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Congratulations to all 16 of our TAS and VIC Regional Educator Winners, announced yesterday! We are thrilled to highlight your outstanding work and your ongoing commitment to excellence.
You can view the full list of TAS and VIC Regional Educator Winners by clicking here or on the button below.
You can also visit our Facebook page to pass on your congratulations and view the ongoing announcements and coverage of our winners.
The TAS and VIC Regional Educator Winners will now go into the running to be named as the TAS/VIC National Educator Finalist.
2021 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards Calendar
Over the next two weeks, FDCA will announce the remaining Regional Educator Winners from around Australia. These announcements will be made as follows:
Now celebrating its tenth year, the Excellence in Family Day Care Awards is the only program of its kind celebrating the family day care sector across Australia. It’s our chance to showcase the stories and achievements of educators, coordinators and services and promote family day care as the natural choice in early childhood education and care for more Australian families.
FDCA commends all of our nominees in the 2021 Awards and extends our thanks to everyone who have participated to make this year our biggest yet!
We encourage our members to keep an eye out over the coming weeks for media stories on our Regional Educator Winners, which will be shared on our Facebook page and website.
For a simple tool to support family day care educators, make sure to look out for your brand-new Critical Reflection in Practice Guide (the Guide) included in the latest winter edition of JiGSAW.
The Guide contains an overview of the critical reflection cycle and a series of provocations to help educators embed critical reflection into their practice, as an ongoing and dynamic process.
The Guide is accompanied by a Critical Reflection Companion Resource (the Companion Resource) to assist our members to make the most of their Guide and strengthen their pedagogical understanding. The Companion Resource looks further into what critical reflection is, how often it should be done and its importance for early childhood educators in delivering best practice.
Both the Guide and the Companion Resource have been developed in line with our commitment to offering our members a wide range of accessible and practical resources to support their business.
We encourage you to display the Guide at your home or service office as a way to prompt intentional and frequent critical reflection, and inspire further professional development.
You can access a digital copy of the Guide here in addition to the copy that’s included in the latest edition of JiGSAW.
FDCA is excited to announce a brand-new professional learning and development project.
This initiative will include a significantly enhanced portfolio of professional development courses and content, available exclusively to FDCA members, supporting you even further to deliver quality outcomes and make the most of your family day care business.
To pave the way for this project, FDCA’s much loved Professional Learning Portal will be closing on 26 September 2021.
Make sure to download your certificates of completion from the Professional Learning Portal prior to 26 September 2021.
Your Professional Learning Portal can be accessed through your FDCA Member Zone here.
Keep an eye on your inbox in the coming weeks as we reveal more information leading up to the launch of our professional learning and development space!
Should you have any questions in the meantime about accessing your Professional Learning Portal, please contact us at memberservices@fdca.com.au
The review of the two nationally Approved Learning Frameworks – Belonging, Being & Becoming: The Early Years Framework for Australia (EYLF) and My Time, Our Place: Framework for School Age Care in Australia (MTOP) entered its second Stage of consultations on 24 August 2021, with the release of a Discussion Paper and Stage 2 surveys. The Discussion Paper identifies potential areas for updating in the approved learning frameworks (ALFs), informed by research and the feedback gathered in Stage 1. The Discussion Paper can be accessed here. An Executive Summary is also available.
Feedback is now being invited from service leaders, educators, families, communities and other interested stakeholders in response to the Discussion Paper. Stage 2 surveys are available on the ALFs Update project website, via the downloadable flyer with QR code or can be accessed directly via the following links:
A submission template is also available for organisations who prefer to make a written submission.
Children in early childhood education and care and outside school hours care settings are also invited to contribute their ideas in a Talking Circle or focus group led by an educator from their setting. The researchers are also seeking teachers' and educators' assistance in this data collection and information is provided on the website to assist this activity.
Opportunity to provide feedback through these means closes on 17 September 2021.
To receive regular updates on the project please visit the ALFs Update project website and register your interest.
If you have any questions, please email Jenny Kendrick (Project Manager) at alfsupdate@mq.edu.au
ACECQA has prepared a series of guidelines for service providers to consider when preparing or reviewing their policies and procedures.
They offer a starting point to develop or review your policies and procedures that are comprehensive, current and suited to each service type.
The guidelines also cover policies and procedures required under Regulation 169 for family day care services.
Whether you’re opening a new service or conducting a review of your existing policies and procedures, we recommend visiting ACECQA’s website here and making the most of this free resource.
As the guidelines have been prepared for use Australia-wide, services will need to remember any relevant state or territory specific requirements, for example, working with children requirements.
FDCA is now taking story submissions for the summer edition of JiGSAW magazine.
Do you have a programming or curriculum success story that you would like to share with the sector? Are you a service that would like to share a story about the achievements of your educators or staff? Have you been on an exciting excursion or had an enthralling incursion that you would like to share?
Or maybe you have your own unique story that you think JiGSAW readers could take inspiration from!
If you would like to contribute to the summer edition of JiGSAW, send us an email at marketing@fdca.com.au with a short description of your story.
To view the most recent stories shared by educators and services in JiGSAW, click here to access your FDCA Member Zone and read the latest editions of JiGSAW.
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