Medical research is providing us with important findings related to brain function and processes that make it possible to optimize learning for all children. When we match classroom experiences and adult/child interactions to these findings it allows us to be more purposeful and intentional in our instruction and it creates an environment where all children are able to perform to their highest capability. This session reviews scientific research findings in layman’s terms.

The Office for Children and Early Childhood Development is working in partnership with the Commonwealth Government, councils and other organisations to reform early childhood education and care in Victoria. Underpinned by a review of the regulatory framework, this reform will align Government commitments including integration of early years services, co-located where possible with schools, universal access to kindergarten for all children and consistent approaches to transition of children from kindergarten to school. Sector and workforce development are key platforms of this reform, including the increased take up of cluster management and the development of a workforce reform strategy. Robert will share his thoughts on the challenges that lie ahead and the role that conference participants can play in achieving improved outcomes for Victorian children.

Strong family-education-community partnerships are central to successful developmental and learning outcomes for children. Evidence indicates that partnerships are essential to engaging families in their children’s early learning and later schooling. But true partnerships don’t happen spontaneously. They are underpinned by competent and committed educators and educational leaders who actively nurture warm, supportive and meaningful relations with each family. This presentation highlights what works in connecting with families. It reports on initiatives and strategies that build positive relations and impact positively on children’s engagement and achievement. Key focus are on improving learning, especially for children in families with limited economic resources, developing strategies to better connect with children’s worlds, and strengthening family social capital to help connect individuals and communities with learning.

As inclusion of all children into mainstream services has become the norm, there is a maze of service providers available to support the early childhood professional. Who are these people and what is their role? Who is entitled to their support, and how do you access this help? Funding? Is there additional funding available for inclusion support? This interactive panel will present an overview of the varying roles of workers who can support the early childhood professional in their mainstream setting. There will be an opportunity for a panel discussion to examine the types of support available to mainstream services, what workers can expect from this support system, and how to access it. The presentation attempts to unravel the various support systems, and the eligibility of services to access support.

The Conversation Starters project worked with early childhood staff and parents over three years exploring the difficulties they were having in building a relationship with each other. It was recognized in the project that often early childhood professionals had difficulties in:
a) recognizing that they were having difficulties in their relationships
b) seeing their relationships from the parent’s perspective
c) all levels of their communication with parents
Out of this project a range of products were developed including a DVD, a training package and a “Conversations Starters” sheet. These will be used throughout the workshop to assist the participants in their relationships with families.

Dramatic play is something that children do naturally, they are constantly creating worlds to play within whether it is pirates on the wild seas or astronauts in space. Drama uses the same elements of dramatic play: role, setting and tension, to create stories with children. Drama develops: physical and oral language, problem solving skills, creative thinking and much more. This drama workshop will be interactive non-threatening and informative for all people working with 3-5 year olds. We will be looking at ways to build stories with the children where their idea and suggestions help develop the story, their voices are at the core of the drama. We will be creating stories together and you will leave with ways to include story in your own program. This workshop aims to break down some of the barriers of working with drama in early childhood, and build confidence to use this wonderful art form in the curriculum.

The CARE Preparatory Transition Program was developed to achieve three objectives: to establish a Glen Eira Community Alliance For Early Childhood Education that will develop shared norms and values in relation to school transition and develop strategies for improving transitions for all Glen Eira children; to develop individual transition and learning plans for prospective prep students that are based on a 3-way interactive relationship between parents (guardians), kindergarten teachers and prep teachers; and to develop effective communication/information kits for parents that facilitate the transition from kindergarten to prep. This session will present the findings of the CARE pilot project.

What is the role of a leader in supporting inclusion of children with disabilities? If inclusion is the responsibility of all stakeholders what actions should a leader take? This session will aim to engage participants in activities that will assist leaders to identify opportunities to support and encourage the development of inclusive philosophy and policy in their work:
- Examining common understandings of inclusion
- Examining legal responsibilities & ethical considerations
- Examining current research findings linked to leadership for inclusion
- Exploring a range of approaches a leader can implement to support the development of a shared vision and values in relation to inclusion.
This session will provide children’s services staff with the opportunity to discuss and explore inclusive practice. A flexible inclusive environment will be set up for participants to visit, engage with and reflect upon throughout the sessions.

This session will provide an interactive forum for participants and presenters to discuss the ways in which the Early Years Learning Framework can challenge, inform and guide practice in early childhood settings including family day care, child care and preschool or kindergarten. The presenters will draw upon their own learning from being actively involved in the development and trialing of the NEYLF as a catalyst for the discussion with participants.

We often wonder how best to respond to the needs of families or how to make our services relevant to what it is the community wants or needs. The easy trap for us to fall into here is to prescribe solutions and convince ourselves that we always know what is best. The harder but more sustainable road to travel is ensuring that whatever we do in local services is in direct response to what it is that children, parents and the broader community are saying they need and want. The obvious challenge for services is how far we still need to move to recognise a truly joined up and seamless menu of choices for families ensuring they are supported to give their children the best start possible.

This session offers early childhood educators who qualified some years ago an update on the wide range of recent research and theory currently informing early childhood practice around the world. Participants will be supported to begin thinking about how research and theory can relate to practice in new ways, and to the national and Victorian early learning frameworks.

Dramatic play is something that children do naturally, they are constantly creating worlds to play within whether it is pirates on the wild seas or astronauts in space. Drama uses the same elements of dramatic play: role, setting and tension, to create stories with children. Drama develops: physical and oral language, problem solving skills, creative thinking and much more. This drama workshop will be interactive non-threatening and informative for all people working with 3-5 year olds. We will be looking at ways to build stories with the children where their idea and suggestions help develop the story, their voices are at the core of the drama. We will be creating stories together and you will leave with ways to include story in your own program. This workshop aims to break down some of the barriers of working with drama in early childhood, and build confidence to use this wonderful art form in the curriculum.

Working with young children can often be very isolating and leave us feeling professionally unsupported. While we are very considerate of the needs of children and families we often overlook the need to nurture our early childhood leaders. In order to be successful, leaders need opportunities for rich and meaningful professional development to feed the brain and access to networks and other professionals to nurture the spirit. This workshop considers cost effective ways for early childhood services to support the professional growth and development of their leaders and reap the benefits for families, children and the program.

Natural play spaces are frequently identified as a key element in promoting education for sustainability. However, education for sustainability is more than rocks and logs in outdoor playspaces, it is about opportunities for engagement and empowerment at many levels and provides a framework for thinking about outdoor playspaces. This workshop will explore meanings of education for sustainability and how these can inform design and pedagogy in early childhood outdoor playspaces. Current action research involving two case study centres will provide a basis for exploring this topic.

Working with children, families, committees and staff is a challenging role and there are increasing demands placed on the sector. There is an endless cycle of regulations, accreditation, documentation, meetings, planning and then trying to balance it all. We can waste time, lose time, pass the time away and even march along with time but we will never be able to manage time. We can’t stop the clock or save some time from today for tomorrow. Once spent we can’t retrieve it. All we can do is manage our selves to utilise it more effectively. We must learn strategies to reduce the amount of time we spend on an activity learn to delegate and be assertive. There is only one you, so you have to look after yourself or no-one else will!

Cultural, ethnic and racial diversity is now a key aspect of the context for early childhood education – and the role of early childhood programmes is increasingly recognised as a crucial entry point for addressing these issues. Early childhood programmes can make significant contributions towards a more socially inclusive society – or they can replicate and sometimes promote exclusion, bias and discrimination.
This presentation describes the most recent literature on the topic, presents arguments for the critical importance of addressing social inclusion in early childhood programs and offers examples of effective programs. Participants will have the opportunity to reflect upon needs and processes which may be useful to their own situations and contexts.

Rhonda Galbally has focussed her life’s work on making a difference for a more equitable society. She is the founding CEO of www.ourcommunity.com.au – a world-leading social enterprise that provides advice and tools for Australia’s 700,000 community groups and schools and creates practical linkages between the community sector and the general public, business and government. Rhonda’s session will demonstrate the importance of early childhood services establishing close links with their communities and will offer examples of organisations that have successfully engaged theses strategies.

This presentation explores the concept of inclusivity using the elements of Aboriginal worldview and the concept of relatedness as another way to think about and act in socially inclusive ways. This session discusses relatedness and belonging from an Aboriginal reality and how this definition can be applied to us as early childhood educators. It will be an interactive, lively and engaging session, exploring the processes of social inclusion in our world.

If the role of early childhood educators is to provide opportunities where children can build the foundation of their future lives, how does play and childhood fit into this scenario? How does the global child experience the pulse of their future lives? If we are truly aware of a changing world, what questions do we need to ask ourselves as early childhood educators and what are the implications for practice?
Be warned – this theoretical session and follow up workshop may raise more questions than answers, nevertheless these are the questions that shape the global child and our ethical response to their lives, here, now and the future.
A globalised world raises the possibilities that young children could be active participants in the wider arena. Two dominant, opposing arguments are prevalent with beliefs that children should be shielded from distressing information or they should be immersed in the community. What happens when you enter a third space of ethical reflection and consider how the global child can participate in, and contribute to public life, whilst still being a child and enjoying the pursuit of fun. Session one explores the key ideas and thinking behind global citizenship and young children.

Given the rapidly changing definition of family in Australia, and the resulting change in fathers’ parenting roles, there arises a challenge to our services as to how prepared we are to truly engage with an ever changing queue of primary carers presenting with babies and young children. Sadly, most Australian services continue to perform poorly in relation to the quality of parenting support they provide to men for a variety of simple reasons. Drawn from national experience, this workshop will explore the essential characteristics of a service, and its workers, if they are to encourage effective engagement with dads.

What does inclusion of a child with a disability mean for children’s services? What are the expectations of staff? How do you promote inclusion within the environment? This session will focus on practical ways of setting up the environment and the benefits of inclusion for children with or without disabilities, childcare staff and families:
- Examining common understandings of inclusion
- Examining legal responsibilities and ethical considerations related to inclusion
- Exploring environments that provide opportunities for
participation of all children including those with a disability.
This professional development session will provide children’s services staff with the opportunity to discuss and explore inclusive practice. A flexible inclusive environment will be set up for participants to visit, engage with and reflect upon throughout the sessions.

Medical research is providing us with important findings related to brain function and processes that make it possible to optimize learning for all children. When we match classroom experiences and adult/child interactions to these findings it allows us to be more purposeful and intentional in our instruction and it creates an environment where all children are able to perform to their highest capability. This session reviews scientific research findings in layman’s terms.

Wouldn’t it be a relief if all primary teachers and preschool teachers gave the same message to parents about starting prep? Wouldn’t it be great if preschool teachers were asked less to get children reading and ready for school and more about allowing children a childhood?
This session tells you how to make this happen. This session will consider the significant changes at the early years of school level for teaching and learning where the play based curriculum is being implemented in hundreds of schools. Implications for preschool and early childhood teachers will be presented as the session revisits the purpose of a preschool year and the importance of building bridges between preschool and school. The session will also discuss the new early years framework alongside preschool and early years of education.

Curriculum is what we do everyday with children. However the impact of curriculum has widespread effects on the development of citizenship for children. There are many ways to approach curriculum development in early childhood programs. National and international theories both influence these approaches as well as serve as a means of benchmarking best practice. It is timely that educators take charge in critically analyzing pedagogical approaches in order to audit teaching from a social justice and equity perspective. The right to belong and have a deep sense of inclusion is fundamental for all people including children and families. Whilst many policies and position statements echo such testaments, silence remains in particular areas of equity and diversity. This paper will explore a range of questions include:
- How can educators attempt to move practice and pedagogy to next stage of social justice?
- What risks does this entail?
- How can a culture of social justice become spirited within an early childhood program?

If the role of early childhood educators is to provide opportunities where children can build the foundation of their future lives, how does play and childhood fit into this scenario? How does the global child experience the pulse of their future lives? If we are truly aware of a changing world, what questions do we need to ask ourselves as early childhood educators and what are the implications for practice? Session two explores case studies of children’s active community participation, ideas and examples that can be utilised in early childhood practice. Follow-up workshop to E1.

As inclusion of all children into mainstream services has become the norm, there is a maze of service providers available to support the early childhood professional. Who are these people and what is their role? Who is entitled to their support, and how do you access this help? Funding? Is there additional funding available for inclusion support? This interactive panel will present an overview of the varying roles of workers who can support the early childhood professional in their mainstream setting. There will be an opportunity for a panel discussion to examine the types of support available to mainstream services, what workers can expect from this support system, and how to access it. The presentation attempts to unravel the various support systems, and the eligibility of services to access support.

A commitment to Aboriginal issues is imperative if educators and children’s services providers are to espouse a commitment to social justice and equity. However, navigating the terrain of history, community protocols and family diversity can at times be daunting and a road less travelled. This presentation will address a range of issues including the role of pedagogy in creating sustained reconciliation across cultures, the sharing of narratives from our experiences working within Aboriginal communities and using protocols in working successfully with community.

Using digital technology with young children can be daunting and is often informed by a fear driven narrative that frames it as the antithesis of good practice. This session reports on how two Melbourne based centres are integrating digital technologies in their practice. At Boroondara Kindergarten in North Richmond, the learning community has developed Kinderblog©, a digital learning story project aiming to increase social connections and cohesiveness within and between a range of community groups, particularly those from CALD backgrounds. At Greythorn Early Childhood Centre in North Balwyn, digital technology is used extensively for everything from consultative planning with families, notification of events and the documentation of the children’s experiences at the centre.

This interactive session will explore peace education and its role in early childhood programs. In our changing world climate it has become increasingly important for staff to support children’s understanding of fairness, equity and social justice while providing an environment which nurtures each child’s self image and promotes respect for difference. In this session we will explore practical strategies and activities that support staff to engage with children in conversations about fairness in relation to ethnicity, colour, sex, religion and ability. Time will also be allocated for participants to share their learning and understanding of the concept of peace.

This presentation offers a case study of the project: Breaking the Cycles by Building Neighbourhood Hubs in the Broadmeadows Communities for Children. Three school-based community hubs, coordinating with local preschools, were developed within the areas of Campbellfield, Coolaroo and Meadow Fair North, all significantly economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods yet culturally rich and diverse, with strong community partnerships. This presentation will foster an understanding of collaborative practice and provide an outline of community hubs and the services context in which they operate alongside a description of the practice elements that have contributed to positive outcomes for parents and children in Broadmeadows.