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The Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) 2022 National Conference begins tomorrow, with registrations opening at 3pm and our Welcome Function taking place from 6pm.
All delegates have received an email with important details about the conference, a link to the Official Conference App and the much anticipated Gala Dinner.
In the meantime, click “attending” on our official 2022 FDCA National Conference event page to begin connecting with your fellow peers.
We will share all the excitement of the Conference on the FDCA Facebook page so make sure to keep an eye out!
The below editorial has been kindly provided by Care for Kids, Australia’s number 1 early childhood search engine.
You don’t need anyone to tell you about the benefits of Family Day Care! You can offer something that not every long day care can.
As a family day care professional, you’re at an advantage for parents seeking affordable and personalised care. But for many parents in the search for child care for their children, the family day care sector isn’t yet a consideration.
The new Family Day Care Spotlight subscription with Care for Kids is the perfect way to get your service in front of parents in your area searching for care. Join the leading service providers across the country and give local parents a new early childhood education and care solution.
How do you stand out from the crowd and make your service an obvious choice in a sea of different options?
As you know, choosing a care provider is a highly emotional decision for parents and one they don’t take lightly. Nappies and meals are great additional offerings but they’re not what will get your service to the top of a parent’s shortlist. Leveraging your unique story to make an emotional connection will.
This requires some out of the box thinking. What is it that you offer that no one else does? What do children and parents most love about your facilities? How does your philosophy and approach to care help to make the children feel safe and secure in your care? Use words and images to bring your service to life so parents can picture what a day with you would be like for their child.
Your chance to win!
Sign up to the new Family Day Care Spotlight or login and update your profile by 14/10/22 for the chance to win* a free 12 month Care for Kids subscription.
Our brand-new Learning Hub holds over 25 online courses that can be completed from the comfort of your own home and are backed by leaders in the early childhood sector.
Today we shine a light on a four-part series of courses developed in conjunction with Australia’s eSafety Commissioner: the eSafety in the Early Years series.
Part I - We SAY and SHARE
The eSafety Early Years: We SAY and SHARE with technology course will enable you to identify and prevent risks that arise from online communication and support children’s emotional growth in an online world so that they can make good choices and ask for help when needed.
Part II - We MAKE and DO
Fostering creativity is an essential component of early childhood education. The eSafety Early Years: We MAKE and DO using technology course explores the ways that children
Part III – We WATCH and EXPLORE
eSafety Early Years: We WATCH and EXPLORE will show you how to set up devices safely, choose content that encourages active participation and group interaction, and teach children the differences between safe and unsafe content.
Accessing the ECA Learning Hub
Access the eSafety in the Early Years series through the FDCA Member Zone.
Simply log in and navigate to the subheading “Learning Hub”, where you’ll be taken to the home page.
Public holiday provisions
Thursday 22 September has been declared an official public holiday and as such, normal public holiday provisions apply:
The CCS Helpdesk will be closed for the national public holiday and will reopen at 9am on Friday 23 September.
If you have any questions regarding the public holiday, you can contact the helpdesk at any time via CCShelpdesk@education.gov.au
New evidence rules for additional absences
There are changes to the types of evidence families can show to get additional absences for COVID-19 reasons.
If a child uses up their 52 allowable absences, they can access additional absences if they or a member of their immediate household gets COVID-19.
To access these additional absences, families can now use a positive COVID-19 test result from a pathology service as evidence.
This change means families can show one of the following types of evidence:
The Department of Education has further information on managing COVID-19 and absences on their website here.
A recent article captured in the latest edition of ACECQA’s newsletter looks at the foundations of play for babies.
The importance of play
Play is a child’s context for understanding their world and the foundation for learning, development, wellbeing and health. All children are intrinsically drawn to play, including those under two years of age.
Contemporary research reminds us that active play has an array of developmental benefits and is necessary for the optimal growth of babies and toddlers.
How to incorporate play in a best practice way
Providing infants with opportunities to play, express interests and communicate either verbally or non-verbally builds a strong foundation for future learning, development, wellbeing and health.
These opportunities arise in lots of situations: reading books, singing rhymes and talking about the world around us (shapes, animals, numbers and colours). It also occurs during routines where intentional teaching can be incorporated with playful experiences at nappy changes, transitions and mealtimes.
For example, during play and routine activities, the sensitive and responsive ‘serve and return’ interactions provide a rich environment for learning and development.
Find out more
Access the full article on ACECQA’s website here, where you’ll also find a range of supporting resources to extend your knowledge.
Did you know that FDCA educator members can download their public liability insurance certificate online in seconds?
It’s part of our commitment to providing fast and easy ways to access the information that’s important to you!
As an educator, you’re required to have evidence of your public liability cover available at your family day care residence, in the event it’s requested by your service or your Regulatory Authority.
You can access your public liability certificate through the FDCA Member Zone, in the dashboard section.
If you’re an educator and haven’t registered your online account yet, this is your sign to start!
To activate your account, simply visit our website and follow the instructions.
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