Hands Up for Quality Countdown to 7 December

Three weeks until COAG decides on the quality standards for early childhood services

This is crunch time if we are to persuade Premiers/Chief Ministers across the country to put their hands up for quality.

We know that many services across Australia already meet the highest of the proposed standards and that many are making efforts to progress towards them – ECA congratulates these services.

ECA wants all services to meet these standards, as only if this happens can we guarantee high quality experiences and outcomes for young children.

ECA asks: Who should be the standard-setters?

Those early childhood services already operating at a high quality level, and the parents who support them?

OR

Those that have not responded to the evidence which says that staff:child ratios, group size, and early childhood leadership and qualifications matter.

This campaign recognises that the professionals working in child care services do the very best they can every day. BUT, without high staff:child ratios, qualified staff and early childhood leadership, they cannot achieve the best for children. The quality standards we are seeking are summarised below.

Urge our leaders to put their hands up for quality:
Send them a Hands Up for Quality e-card today – put your personal comments in the space provided. The Prime Minister, Ministers and Premiers are receiving them and they are a powerful tool.

Margaret Young
ECA National President

Things you can do this week

1. Write a letter to the editor of one of the big newspapers and tell your story. Keep your message short and clear. Show them, and our political leaders, how important this issue is.
2. Again, if you haven't done so already: Send the e-card to the Prime Minister and Ministers, to your Premier or Chief Minister. Take a few minutes to insert your own comments – real stories of real people are very powerful, and they are being read.
3. Spread the word about the campaign:
   
   • Forward ECA WebWatch to your colleagues and ask them to put their hands up for quality.
   • Encourage parents of young children to join up! We need to grow the number of people showing their support for high quality in early childhood education.

This week's message

The evidence that quality matters is widely accepted. High staff:child ratios, qualified and stable staff and early childhood leadership are fundamental to the delivery of quality experiences and good outcomes for children.

It's also widely accepted that high quality early childhood education and care has long-term economic benefits for the country, including less participation in the criminal justice and social security systems and increased participation in the workforce.

Early childhood is a crucial period for development and learning. The quality of young children's experience in the first five years will shape their future – their self-confidence and mental health, their achievement at school, ability to resolve conflicts and capacity to develop relationships.

Campaign update

It's been a very busy week on the campaign trail. ECA have been busy talking to other interest groups who are also demanding better quality childcare, including the LHMU, which represents workers in the childcare industry, and the Australian Association of Infant Mental Health Inc. (AAIMHI), who have been very supportive of better staff-to-child ratios.

AAIMHI National President Dr Lynn Priddis said this week:

'Children learn in the context of their relationships, therefore quality interactions with highly trained staff are vital for a child’s brain development and for building secure attachments.

'Staff who have specific training understand the needs of babies and young children. They will be attuned to the thoughts and feelings of children and more able to give respectful responses that will support children's growing development and provide a safe base for them to explore and learn from.

'But this experience is diluted when there are too many children to care for. Even in centres with a ratio for babies and young children of 1:3 it can still be difficult to provide optimum care for each child.'

ECA has again met with the Federal Minister for Early Childhood Education and Childcare, Kate Ellis, in Canberra. We urged her and the Government to maintian their strong stance for the best quality standards in early childhood education and care. Your efforts are making a difference.

So what are we asking for?

1. High staff:child ratios and group sizes that look like this:
   
   

   Infant/Child age	Group size	Staff-to-child ratio
   For children birth to 24 months	6 babies/children	1:3
   For children 25 to 35 months	10 children	1:5
   For children 36 months and older	20 children	1:10

2. And services where:
   • there is leadership and program involvement by university-qualified early childhood teachers who are committed to working with infants and young children
   • there is supportive and efficient management
   • staff have regular time for professional conversations and learning, and there is a focus on ongoing improvement in all areas.

All children and families have a right to services like this. ECA congratulates services who are working at or towards these standards.

Hands Up for Quality in the media

Early signs of success
The Age, 16 November

Parents face 'modest' childcare fee hike
News.com.au, 11 November

Cambridge University study finds children too young for school
Sunday Telegraph, 8 November

Fears big banks won't sell ABC Learning to quality operator
News.com.au, 6 November

Keep up to date with the campaign!

Don't forget to visit the campaign website at http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/handsupforquality.html to keep up to date with campaign developments, news, breakthroughs and more.