Description
In this issue of Every Child, editor Julie Rutups encourages readers to keep the momentum going after the ECA National Conference, asking us to engage in professional learning, stories and conversations. She also acknowledges the crucial work that ECA State and Territory Committees and Members do for the early childhood education and care sector in their regions.
The issue contains two important feature articles on the Playwork Principles and how to support children’s emotional regulation in the classroom. In the former, the team from Forrest Out of School Hours Care (FOOSHC) explain how the Playwork Prinicples, developed in the UK, have been applied to their service in order to encourage children to engage in a unique form of play. In the latter, Fiona Forman, author of Welcome to wellbeing, writes about how parents and carers can help children manage ‘big emotions’ by welcoming and labelling and expressing emotions.
In addition to the article on Playwork, the issue continues the celebration of ECA’s Year of Play by including an important piece on how intentional teaching contributes to play-based learning, written by Anna Razak and Dr Jen Jackson from the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO).
This issue’s recurring Environment section is a wonderful discussion of how carers, teachers, children and community members at Balnarring Pre-School in Victoria celebrate Country and First Peoples’ culture in the natural setting of their area. The article describes how children at the service have engaged with First Peoples artists and authors to develop sculptures in a local park and publish picture books on important characters in Aboriginal storytelling. Also featuring a reconciliation theme, a collaborative article by local ECA State and Territory Committee Members recounts how they celebrated National Reconciliation Week.
A focus on the profession includes an article by Nicole Talarico on how early childhood services can shift their ‘excellent’ performance against the NQS to ‘Exceeding’; a profile of the up-and-coming 2021 ECA Barbara Creaser Young Advocate Award winner, Casey Goodman; and an interview with Dr Carmel Richardson, who, after a rich and generous career in early childhood, is now enjoying a well-earned retirement.
We hope you enjoy this issue of Every Child and take inspiration from its many insights.
