Welcome to the August edition of ECMS Engage.
Last week our Board and Executive Leadership Team finalised our 2020 Strategic Leadership Plan “Expect Great Things”. We are excited to start working towards our future direction of delivering operational excellence in ECEC, expanding our service reach and responding to community needs in progressive and innovative ways. I look forward to sharing more of “Expect Great Things” with you in the coming weeks.
We are continuing our preparation for the new staff to child ratios to be introduced in 2016. Last week I spent time with my service provider colleagues and the Department of Education and Training work-shopping the challenges that the funding model presents for us. Like us, many service providers are finding it a challenge to keep kindergarten affordable for families. Janet Williams-Smith, General Manager for Service Development and I had the opportunity to share these concerns with the Minister in a meeting last week. We will continue to advocate to government regarding ongoing funding for our services to ensure their sustainability and affordability for families.
Research and its findings continue to be an important driver in our practice, as does practice informing our research. We are thrilled that our partnership with Deakin University has resulted in a peer-reviewed research paper for The Healthy Super Heroes Project (formerly Ben10 Project) being published in the esteemed journal - Early Years: International Journal of Research and Development. The study suggests that young children’s popular-culture interests can provide a platform for children to learn about healthy eating, physical activity and sustainability at kindergarten. You can read the full paper online here.
On Thursday 6 August all ECMS staff came together for Beyond Tomorrow, our annual early childhood education conference. It was an inspiring day for ECMS educators that will help equip them with the skills and knowledge required to continue to improve outcomes for children, families and local communities.
Warm regards,
Bernie