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1 - 7 SEPTEMBER 2019 In 2019 National Child Protection Week will focus on introducing a ‘child development’ communication frame to promote the messages that:

• Kids do well when parents are supported

• To raise thriving kids, parents need support to navigate life’s choppy waters

Find out how you can get involved at napcan.org.au/ncpw-get-involved-2

JOIN OUR TEAM www.corangamite.vic.gov.au/Council/Employment

ENROL IN FAMILY & CHILDREN’S SERVICES This year we are trialling a single enrolment form for all services to make it simpler for families to complete. An online form is available on the Council web page.

corangamite.vic.gov.au/Community/Family-Children-Services/Enrolment-Forms

Once the new combined form is completed enrolling in a different Council Early Years’ Service will be as simple as a phone call.

Policies: Family & Children’s Services policies are available at corangamite.vic.gov.au

FAMILY & CHILDREN’S SERVICES NEWS

NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION WEEK

Are you thinking about a Career Change or Looking to Study in the Future, have you considered Early Education and Care as a Career Choice? With the introduction of three year old kindergarten there will be future demand for early childhood educators in Corangamite. Currently there is a large investment being made by the State Government to support this reform including:

• Scholarships for educators wishing to upskill and those looking for a career change

• Pathway scholarships for Aboriginal people from

Certificate III to postgraduate level education.vic.gov.au/ childhood/professionals/ profdev/Pages/scholarships. aspx

• Diploma and Certificate III in Early Education and Care courses added to the free Tafe list as of 2020

Additional incentives will be available to Early Childhood Educators working with three year old programs in 2021 (guidelines yet to be announced)

For more information please contact Eliza on 5593 7148 or eliza.ogden@corangamite. vic.gov.au

FEEDBACK Your opinion is important to us. Provide feedback on the service at corangamite.vic.gov.au/Contact/Feedback

WHO’S WHO IN THE FAMILY & CHILDREN’S SERVICES TEAM

FAMILY & CHILDREN’S SERVICES NEWS

SCHOOL READINESS FUNDINGDepartment of Education and Training Early Childhood, Early Childhood Improvement Manager, Debbie Moerkerk, Early Childhood Performance and Planning Advisor, Lucy Marshall and Kindergarten Improvement Advisor James Dimauro visited Cobden & District Kindergarten, Timboon & District Kindergarten and Simpson & District Kindergarten to see firsthand how our kindergarten programs are using School Readiness Funding.

School Readiness Funding will help children get even more out of their time at kindergarten by accessing a range of extra resources to support their learning and development.

Corangamite Kindergartens are using a proportion of this ongoing funding to implement a ‘Family Engagement Project “targeting speech, language and literacy and the social and emotional wellbeing of children.

Children attending a kindergarten program in 2020 will benefit from the additional programs made available from the School Readiness Funding.

If you would like more information about School Readiness funding, please contact your child’s kindergarten teacher.

LUCY MARSHALL, DEB MOERKERK, JANE AND JAMES DIMAURO FROM DET AT SIMPSON DOING SITE VISITS IN LATE JULY.

1. How long have you been working in Family & Children’s Services? Since 1984

2. How long have you been with the Shire? Six years in the 1990s, then 16 since 2013

3. What was your first ever job? Boutique assistant in Mildura

4. Are you more movie, music or books person? Music

5. What’s your favorite ever song? Bohemian Rhapsody and Khe Sanh

6. What is something about your role most people wouldn’t know? Cobden Kindergarten has run three different models since 15 hours of preschool was introduced: a five-group rotation, two straight groups, and our current four-group rotation.

7. What inspires you? My children, sunshine, music, history, learning about people, places and outer space.

8. What keeps you up at night? Reading

9. What are you known for? My love of concerts and being a diehard Tigers fan

10. When you get free time what do you love to do? Visit friends and family, go to Melbourne, footy, concerts, shopping and sightseeing.

11. Favourite destination for vacay of all time? Italy. Hopefully I will visit again.

TERESA FROST COBDEN KINDERGARTEN

Coordination unit staff regularly visit educators to provide monitoring and support. We have several ‘types’ of visits that families will become aware of through PARENT PORTAL PUBLICATIONS.

One type of visit is compliance focussing on administrative checks to ensure the service is operating within the National Quality Framework; Regulations and Standards.

These visits are not scheduled with educators; staff typically arrive, observe what is going on with the children and if it is an appropriate time to commence a check.

Sometimes it is not the right time then the coordination unit member changes their plans and offers whatever assistance is appropriate.

As an example, on arrival at one educators there were two youngsters, full of beans who had just awoken

from their nap. The educator and older children were completing a 100 piece jigsaw on the floor so the coordinator engaged the youngsters until afternoon tea and joined in planned activities - the compliance check was never mentioned and will be completed on another visit.

Educators are aware of compliance importance and have created systems that allow the checks to be completed on site with the minimum educator input. The transition to Harmony Web with paperless programming, documentation and administration is streamlining and speeding the compliance check process.

The coordination unit hope that all families are using the Harmony Parent Portal as an opportunity to follow their educators’ program and child observations at a time best suiting themselves.

Family Day Care clients will now be able to find the Policies in their Harmony Parent Portal under the ‘My Service’ tab.

FAMILY & CHILDREN’S SERVICES NEWS

FAMILY DAY CARE COORDINATION UNIT ACTIVITY

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INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 brown onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 1/2 broccoli heads, cut into florets, stems chopped

1 Red Royale potato, peeled, chopped

4 cups (1L) salt-reduced chicken or vegetable stock

1 cup (120g) frozen peas

1/2 cup (125ml) thickened cream

PARMESAN WAFERS

1 1/2 cups (120g) finely grated Parmesan

1/2 teaspoon ground paprika

METHOD

Step 1 Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 5 mins or until onion softens. Add the garlic and cook for 30 secs or until aromatic. Add the broccoli stems, potato and stock and bring to the boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 mins or until broccoli and potato are very tender.

Step 2 Add the broccoli florets and peas to the pan. Bring to a simmer . Cook for 3-5 mins or until the vegetables are bright green and just tender. Remove from heat.

Step 3 Use a stick blender to carefully blend until smooth. Add the cream and blend to combine. Season.

Step 4 Meanwhile, to make the Parmesan wafers, preheat oven to 200C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Combine the Parmesan and paprika in a large bowl. Sprinkle evenly over the lined tray. Season with pepper. Bake for 2 mins or until the Parmesan melts and is golden. Set aside to cool. Break into pieces.

The children at Cobden Kindergarten have had an interest in the solar system all year, and this was extended to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first astronauts who walked on the moon. We have watched video clips, read about and dramatized the Apollo 11 landing in 1969. The children have dressed as astronauts for their own “rocket launches”, and created space vehicles with Lego, boxes and collage materials.

There was also some discussion around the book Aliens Love Underpants, and some amazing paintings of these characters. One educator suggested that we make Alien Soup to extend this interest. A green vegetable soup recipe was adapted for this. The children helped to pick parsley, peas and silver beet from the kinder

vegetable garden. They peeled and chopped potatoes, celery, broccoli and shelled the peas and waited eagerly until the soup was ready. Most children had a taste and some enjoyed it so much they had two helpings. The next day they made “moon rocks” from a cheese damper recipe. What a fun, tasty and nutritious way to encourage children to try new foods!

KELLY JEFFERY WITH NYHA FORD, LIAM SMITH, AISHA DAVIS, JAXXON NORMAN-ADAMS & KYLA BAILEY MAKING ALIEN SOUP WHICH WAS DELICIOUS.

KINDERGARTEN NEWS

FAMILY & CHILDREN’S SERVICES NEWS

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DATES TO REMEMBER

SEPTEMBER 1-7 ........... National Child

Protection Week

4 ................. Early Childhood

Educators Day

4 ................. Indigenous

Literacy Day

12 .............. R U OK? Day

OCTOBER 19-27 ........ Children’s Week

The campfires have been burning the last few weeks at Skipton Child Care where we have been cooking and learning about fire safety. The learning that emerges from these types of opportunities is endless. On the day, the atmosphere was filled with delight, conversations, connections, challenge and discovery. Our wonderful community supported us by providing marshmallows to cook, bringing along firewood, kindling, pinecones, marshmallow cooking sticks and potatoes.

Leading up to our fire experiences we talked with children about safety, allowing children to recognize what would be a risk,

how we were to manage this and safety measures.

On the day, excitement and anticipation of our campfire was building as we prepared the area together - levelling the ground, removing hazards, collecting rocks for our fire pit, locating and placing our wooden blocks for sitting on. This all contributed to our shared learning, our ownership of the experience and the importance of trust and strong relationships with in our service. Children shared their knowledge and experiences from outside of care, and all children given the opportunity for a voice while waited to cook our marshmallows.

Cooking marshmallows, damper, sausages, potatoes in the coals and apple cake, were only a tiny part of our campfires. Our relationships with families and children continue to thrive, respect and trust within our community is strong.

FAMILY & CHILDREN’S SERVICES NEWS

MOBILE CHILD CARE NEWS