representing childcare workers has defended Tasmanian services after a national assessment found two in three facilities were sub-standard. Twenty-six of Tasmania's 223 childcare facilities were assessed against the new National Quality Standards. Seventeen failed to meet the...
New childcare quality ratings go online
ABC Radio (PM) - Jennifer Macey - May 1, 2013The first report card on the nation's childcare centres and pre-schools has found that of 2000 centres assessed, 44 per cent did not meet new national benchmarks. The results have been published online with parents able to check how the services match up against the new National...
Many childcare services fail to meet standards
The Age - Rachel Browne - May 1, 2013Almost a quarter of childcare services are failing to meet new health and safety standards under rigorous new benchmarks designed to improve quality. And more than a third of services did not meet the new standard for educational programs and practices, according to data to be released...
Childcare centres failing Australian kids, data reveals
NEWS.com.au - Natasha Bita - May 1, 2013NEARLY half of Australia's childcare centres have failed to meet national quality controls - including kids' health and safety standards. But the sub-standard centres will not be given a deadline to come up to scratch. Official data to be released today reveals that 44 per cent of the centres assessed...
Golden years sacrificed to the grandkids
Sydney Morning Herald - Lesley Parker - May 1, 2013Retirees have a "sweet spot" of about 10 years when they have both the energy and the financial resources to enjoy themselves, but increasingly these golden years are being spent changing nappies and making play dough instead of ticking off their "bucket list" of things to do before they...
Childcare group has gr8 run but stop-loss will protect gains
Sydney Morning Herald - Rod Myer - April 30, 2013But the recent performance of G8 Education has given doubters food for thought. The company, which listed in 2007, will soon operate 180 centres in Australia and Singapore. Its market capitalisation is $664 million (well below ABC's peak of $2.5 billion) and it has a strategy of...
Study shows importance of early literacy to later performance
ABC News (AM) - Sally Sara - April 29, 2013As debate grows over how to fund the Federal Government's Gonski education reforms, early childhood specialists are warning that some children will suffer lifelong illiteracy without adequate early intervention. The researchers have found that most children who are unable to read after...
