Dear colleagues

A warm welcome to our August edition of Early Childhood Update. This is another bumper edition filled with great resources, but first I’d like to reflect on NAIDOC Week celebrations and share some fantastic news about one of our esteemed colleagues.

From Sunday 7 to Sunday 14 July 2024, NAIDOC Week celebrated the unyielding spirit of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities under the theme ‘Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud’. This theme shows how we as a sector can amplify First Nations voices and experiences.

A great highlight of the week was the recognition of Aunty Muriel Bamblett as 2024 NAIDOC Person of the Year. Aunty Muriel has been recognised for her outstanding contribution as chief executive officer of the Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency (VACCA).

Aunty Muriel’s commitment to defending the rights and opportunities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children has changed the lives of many children and families, and inspires incredible work across Victoria. We are privileged to have such a respected leader here in Victoria, and she has had an enormous impact on the role early childhood education has to play in supporting First Nations families, communities and cultures to thrive.

We also recently celebrated National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day on Sunday 4 August 2024. To mark the occasion, we sent kits packed with loads of fun resources, including native Australian animal cards, to more than 3,000 kindergartens – and it’s been fantastic to hear about the great conversations and celebrations the kits have sparked.

There is a lot to celebrate in early childhood, and the positive spirit will continue on Wednesday 4 September as we mark Early Childhood Educators’ Day. I encourage you to consider how you will celebrate this special day – and please take a look at our article for resources and opportunities to recognise the educators in your service.

Also in this month’s edition, you’ll see a range of grant and professional development support opportunities that services, teachers and educators can access. Along with a program to help teachers and educators return to early childhood education after a period away, you can also find information about the latest rounds of Building Blocks grant opportunities – supporting services with facility upgrades and new equipment – and guidance about how to apply for the Bush Kinder Grants Program.

I hope you continue to find this information helpful for you in your work supporting Victoria’s children and families.

Bronwen FitzGerald
Deputy Secretary
Early Childhood Education

National Early Childhood Educators’ Day on Wednesday 4 September 2024 is a day to recognise the difference our early childhood educators make to the wellbeing and development of the young children in their care.

Whether hosting a morning tea or making an appreciation wall or tree, there are many things you can do to recognise the efforts of your valued educators.

We’ve shared more ideas for how to say a big ‘thank you’ to the educators in your service, so please keep reading to consider how you’d like to celebrate the day.

How to get involved

We encourage service providers to celebrate Early Childhood Educators’ Day by organising their own activities involving their educators, children and families.

To get ready for the day and say thank you on a more personal level, you could:

• add your service to the map of services taking part in the day
• organise an activity or morning tea
• put up posters in your communal areas to let your families and team know the day is coming up
• put out a notice to families via your email newsletter
• post the ‘How are you going to say thank you?’ video on social media
• encourage children and their families to do something special like making a homemade card, contributing to a communal appreciation wall or dressing up for the day.

For more celebration ideas, as well as resources for your service’s social media platforms and family communications, visit Early Childhood Educators’ Day.

Share stories of your educators

If you have a story you’d like to share about an early childhood educator at your service and the impact of their work, get in touch with our communications team using the email address below.

We’ll promote their story as part of our Early Childhood Educators’ Day celebrations, and in the future.

Find out more

For more information, refer to Early Childhood Educators’ Day.

For further enquiries, or to share stories, contact the department by email: ec.portfolio.communications@education.vic.gov.au

Over the next 2 years, a departmental research project will explore how we can best support children with complex medical needs, disability or developmental delay (children with additional needs) in Victorian kindergartens.

The project will inform us about ways to improve supports for children with additional needs in the medium to long term.

It will include:

• a survey to help us understand the level and type of support needed for children with additional needs in funded kindergarten programs. The survey is open in August and September
• designing and testing a new Kindergarten Inclusion Support Profile to better identify children’s support needs
• developing options for new kindergarten inclusion support programs and activities to support children with additional needs.

Look out for your invitation to complete our survey

We are inviting a representative sample of services to participate in the process who will receive an invitation shortly.

If you receive an invitation, we encourage you to please complete the survey so we get an accurate picture of needs across different locations and service types.

Continuing our research

Over the next 2 years, we will contact a range of services from across Victoria about taking part in this research project, to ensure the project gives us a clear picture of inclusion support needs across the state.

This project will ensure that as we implement our Best Start, Best Life reforms, we are supporting the children who benefit the most from participation in kindergarten programs.

We appreciate your support of this work as it progresses.

Find out more

For more information, please refer to the Kindergarten Inclusion Support webpage.

On Thursday 1 August 2024, the department sent service providers information about Arrival, a new system that will replace KIMS (the Kindergarten Information Management System) for kindergarten data reporting.

Arrival is a purpose-built system that will make it easier for Victorian government-funded kindergarten services to report data.

Arrival will also include functionality to enable sessional services to collect and report daily attendance data, aimed at improving preschool participation and outcomes for children.

This data will help drive our initiatives to boost engagement in kindergarten in partnership with the sector, so that Victorian children receive the full learning and developmental benefits of a quality early childhood education.

Preparing for Arrival

In the lead-up to the system’s introduction in January 2025, we will continue to provide information about Arrival to help services and providers prepare for the new system.

Alongside our communications through direct email and the Early Childhood Update, we have created a dedicated Arrival webpage to host all the latest information and resources about transitioning to the new system.

You can also contact the department’s Arrival Implementation team with any questions or support needs. Please refer to the team’s contact details below.

Find out more

For more information, refer to the Arrival webpage.

For further enquiries, contact the department's Arrival Implementation team by email: arrival.implementation@education.vic.gov.au

The annual kindergarten census week is the first week of August each year, and this year the reference week fell between Monday 29 July and Friday 2 August 2024.

All funded kindergarten services must enter their attendance collected during census week in Kindergarten Information Management System (KIMS) by Friday 30 August 2024.

This is a requirement of receiving kindergarten funding regardless of the kindergarten program type or delivery model.

Services will be required to enter:

• attendance details for each child enrolled
• information on fees paid during the census week
• name of person who entered the details.

Supporting resources

The department has sent guidelines and instructions on how to complete the census in KIMS to all eligible service providers.

What is the data used for?

Information from the census is used to inform policy and reporting requirements, including reporting on benchmarks included in the Preschool Reform Agreement.

Find out more

For more information, contact your local early childhood improvement branch.

This week has seen celebrations for National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day in services across the state, with our resource kit supporting Victorian government-funded kindergartens to mark the occasion.

In collaboration with our partners in Aboriginal education, the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated (VAEAI), we sent the kit to more than 3,000 kindergartens across Victoria.

The kits helped kindergartens to celebrate with their children, using a vibrant set of native Australian animal cards designed by First Nations artist and proud Wagiman man Nathan Patterson of Diwana Dreaming.

The kit also includes companion teaching notes with fun ideas and activities for using the cards. Each activity is aligned with the learning and development outcomes of the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework.

The cards and teaching notes help embed Aboriginal perspectives in learning and enact the vision of the Marrung Aboriginal Education Plan 2016–26.

About Children’s Day

Children’s Day is an initiative of the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care. The day is held to celebrate the strengths and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children across Australia.

The day began in 1988 amid protests during Australia’s bicentennial year. The day was chosen to communally celebrate the birthdays of children of the Stolen Generations, who were taken from their families at a young age without knowing their birthdays.

Each year, Children’s Day has a different theme. The theme for 2024 is ‘Strong in Culture, Stronger Together’.

This theme elevates the intention of Children’s Day and focuses on the strength of First Nations children that comes from their connection to culture and mob.

Supporting cultural safety

To help you enact the vision of Marrung in your services, you can use these resources to support Koorie children and families.

You can also learn more about self-determination in the broader education system by reading Strengthening Aboriginal Self-Determination in Education - Campfire Conversations: reflections and directions 2022–23.

We also encourage you to read our previous article in Early Childhood Update about how services can support this vision in early childhood education through reconciliation action plans.

Find out more

For more information, refer to:

• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day
• Resources to support Koorie children and families
• Marrung Aboriginal Education Plan 2016–26.

We have developed a new factsheet to help you answer some of the questions families may be asking about the evidence behind the benefits for children of 2 years of kindergarten and more time in kindergarten.

If you’ve found yourself answering questions like ‘Why is 2 years of kindergarten important?’, we hope Two years of early childhood education – what the evidence says will help.

The new information sheet is now available on our webpage, The evidence behind 2 years and more time in kindergarten.

This information will help you to navigate conversations with families about the benefits of more hours of teacher-led play-based learning.

What the evidence says

For a sneak peek at the evidence included in our new factsheet, did you know:

• a UK study showed that when starting school, children who attended kindergarten for 2 years have better development in language, pre-reading, early number concepts, independence, concentration and social skills
• Estonia’s national curriculum features play-based activities as the primary basis for learning, with positive outcomes in children’s self-regulation, social-emotional skills, literacy and numeracy as a result of quality play-based programs of 30 hours or more.

Reflecting the evidence, it’s encouraging to also see that many other Australian jurisdictions are starting to introduce their own versions of these reforms.

Find out more

For further enquiries about how to communicate the evidence to families, contact our Change Management team by email: bsbl.change.management@education.vic.gov.au

Through our ongoing partnership with Gowrie Victoria, the Coaching for Returning Teachers and Educators Program is continuing to help teachers and educators to return to early childhood education.

Delivered by experienced coaches and early childhood practitioners, the fully funded coaching service is designed to support eligible teachers and educators to transition back into the sector.

This includes helping participants to:

• refamiliarise themselves with relevant programs and frameworks
• connect with local early childhood networks
• develop a stronger sense of connection to the profession as they return to the workforce.

How the coaching works

The wraparound support includes up to 20 hours of individualised coaching from an experienced Gowrie Victoria coach.

The coaching process will move through different phases, with both face-to-face and online coaching sessions available. And we know that flexibility is key, which is why participants and their coaches can come to an agreement on what times work best.

Find out more

For more information on eligibility and program details, refer to Coaching for Returning Teachers and Educators Program.

For further enquiries, contact Gowrie Victoria:

• phone: 03 8624 1077
• email: coaching@gowrievictoria.org.au

Applications for Building Blocks grants are open to help you upgrade early childhood buildings, buy new information technology (IT) equipment, or purchase equipment to provide safe and more inclusive environments for children.

Our inclusion and improvement grants cover lots of different service needs, so read on to see how you can make the most of this opportunity.

Inclusion grants

The 2024–25 Building Blocks inclusion grants round is open on SmartyGrants, with applications closing Wednesday 4 September 2024.

The grants provide funding to kindergartens to upgrade early childhood buildings and facilities (including playgrounds), and purchase equipment to provide safe and more inclusive environments for children of all needs and abilities.

There are 2 categories of grants under the Building Blocks Inclusion Stream:

• Buildings and playgrounds grants of up to $200,000 (excluding GST) to:
  • make kindergarten activities safer, more inclusive and accessible to children of all abilities
• Equipment grants of up to $10,000 (excluding GST) for:
  • moveable inclusive education equipment, such as mobility stools and sensory equipment for kindergarten programs.

For details on how to apply, refer to the Building Blocks Inclusion Grants.

Improvement grants

The 2024–25 Building Blocks Improvement Grant round is now open on SmartyGrants.

Improvement grants provide funding for upgrades, refurbishments and renovations to early learning facilities, or investment in IT equipment for not-for-profit funded organisations offering 3 and 4-year-old kindergarten programs.

There are 3 categories of improvement grants:

• early learning facility grants of up to $750,000 (excluding GST) for:
  • renovating or refurbishing facilities to improve the quality of learning environments for kindergarten children
• minor improvement grants of up to $150,000 (excluding GST) for:
  • small renovations and refurbishments to early learning facilities
• information technology grants of up to $2,000 (excluding GST) for:
  • purchasing IT equipment or televisions for administration or learning programs.

Applications for information technology grants close Wednesday 4 September 2024.

Applications for early learning facility grants and minor infrastructure grants close Wednesday 2 October 2024.

For details on how to apply, refer to Building Blocks Improvement Grants.

Find out more

For more information, refer to:

• Building Blocks Inclusion Grants
• Building Blocks Improvement Grants
• SmartyGrants.

For further enquiries, contact Victorian School Building Authority’s Early Childhood Grants team by email: building.blocks@education.vic.gov.au

We’re helping more children learn and play outdoors with the second round of the Bush Kinder Grants Program.

Through each round of the program, 150 one-off grants of $6,000 are available to eligible kindergartens to help them establish nature programs. Applications for this round close 5 pm Wednesday 4 September 2024.

The Bush Kinder Grants Program will support successful kindergarten services to do one of the following:

• establish a new or enhance an existing off-site bush kinder program held regularly in a local outdoor natural space
• establish a new or enhance an existing onsite bush kinder program by improving the above-ground outdoor biodiversity of the existing kindergarten premises, if suitable off-site locations are unavailable.

What is bush kinder?

Bush kinder programs are early learning educational programs regularly delivered outdoors through natural environments, such as parks, local bushland and beaches.

Bush kinder programs give children the freedom to learn through play with natural materials in outdoor environments.

By increasing the amount of time children spend outdoors and in natural environments, bush kinder programs can help to:

• improve children’s wellbeing, physical development, fine and gross motor skills, core strength, coordination, balance, eyesight and physical endurance
• encourage children to build deeper understandings of science, technology, engineering, and maths
• support children to make decisions and judgements that build confidence in their abilities in new surroundings
• improve children’s connections to nature, which can encourage their knowledge and commitment to environmental sustainability into adulthood.

How to apply

If you’re a funded kindergarten service with a current National Quality Standard rating and have not been a previous recipient of a bush kinder grant, you can apply now.

All applications must be submitted through SmartyGrants by 5 pm Wednesday 4 September 2024.

Find out more

For more information, refer to Bush Kinder Grants Program and Bush Kinder.

For further enquiries, contact the department by email: bush.kinder.grants@education.vic.gov.au

The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) has launched a new national code on how to safely take, share and store images or videos of children in early childhood education.

The National Model Code (the Code) addresses the use of electronic devices while providing education and care for children.

While the Code is voluntary, we encourage services to adopt the model as recommended practice under the National Quality Framework.

The Code recommends that:

• only service-issued devices should be used to take photos or videos of children
• personal electronic devices that can take or record images are not to be carried or used, unless for authorised essential purposes such as emergencies, health and family needs
• strict controls should be in place for storing and retaining children's images and recordings.

The Code supports services to implement child safe practices and increase awareness among staff and families about the risks and considerations associated with taking images or videos of children, while providing education and care.

Where does the Code apply?

While the Code has been developed for use in centre-based early childhood education services approved under the National Quality Framework, any type of children’s education and care service can apply it.

Approved providers of early childhood education are also encouraged to consult with educators, staff, families and carers about the Code, to make sure it meets their specific needs.

This includes regarding the use of devices by families, carers and other visitors to the service, as well as the use of children’s personal electronic devices, where applicable.

Find out more

For more information, refer to:

• ACECQA National Model Code
• frequently asked questions.

More than 100,000 people have already enjoyed a video promoting the benefits of Free Kinder, thanks to our partnership with early childhood educator, Hugh Van Cuylenburg.

With more than 124,000 instagram followers, the writer and podcaster is best known as the founder of The Resilience Project, a program delivering practical, evidence-based mental health strategies to build resilience and happiness in schools, sporting clubs and businesses.

Through his social media posts, Hugh is helping us to highlight just how important Free Kinder is to children’s emotional development and wellbeing.

Viral video promotes Free Kinder

As an early childhood educator and father of 3, Hugh said participating in Three- and Four-Year-Old Kinder programs has been vital in helping his own children develop.

‘I have absolutely loved seeing the impact that kinder has had on my kids,’ Hugh says in the video, explaining how much his daughter loves kinder and telling him all about her day when she gets home.

‘Learning through play is a powerful way to support your child's development and social and emotional skills, such as how to regulate their emotions and behaviour,’ Hugh said.

Watch and share the videos

Check out the video below to meet Hugh and his children, or head over to @earlychildhoodvic on Instagram for all the content. Please also share this information within your networks.

Find out more

For more information, refer to Three- and Four-Year-Old Kinder programs.