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We want to start this edition of Family Day Care Matters with a special thank you, from all of us at FDCA to the many family day care educators across the country, for the meaningful and unparalleled work you do both within early childhood education and care and within your communities. The irreplaceable role you play in the lives of over 85,000 children across Australia each day is the reason family day care is the natural choice for many families - Thank you!
Early Childhood Educators’ Day recognises and celebrates the work of Australia’s educators in early learning services and the important role they play in supporting children’s wellbeing, learning and development in the early years.
Griffith University is conducting a study to learn more about the nutrition and physical activity environment in the Australian family day care sector. The goal is to understand what is going well and what needs to be improved, so we can develop tailored interventions that meet the specific needs of family day care educators and providers.
Family day care educators are invited to participate in this research project, those who participate will be offered the opportunity to enter a prize draw to win one of three $100 vouchers for Kidstuff.
To participate in the survey, please click here.
The survey will begin by asking you some questions about yourself. Afterward, half of the participants will receive questions about the nutrition environment, while the other half will receive questions about the physical activity environment in their family day care business.
Completing this survey will take educators about 15 minutes. If your service has any questions regarding this research project, please contact Lieke Vorage from Griffith University at l.vorage@griffith.edu.au.
Did you miss last Thursday’s Online Engage Series episode on Neurodiversity and Inclusion?
FDCA Advocacy and Engagement Manager Michael Farrell was joined by 2022 National Educator of the Year, Hannah Smith, Family Day Care Coordinator and 2015 Educator of the Year National Finalist, Samantha Folan and Owner and Director of Autism Inclusion, Gee van der Watt, to explore the topics of neurodiversity and inclusion from a family day care and early learning context.
The panel provided advice on support services and resources that are accessible to family day care educators and services, as well as strategies for supporting neurodivergent children and their families.
If you were unable to make it to the livestream, or if you would simply like to watch again, you can access the episode at any time via your FDCA Member Zone in the Video Resources section.
NAPCAN began coordinating National Child Protection Week (NCPW) across Australia in an effort to engage and educate all Australians to understand they have a part to play in keeping our children and young people safe. Each campaign builds on the strengths of previous years and has evolved to provide support to communities to act on the core message, “protecting children is everyone’s business”.
This year National Child Protection Week began on September 3rd - 9th and continue to champion the message ‘Every child in every community needs a fair go’ with the 2023 theme being ‘Where we start matters’.
This message captures the essence of National Child Protection Week which aims to promote a safe and supported life for every child, now and into the future.
For more information, please click here.
The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) will be conducting two free online info sessions on 21 September and 24 October 2023 to introduce their newly released early childhood learning trajectories. FDCA has represented the family day care sector on the reference group for this project and several family day care services and educators have been involved in the trialling of these trajectories.
The early childhood learning trajectories developed by AERO describe how children learn and develop as they grow from birth to the year before school. They are designed to be used by educators in all early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings to support professional conversations and reflective practice in assessing children’s learning.
The information sessions to introduce the early learning trajectories will be conducted live through Microsoft Teams. AERO encourages family day care educators and service staff to register for relevant sessions.
Details are below:
AERO’s early childhood learning trajectories information session 2: for Teachers and Educators
Suitable for: Suitable for early childhood Teachers, Educators, and Pre-service teachers.
Date: Thursday 21 September 2023
Time: 1.00 – 2.00pm AEST
Location: online webinar Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams
To receive the calendar invitation and access webinar 2. for Teachers and Educators please complete the final registration step.
AERO’s early childhood learning trajectories information session 3: for Others with an interest in EC
Suitable for others with interest in early childhood, such as Registered Training Organisations (RTOs), Initial Teacher Education (ITE), Early childhood Consultants, Inclusion support agencies, and other advisory / sector roles.
Date: Tuesday 24 October 2023
Time: 1.00 – 2.00pm AEST
Location: online webinar Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams
To receive the calendar invitation and access webinar 3. for Others please complete the final registration step.
Note:
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Rowena Muir via rowena.muir@edresearch.edu.au.
Version 2 of the national approved learning frameworks are now approved for use under the National Quality Framework. The updates ensure the frameworks continue to reflect contemporary developments in practice and knowledge, while supporting all educators to promote the learning, development, and wellbeing of children and young people.
Register now to hear Associate Professor Jennifer Cartmel and Associate Professor Fay Hadley discuss wellbeing in the updated Approved Learning Frameworks.
When: Wednesday 20 September - 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM AEST
To register for the webinar, please click here.
You're invited to stay online after the 1 hour webinar has concluded to join a 30 minute conversation with our panelists about the updated learning frameworks. Hear from other educators from across Australia sharing their strategies to promote the wellbeing of children and young people.
Remember to check your time zone, confirm your local start time here.
Can’t make the live session, register your details to be the first to receive a link to the recording.
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