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FDCA is excited to announce that nominations for the 2020 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards are now open.
The Excellence in Family Day Care Awards is Australia’s only awards program celebrating our sector; showcasing stories and achievements of excellence that make family day care the natural choice for children, families, communities and early childhood education and care professionals across the country.
Nominations for educators, coordinators and services can be made at www.familydaycare.com.au/awards.
The Excellence in Family Day Care Awards is a unique opportunity for families to acknowledge the incredible contribution of their family day care educator to their lives and to the early childhood education of their children. They also provide the chance for educators to recognise the role that their service and their coordinators play in supporting them to deliver quality outcomes for the children in their care. Here are some tips on how you can help spread the word about the awards:
Help spread the word about the 2020 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards by sharing them on social media. By sharing our Awards post on Facebook, you can help ensure that people all around Australia will have the chance to place a nomination for their educator, coordinator or service.
Including a story about the Awards is a great way to engage families and educators in the Awards.
You can download your own Awards posters and additional nomination slips that you can display at home or around the office to help promote the awards. To download your poster and nomination slips click on the links below.
Nominations in the Excellence in Family Day Care Awards close 13 August 2020 and the first round of nominee notifications will be sent to members next week.
To find out more about the 2020 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards and how FDCA members can share in over $25,000 worth of prizes visit www.familydaycare.com.au/awards.
Due to the ongoing uncertainty regarding the developing COVID-19 situation we have made the decision to postpone the FDCA National Engagement Program forums that were scheduled to take place in Hornsby and Launceston in the coming months.
At this stage a decision has not yet been made in regards to rescheduling the events. Members that had registered to attend the events will be given first preference to register if we are able to reschedule the forum at a later date.
We thank you for your understanding and support of this decision. We hope to announce a new date for our National Engagement Program forums in the future and as your national peak body, we look forward to continuing to invest in the ongoing professional development of our members.
The winter edition of JiGSAW magazine has started hitting the mailboxes of FDCA members; however for those who can't wait for the post to arrive, the digital edition is now available.
In the winter edition of JiGSAW you'll discover feature articles on the 2020 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards, a summary of FDCA's 2020-2021 Member Initiatives as well as a great story from 2019 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards National Finalist, Melissa Dreger, who shares her story about how she survived and thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We also share a great story about engaging children in learning about bush food, congratulate South Australian educator Cheryl Lloyd on 40 years as an educator, plus much more.
To view the winter edition of JiGSAW magazine, click here.
Don't forget, as an FDCA member you can also access the last ten editions of JiGSAW online simply by logging into your FDCA Member Zone and clicking on the Jigsaw menu. To access your FDCA Member Zone, click here.
The Australian Government is reminding early childhood education and care providers, and families, that there are a range of phishing emails and texts circulating at the moment purporting to come from Services Australia and other Government agencies with the sole aim of collecting your personal information.
Please exercise caution if you receive any email or text or alert on social media asking you to insert details such as your full name, date of birth, Centrelink ID number, Tax File Number, address, bank details or superannuation fund details.
The ACCC provides advice on how not to fall for a scammer's phishing bait. Please utilise this resource and share with families accessing care.
Since Monday 20 July 2020, the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) has added a number of questions specifically for providers and educators in the state of Victoria. If you operate in Victoria, regardless of whether you are in the lockdown zones, please ensure you stay across the latest information by visiting www.dese.gov.au/covid-19/childcare/childcare-faq.
FDCA has recently received a number of queries regarding the triggering of a local emergency and the processes to follow.
The below information is copied from the relevant DESE FAQs:
“What if your early childhood education and care service is required to close due to COVID-19, or a flood, fire or other local emergency?
Child Care Subsidy payments recommenced from 13 July 2020. Services directed to shut down due to COVID-19, a flood, fire or other local emergency should follow standard processes for activating a period of local emergency. Activating a period of local emergency will allow families access to additional absences where children have already used their initial allowance of 42 absence days per child, per financial year.
Each state and territory have their own rules around when and how communities should protect themselves during a local emergency. For COVID-19 related closures, direction to close may come from the health department, but it may come from the state regulatory authority.
You must report your service closure and re-opening in a timely manner, clearly stating the reason for the closure to the following authorities within 24 hours to:
AND
Contact details for state and territory offices of the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment:
Northern Territory: ChildcareNT@dese.gov.au .”
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