Since you asked…
Community Child Care Association’s blog for early childhood educators
Question: In light of the new Child Safe Standards, is showing physical affection towards children still appropriate in services?
Answer: Physical affection is appropriate when children are empowered to communicate their consent.
The Child Safe Standards have been designed to improve and maintain the safety of children in our…
Question: Is superhero play really OK? Sometimes it can be rough and the costumes can cause problems with toileting and overheating.
Answer: Yes, let’s support superhero play!
If we place children at the centre of our practice and focus on their individual interests, but then tell…
Question: Is it worthwhile continuing with time-intensive documentation like portfolios next year?
Answer: It’s up to your team to reflect on whether portfolios are the best documentation method for your service.
There is no one way to document children’s learning. As educators, we should be using a range of…
Question: I’m an educator confused about unpaid overtime. What is legal and what can my employer reasonably expect?
Answer: Check the award or agreement which applies in your workplace to find the circumstances which attract overtime rates of pay (or time in lieu).
Overtime is additional time worked after ordinary hours. For example, if your ordinary hours are 38…
Question: How can I find educators to recruit?
Answer: There are a range of both free and paid ways to search for educators.
As a starting point, here are some free ways to find new recruits and some paid options also.
Free ways to…
Question: How do educational leaders fulfil our weekly and monthly duties while we are having to spend so much time working with children?
Answer: Allocating set non-contact time is crucial for educational leaders.
It’s so important for educational leaders to have set non-contact time, agreed upon by you and your management team…
Question: Is it wrong to use time-outs? What can we do instead?
Answer: Try a time-in.
Time-outs are a behaviour management technique where a child is removed from play for a period of time. The…
Question: In a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP), what’s the difference between a strength and an exceeding theme?
Answer: A strength shows you have met the standard, while an exceeding theme shows you have gone above and beyond.
If you’re using the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) QIP template, there are…