Child Care News - September 2011 - CareforKids.com.au®

September 2011

Child Care Snapshot
Latest stats on child care usage

The Government has released some new statistics on child care use in Australia taken from the December quarter 2010. The data is sourced from the Child Care Management System.

Key findings
– In the December quarter 2010 there were 911,990 Australian children in approved child care, up 4 per cent on the December quarter 2009.

– Almost one in four children aged 0 to 12 years attended child care in the December quarter 2010.

– During the December quarter 2010, 62.3 per cent of all children using approved child care services attended long day care services, 28.1 per cent outside school hours care and 11.9 per cent family day care services.

– During the December quarter 2010, there were 653,310 families using some form of approved child care for their children. This is an increase (4.0 per cent) in the number of families using approved child care services since the December quarter 2009. This increase was greatest for outside school hours care.

– During the December quarter 2010, there were 13,807 approved child care services operating in Australia, an increase of 390 services since December quarter 2009.

– In the December quarter 2010, outside school hours care services accounted for 53.1 per cent of all services, while long day care services accounted for 43.4 per cent of all services.

» Read the full report…

Meningococcal
Signs, symptoms and prevention

The meningococcal bacteria responsible for the recent deaths of a James Cook University student and the hospitalisation of another has also been detected at Playmate Child Care Centre in Garbutt, Townsville.

The child has been admitted to hospital and Queensland Health has written to parents and treated children who were in contact with the infected child.

Meningococcal is a relatively rare but infectious disease and while a vaccine is available for the meningococcal C strain there is no effective vaccine for the B strain.

Babies and children up to the age of five are at increased risk of contracting meningococcal disease due to their less mature immune system, their tendency to put things in their mouth and their tendency to play close together and share food, drinks and toys.

In fact this group accounts for two thirds of the reported cases of meningococcal disease in Australia according to Meningococcal Australia Inc.

While this disease is rare, it is worthwhile ensuring that you and your staff can recognise the signs of meningococcal disease and know how to respond when necessary.

Symptoms
The symptoms of meningococcal disease may include one or any combination of the following: the sudden onset of fever, headache, neck stiffness, joint pain, a rash of red-purple spots or bruises, nausea and vomiting and sensitivity to light.

» Read the full article…

Winners are Grinners

Recently we gave you the opportunity to go into our giveaway for one of two sets of EVA Soft Blocks the ATA Nursery Toy of the Year 2011 simply by checking and/or updating your listing on CareforKids.com.au.

We are delighted to announce that the winners of these magnificent prizes from Educational Experience valued at $440 each are:

Beacon Street Children's Centre in Victoria

Cradles to Crayons Early Learning Centre in Victoria.

To gain the maximum benefit from your CareforKids.com.au listing it is very important to log in regularly and keep all your information up-to-date.

For many parents your listing on CareforKids.com.au is their first contact with your service. Keeping your vacancy information and other details up-to-date will help to ensure the calls you receive from parents are not a waste of your time or theirs.

We'll be running more giveaways so make it a habit to log in and update your details regularly.

Protection For Your Service & Volunteers
What type of insurance cover do you need to protect your service and your volunteers?

Public Liability Insurance policies will protect your childcare service if you or your employees are held legally liable for third party property damage, personal injury to children in care or personal injury to people associated with your childcare service. To be held legally liable it must be proven that the service caused the injury in some way ie that the service was negligent.

Some Public Liability policies may also cover volunteers (eg board members, committee members, work experience students or people who just come and help out) if they are held legally liable for third party property damage and/or third party personal injury while working for your childcare service. However, some public liability insurers will not cover the service if the volunteer is injured and the service is held legally liable. Volunteers are not covered under Workers Compensation Insurance because they are not employees.

To adequately protect your service we recommend that you have a Public Liability Insurance policy that will cover if:

The volunteer causes injury or property damage to third parties associated with your childcare service
The volunteer is injured and the service is held legally liable for the injury

But what happens if a volunteer is accidentally injured while working for you ie the service is not negligent?

A Personal Accident for Volunteers policy provides financial compensation for out-of-pocket expenses and lump sum benefits to the volunteer in the event that they are injured whilst working on your behalf regardless of if the service is negligent or not.

» Read the full article…

Altiora Childcare has more than 20 year's experience working with the childcare sector.

If you would like to work with an experienced and dedicated insurance partner that shares your passion for childcare, contact our childcare insurance team on:

National Guidelines For School Aged Care
My Time, Our Place

Minister for Early Childhood Peter Garrett has launched a new national framework for before and after school care and vacation care which he says will provide educators and parents with a set of guidelines and expected results for the school age care sector.

Mr Garrett visited Maroubra Junction Before and After School and Vacation Care Centre in Sydney to launch My Time, Our Place – Framework for School Age Care in Australia, which emphasises learning through play and is to be introduced across the country in 2012.

Mr Garrett said this is the first time a national set of principles has been in place for a care sector used by a growing proportion of Australian families.

"We know that this is one of the fastest growing sectors in child care – for example, during the December 2010 quarter, almost 256,000 children attended before and after school care, compared to 242,600 children over the same period the year before."

» Read the full article…

CareforKids gets even more Social
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

We've had our social forum for some time now where we encourage child care professionals to share their views and experiences of the sector but now we're extending our social media reach to Facebook and Twitter.

Our aim will be to provide you with a selected mix of news items, industry commentary and information along with exclusive deals and promotions uniquely focused on you and your industry.

To make sure you don't miss out on these exclusive deals, great giveaways and the latest news all you need to do is stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter feeds.

Interview
Jillian Hill Co-ordinator from Beacon Street Children's Centre in Vermont South VIC

Child care professionals share a commitment to improving society by creating dynamic and nurturing care environments for Australia's youngest learners.

In this month's Child Care People we speak to Jillian Hill Co-ordinator from Beacon Street Children's Centre in Vermont South VIC.

Jillian's centre was recently nominated for three awards in the Australian Child Care awards 2011.

» Read about Jillian…

If you or someone you know deserves to be featured in this section drop us a line at editor@careforkids.com.au.

Each child care person we profile will receive a a selection of DVD's for their service courtesy of Roadshow Entertainment.

Simon Says
"Do better in maths"

A new study from Oregon State University has shown that preschool age kids may achieve better math and literacy scores through regularly participating in self regulation games such as Simon Says.

The study found that the higher academic outcomes associated with the game, which emphasises listening and following instructions, benefit children in the USA, Taiwan, China and South Korea.

More than 800 preschool age children ages 3-6 years old in the four countries participated in the study, which was just published in the journal Psychological Assessment.

Associate professor of human development and family science at Oregon State University Megan McClelland, is an expert on self-regulation in children and has published numerous studies showing the importance of self-regulation – or a child's ability to listen, pay attention, follow through on a task and remember instructions – as a key predictor of academic achievement in later school years.

McClelland also developed the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulder task as a measurement tool to assess how well a child is able to self-regulate.

In previous studies, McClelland showed that the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders task could help children with low self-regulation skills become better at self-regulation, effectively raising their academic achievement.

In this study, McClelland, lead author Shannon Wanless with the University of Pittsburgh, who did the research as part of her dissertation work at OSU, and their colleagues, wanted to find out if the Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulder task would predict academic gains in countries already known to have stronger self-regulation than the U.S.

"Beyond demographic variables or teacher's expectations, we found that the children in all the countries who performed well on the task did significantly better in math, vocabulary and early literacy," McClelland said. "It shows that beyond cultural factors, self-regulation is important for early academic success."

» Read the full article…

Getting 'Em Young
How early does mental health intervention need to be?

This article is reproduced with permission from theconversation.edu.au and was written by Louise Newman Professor & Director, Centre for Developmental Psychiatry & Psychology at Monash University

Trauma and adversity during early development can embed neuro-vulnerability in children.

The last Federal Government budget announcement revealed funds dedicated to "early intervention" mental health services for youth. But whether this intervention takes place in a timely manner for optimal impact remains unaddressed.

The debate following the budget announcement stirred up strong feelings on both sides. In the process, the parameters of the argument were reduced to the economic benefits of supporting services and intervention at an early stage of mental disorder.

But some are now questioning whether these interventions are based on evidence and raising concerns about prioritising this area in mental health reform.

In the midst of all this, important questions about prevention and intervening even earlier in the course of disorders have been overlooked.

» Read the full article…

Celebrate Fathers Day
With these terrific Dad's Day craft ideas

In Australia we celebrate Father's Day on the first Sunday in September, which falls on the 4th this year. To help the kids in your service celebrate their dads' we thought you might like to try a few simple craft ideas which could double as gifts.

Picture Frames - a really lovely personalised gift which any father will love.

Necktie Paper Craft - this simple project is suitable for kids aged two and older.

Father's Day Paperweight - this project uses found objects as the basis and can be as simple or elaborate as the children desire.

Stained Glass - an adult will need to supervise this activity which is aimed at older kids.

Book ends - help the kids create a pair of sturdy bookends for use in dad's office.

Footprint Poem - a simple gift idea which uses a poem as its centerpiece. Children can decorate the poem however they like.

Handprint Poem - another simple gift idea which can be decorated with hand prints.

Father's Day Wreath - this gift makes a cute wall hanging or fridge decoration.

These craft ideas were sourced from www.dltk-holidays.com