Many kids in Australia have experienced a traumatic event recently, including the recent bushfire season that ravaged communities. DARREN PATEMAN/AAP

Why every teacher needs to know about childhood trauma

Mental health issues among children are on the rise due to the impacts of the COVID pandemic, including lockdowns. Recent reports show there has been a 28% spike in calls to the phone counselling service Kids Helpline between March and…
The silent scourge within the pandemic

The silent scourge within the pandemic

‘We cannot control the dynamics of children’s home lives, but we are in a position of great influence.’ MEL ANGEL explores the impact of COVID-19 on domestic violence and shares resources to support educators when critically reflecting…
Swings

A testing challenge for early childhood

Do cross-national assessments of young children confirm what we already know or is it worse: are they ‘robbing meaning from individual histories’? Peter Moss—international keynote at ECA’s 2019 national conference—and Mathias Urban explore…
The power of community

The power of community

This is a story of one early learning service and how they have responded to the pandemic within their community of children, families and fellow educators. Windsor Community Children’s Centre (WCCC)  in Melbourne, share how deep reflection,…
Parenting during a pandemic

Parenting during a pandemic

Every parent and family around the country is newly appreciating the value of educators to the lives of young children. You may find this blog helpful to share with families in your early learning community or you might be at home yourself with…
Thoughts about change

Thoughts about change

Everyone has experienced a change one way or another in 2020. PAM LINKE shares her perspective on change for children, the impact of the unknown and what we can do as adults to support their feelings. Pam is also the author of an ECA publication, Managing…
corona-secondary

How long does coronavirus survive on surfaces?

Coronavirus—what it means for handling money, food and more. Ian M. Mackay, Adjunct assistant professor at the University of Queensland and Katherine Arden, Virologist, at the University of Queensland, help us to understand the coronavirus…
COVID-blog

Viral talk with children

What do we say to children about coronavirus and COVID-19? For this sensitive topic, we don’t believe that any one generic resource can work for all children. Instead, we encourage careful, child-led conversations. Below we share information…
Early action key in prevention of family violence

Early action key in prevention of family violence

During crisis times, people frequently look to what they can do to help—often this includes donations of goods or money, sharing messages of support, or calling for change. Part of the response has to be what we can do to prevent these now-weekly…
The Play-Doh ‘cookie’

The Play-Doh ‘cookie’

In WebWatch we often report on new research relevant for our sector. Last week a post focussing on new research out of the USA generated a great deal of discussion. The research relayed in WebWatch issue 323 focussed on a USA study analysing…
Bushfire smoke and young children what to do

Bushfire smoke and young children: what to do

The devastating result of the bushfires has left many early childhood services across Australia experiencing hazardous air pollution levels in the last couple of months. As smoke continues to blanket much of the country, we reached out to a…
Supporting our most vulnerable children

Supporting our most vulnerable children

The following article, adapted from an Every Child magazine by Dr Judith Howard, examines the way that trauma affects cognitive development and the ways early childhood educators can support children who have been impacted by a traumatic…