Child Care News
Occasional Care gets Greens light!
Sussan Ley MP - Media Release - August 18, 2011The fight to reinstate Federal funding for Occasional Care has taken a major step forward, with formal support declared by the Greens in Parliament yesterday. Opposition spokesperson for Childcare, Sussan Ley, expressed delight at a statement from Adam Bandt...
'Robust' link discovered between preschool, language and literacy
Vanderbilt University (USA) - Jennifer Wetzel - August 18, 2011Preschool teachers' use of sophisticated vocabulary and analytic talk about books, combined with early support for literacy in the home, can predict fourth-grade reading comprehension and word recognition, new research from Vanderbilt University's Peabody College finds...
Childcare action needed
Weekly Times Now - Peter Hunt - August 17, 2011Country children are the innocent victims of an absurd political stand-off between Victorian Coalition Minister for Children Wendy Lovell and her federal Labor counterpart Kate Ellis. The ministers are disputing who should cough up $1.9 million...
Spelling out how NSW preschools can do better
Sydney Morning Herald - Anna Patty - August 16, 2011A FIFTH of children miss out on crucial preschool education in NSW - the lowest rate in the country, according to an academic in charge of reviewing the system. The state government yesterday commissioned Professor Deborah Brennan, from the Social...
Out-of-school care leaves small schools out of pocket
The Age - Jewel Topsfield - August 15, 2011SOME small schools are being forced to stop offering before and after-school care because they can no longer afford to run the programs, leaving working parents in the lurch. Twelve out-of-school-hours care programs have closed in Victoria this year, half of which...
Anger over likely cuts to kinders in new plan
The Age - Misha Schubert - August 14, 2011SCORES of kindergarten programs for three-year-olds in Victoria could close, as a national plan to mandate 15 hours of preschool for every four-year-old by 2013 could strip younger children of teacher time and classrooms. Some rural communities...
It's never too early to start teaching
The Australian - Justine Ferrari - August 13, 2011We know absolutely that learning starts at birth. The first five years before kids get to school are probably the most important years in terms of education. But we're still having a debate about access and quality of childcare. It's crazy." Oberklaid was...
Education Trust pays distribution despite profit drop
The Australian - Sarah Danckert - August 09, 2011AUSTRALIAN Education Trust, owner of the properties affected by the collapse of ABC Learning Centres, has posted a 36 per cent fall in net profit after tax for the 2011 fiscal year, but has resumed paying distributions to unitholders...
Hundreds of blue card holders caught committing offences against children
Courier Mail - Renee Viellaris - August 07, 2011People who work or volunteer with children, such as daycare operators, coaches or people who live with a foster carer, require a blue card, and applicants are screened via police checks and for disciplinary actions noted by government agencies...
Confirmed case of meningococcal in Western Sydney
The Daily Telegraph - August 04, 2011A Two-year-old boy from Western Sydney is currently being treated for meningococcal disease at the Children's Hospital at Westmead. The Children's Hospital at Westmead issued a statement to remind all members of the community to remain alert to the signs...
Meningococcal scare at child care centre
Brisbane Times - Marissa Calligeros - August 2, 2011Meningococcal disease has been detected at a child care centre in Townsville, the same city in which a medical student died of the illness last week. Queensland Health has confirmed a child at the centre had fallen ill on July 21 and was admitted to...
Child carers desert jobs
The Mercury - Danielle McKay - August 1, 2011United Voice childcare union secretary Helen Gibbons said the industry was in crisis, with almost one in three carers leaving every year because of low wages that failed to acknowledge the valuable educational role they played in the formative years...
Another top executive from ABC Learning to go to trial
The Australian - Jamie Walker - July 30, 2011A TOP executive of the failed ABC Learning childcare group will stand trial over an alleged deal with the company's kingpin, Eddy Groves. Martin Kemp, who was chief executive of ABC Learning's Australian and New Zealand operations, was committed for...
Day carer fined for leaving toddler behind
The West Australian - Michelle Ridley - July 29, 2011Acting YMCA Perth chief executive Jennie Burns said it was the first time YMCA Perth had been prosecuted for a breach of childcare licensing provisions in more than 30 years of involvement in children's services...
Artwork drawn in battle for childcare
Herald Sun - Elissa Doherty - July 29, 2011THE big guns have been drawn in the battle of the mums versus the government - the children. In the David and Goliath fight to reinstate government financing for occasional childcare, angry Victorian mothers are turning to...
