I would like to start by acknowledging all the early childhood Educators and service staff that have started back into 2022 at a fast pace; navigating the current pandemic environment, welcoming new families, orienting new staff and settling new children into their learning environments, not to mention juggling your own personal lives in the background. I really value your work.
Participate in a National Survey on Child Wellbeing and COVID
The Australian Human Rights Commission is inviting parents, grandparents, or carers of a child between the ages of nine and seventeen, to participate in a survey about how living through the past two years’ of COVID-19 has affected children's mental health and wellbeing. The surveys are designed to find out more about the unique challenges children and young people have faced over the past two years; the social, emotional, educational, and other impacts they have experienced, helping advocacy for better services and supports for children during COVID. You can find more information and links to the surveys on the Commission's website.
Critical workers for “early childhood education and care” have now been included in the Public Health Order exemption from self-isolation.
When deciding whether to utilise this exemption, employers will need to consider the individual circumstances of their service, remembering only those workers whose absence poses a high risk of disruption to the delivery of a critical service or activity will be eligible for the exemption. If you need help to understand how this applies to your service, please contact Member Support on 1800 991 602.
The COVID pandemic and government responses continues to evolve. We have all the latest information on our COVID Updates Page. COVID related Top Tips and other information can also be found on our News page, and we post latest information to our Facebook page here.
CCSA members can call the CCSA Infoline on (02) 4782 1470 or 1800 991 602 (option 2) for further support and for help with any COVID related questions.
Start Strong Free Preschool Webinar Recording
If you missed our Start Strong Free Preschool webinar, there is a recording available on our website to view here. This is available for CCSA members and non-members.
This webinar is funded by the Department of Education and brought to you by CCSA as part of the sector support program.
Starting Blocks
Providers and services:Childcarefinder.gov.au is closing soon and has been replaced by startingblocks.gov.au. From 7 February 2022 your fees, vacancies, quality ratings and inclusions will be published on www.StartingBlocks.gov.au.
Throughout February, the Office of the Children’s Guardian is running free child safe training sessions for educators to gain an understanding of the protective behaviours program. This includes an outside of hours session for Family Day Care services.
Eligible employees, including casuals, are chosen at random from the electoral roll to attend jury selection and jury service. If an employee has received a summons, they should advise their employer as soon as possible of the expected dates they will be required to attend. Employers are obliged to release any employee who has been summoned for jury service.
Our 2022 Training Calendar has been developed by experts with sector experience and designed to equip you with high quality training and development in areas of governance, human resources, finance, operations management, and the National Quality Framework.
Available for members and non members.
Our first webinar to commence Thursday 10 February.
Register now so you don't miss out on hearing from these amazing speakers; Nathan Wallis, Professor Robert Booy, Caryn Walsh, Dr Kaylene Henderson, Dr Jane Warren and Dr Jane Delaney.
Our Keynote Speakers will talk to the central theme “Building the Future Together”, as they discuss allied health topics for children and how we can assist families “Beyond the Gate”, with a key focus on building resilience.
The when, the how and the why... what you need to know about employment contracts...
It is good business practice to have contracts of employment in writing to provide clarity about the employment arrangements and to help avoid confusion or misunderstanding between the employer and the employee in the future.
Sector Strengthening Plan: Early Childhood Care and Development
The Early Childhood Care and Development Sector Strengthening Plan aims to improve early childhood care and development as part of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. The plan outlines high level priorities to guide joint national effort and targeted jurisdictional actions to build a strong and sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sector. You can read the latest version of the plan here and find out more on the Closing the Gap website.
The Premier has announced a $500 voucher program to assist families who use before and after school care services. We will keep you updated on any further details as they are released.