Cue the drum roll! Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) can at last announce our final round of Regional Educator Award Winners in the 2021 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards.
Congratulations to all 24 of our ACT and NSW Regional Educator Winners! We are proud to recognise your dedication, passion and commitment to continuous improvement.
You can view the full list of ACT and NSW Regional Educator Winners by clicking here.
You can also visit our Facebook page to pass on your congratulations and view the ongoing announcements and coverage of our winners.
The ACT and NSW Regional Educator Winners will now go into the running to be named as the ACT/NSW National Educator Finalist.
2021 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards calendar
FDCA will announce our STAR Award winners over the coming weeks. Our STAR Award winners are comprised of both new and longstanding educators, coordinators and services who have shown outstanding practice and provide amazing outcomes for children.
More information about the Excellence in Family Day Care STAR Awards is available here.
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 has 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.
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FDCA’s Family Day Care Legal Services is just one of the ways that we are supporting you, our members, to handle the stress of legal issues and give you the highest level of professionalism, experience and advice.
Stage 2 of 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) is now underway, following the recent release of a Discussion Paper and Stage 2 surveys.
The ALFS Update 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. An abridged version for families and communities is also available through this link.
Feedback, through an online survey, 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 with 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
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.
A reminder to submit your entry for our August edition of FDC Educator Hacks for your chance to win a FREE Bunnings gift card!
Your challenge: to come up with a fun, low-cost and innovative program, activity or resource connected to an area or element of the NQS, that reflects this month’s theme.
Your prize: the winner of each month will receive a $50 Bunnings e-gift card and a dedicated post on our Facebook page featuring their creation!
The theme for our August edition is “Play-based Learning”.
How to enter
To submit your FDC Educator Hacks entry, simply send us a Facebook message here with:
- Your FDCA membership number;
- A high resolution photograph or video of your creation; AND
- 100 words or less on how your creation fits this month’s theme and how it connects to the NQS.
Submissions for our August FDC Educator Hacks will close at 11:59pm on Friday 17 September 2021, with the winner to be notified and announced on our Facebook page on Friday 24 September 2021.
Best of luck to all entrants and happy “hack-ing”!