Child Care News

Preschool gives lesson in adapting to ensure survival
The Age - Elisabeth Tarica - November 14, 2011

WHILE most kindergartens are locked up on a Saturday, the grounds at Baxter Preschool are filled with excited children, laughing and playing. The centre is one of two preschools in Victoria running Saturday kindergarten classes to meet the needs of working parents...

No place for kids like Anastasia
Adelaide Now - Greg Kelton - November 14, 2011

PARENTS of children at a TAFE childcare centre at Panorama are protesting at being given only six weeks' notice that the centre will close. They say it will be near impossible to find places at other centres nearby for next year. A petition to keep open...

Cuddlier image for tarnished childcare chain
Sydney Morning Herald - Cosima Marriner - November 13, 2011

THE brand derided as the McDonald's of childcare, ABC Learning, is finally being dumped by its new charity owners in an attempt to convince parents the chain really has changed. The rebranding, to be announced this week, is aimed at highlighting the shift from...

Better childcare comes at big cost for operators
The Australian - Natasha Bita - November 12, 2011

Childcare will be transformed from day care - institutionalised babysitting for working parents - into early childhood education to prepare children for school. Carers are being rebranded as educators, and childcare operators must follow a form of national curriculum...

Early readers get a head start
The West Australian - Jayne Rickard - November 11, 2011

Parents who read books to their preschool children are giving them a head start in later academic life, according to an international study. A report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that 15-year-old students whose...

CSL takes top prize in awards
The Age - Leonie Lamont - November 10, 2011

CSL's Thinking Kids Children's Centre was yesterday named the outstanding equal employment opportunity initiative by the Minister for the Status of Women, Kate Ellis. The Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency business achievement awards...

Fees could close preschools: principals
Ninemsn - Sam McKeith - November 9, 2011

Some state-run preschools in NSW could be forced to close if the government starts charging fees, a forum on the issue has heard. Under changes proposed by the NSW government, families could have to pay up to $40 per day to use a state-run preschool...

Victoria ahead on pre-school attendance
The Age - Richard Willingham - November 9, 2011

VICTORIA is on target to meet controversial new kindergarten attendance hours for four-year-olds, well ahead of other states, the federal government says. The 2010 annual report on the National Partnership Agreement on Early Childhood Education...

State told to justify plan for preschool
Sydney Morning Herald - Andrew Stevenson - November 9, 2011

The federal Education Minister, Peter Garrett, has called on the NSW government to explain how it intends to get more children into preschool, warning the imposition of fees next year may make its task even harder. National Partnership funding of nearly $1 billion...

ACT ahead of school targets
The Canberra Times - Emma MacDonald - November 9, 2011

The ACT report shows it is ahead of its targets in five of the six early childhood benchmark areas and has seen an increase in the number of children attending preschool as well as the average weekly hours they attend. According to the report, 95.4 per cent of ACT children...

Opposition to preschool fees
Daily Telegraph - November 9, 2011

A FORUM on the introduction of fees in public school pre-schools will be attended by those against it. More than 60 principals, teachers and parents will attend the forum in Parliament House this afternoon. "This policy will push NSW further behind and impact...

State short in preschool enrolment
Adelaide Now - November 9, 2011

THE number of South Australian children enrolled in preschool fell short of the national target. But Education Minister Peter Garrett said SA was making good progress in meeting national targets on early-childhood education access. "While SA fell just short...

Take a Break child care funding confusion
ABC Online - Joseph Thomsen - November 9, 2011

New federal government funding for occasional child care in Victoria fails to clarify future of Take a Break service. Will the Take a Break occasional child care program be able to continue its critical role in regional Victorian communities?...

Kinder pressure puts paid to childcare centres
The Age - Michelle Griffin, Rachel Wells - November 8, 2011

FOUR childcare centres are closing because the councils that run them can't afford the federal government's childcare reforms. Bayside City Council plans to close its two childcare centres in Hampton and Sandringham within the next two years. Frankston's...

Essential workers consider quitting over soaring living costs
WA Today - Courtney Trenwith - November 8, 2011

Childcare worker Christina Boyd said she had almost no chance of earning more than $40,000 a year in today's money, making home ownership an unrealistic dream. She was considering a second job to help make ends meet. "Or I may have to leave my industry...