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It takes more than one day to celebrate our sector, so make sure to mark National Family Day Care Week on your calendar!
Registrations are open now to register your celebratory picnic for the week, taking place from Monday 1 May 2023 to Sunday 7 May 2023.
The first 200 FDCA members to register their event by 26 March 2023 will receive a FREE Family Day Care Week Picnic Pack containing:
To claim your pack and register your National Family Day Care Week Picnic, click here.
To find out more about National Family Day Care Week, visit www.fdcweek.com.au.
Taking place on Thursday 16 March 2023 at 6pm AEDT, Episode 2 of the Online Engagement Series will discuss and dissect Quality Area 1 of the National Quality Standard (NQS).
The episode will take a deep dive into Exploring Quality Area 1, including a discussion of the Approved Learning Frameworks, the Assessment and Planning Cycle, Critical Reflection, the role of the Educational Leader and strategies for conquering Quality Area 1.
The live panel will be streamed on the FDCA website, FDCA Facebook Page and FDCA’s YouTube channel.
If you can’t watch the episode live, don’t worry! The recording will remain on the Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) website for members to access afterwards.
Help guide the conversation
To help guide the conversation, we want your insights on your programming cycle, who you are programming for and how you conduct critical reflection.
To help drive the conversation and share your insights, click here and take part in our Mentimeter Quiz.
FDCA is working with the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) as part of their Inquiry into the supply of early childhood education and care services.
To inform the Inquiry and its analysis of the family day care market, the ACCC wants to hear from family day care educators in a 1:1 format on issues such as:
The ACCC will conduct visits with family day care educators across Australia between mid-March to mid-April 2023 and arrange video calls with participants at times that are convenient.
If you would like to participate in the ACCC's Inquiry and provide your experience as an educator and a small business owner, please use this link to express your interest.
In the meantime, more information about the Inquiry is available on the ACCC website.
FDCA strongly encourages educators that have the capacity to put forward an expression of interest to participate. The ACCC Inquiry will have a significant impact on future policy decisions and mechanisms that affect the price of delivery and support for the ECEC sector as a whole.
We need YOU to make sure the direct experience of family day care educators is considered as part of the Inquiry.
From 1 July 2023, all families will be required to pay the gap fee between the provider’s fee and the amount of Child Care Subsidy using electronic means e.g. bank or credit card, direct deposit, BPAY, Centrepay or other online payment systems. This follows an amendment made last year to Section 201B of the Families Assistance Administration Act.
It is important to note that this change does not prevent educators from collecting the gap fee from parents, acting as an agent on behalf of their service. For more information on this upcoming change go to the Department’s website here.
To assist services and educators in preparing for this change FDCA has been engaged by the Department to develop a suite of transition support materials, including guidance materials about what will be required, good practice models, a range of targeted tools and resources to assist self-audit/self-assess readiness, information about exemptions and extensive communications and direct support campaigns.
A sector wide consultation will inform the development of these resources, so keep your eye out for your chance to provide input through a short national survey that will be launched soon.
Today is International Women’s Day for 2023 and is a timely opportunity to restate FDCA’s commitment to a future that's diverse, equitable and inclusive and one that celebrates the amazing talents and achievements of our members.
We are immensely proud to support, promote and represent the family day care sector, which holds one of the largest national networks of women in small business.
Visit the official International Women’s Day website to find resources, ideas, information on the history surrounding the day and how to get involved in this year’s campaign : #EmbraceEquity.
Safe Sleep Week is an annual awareness campaign held by Red Nose to acknowledge the importance of safe sleep environments to assist in protecting infants and young children. Safe Sleep Week is held from 6 to 12 March 2023, giving practical advice to parent, caregivers, educators and health professionals around the following topics:
For early childhood education and care educators and services, a FREE webinar is being offered by Red Nose Australia on 9 March 2023 – ‘Why safe sleep is important and how the sector can prepare for changes to regulatory requirements.’ To register for the session, click here.
This webinar will take you through the importance of Safe Sleep and provide insight on how the sector can begin to prepare for upcoming changes to sleep and rest regulatory requirements.
To learn more about Safe Sleep Week, visit the Red Nose website.
Do you have a story to tell?
FDCA is on the hunt for submissions for upcoming editions of JiGSAW magazine.
Do you have a programming or curriculum success story that you would like to share with the sector? Perhaps you’re 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 an upcoming edition of JiGSAW, send us an email at marketing@fdca.com.au with a short description of your story.
To view the most recent edition of JiGSAW, click here to access your FDCA Member Zone.
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