Early Childhood Education and Care Professional Development, Workshops & Resources

Excellence Matters Early Childhood Improve Teamwork Team Formation Stages

Aug 23

Understanding the Stages of Team Formation in Early Learning Services

Directors and other leaders in early learning settings frequently find themselves with teams that are in conflict with each other, losing good educators and frustrated with the chaos of a lack of collaborative teamwork.To say that this is stressful is an understatement! It feels as though things are spiralling out of control and it can […]

Excellence Matters Early Childhood Professional Development Gossip

Aug 16

Let’s Talk About Gossip in Early Childhood Services

Leadership , NQS Quality Area 4 , Team Building

Let’s face it, gossip in early childhood centres does happen and sometimes it can even have a negative impact on staff, children and families. At times we probably have all been guilty of gossip. However, it can become a habit and ingrained in the culture to the point where it’s difficult to know how things can […]

Excellence Matters Early Childhood Professional Development Resilience

Aug 09

Thinking about resilience in children

Uncategorized

The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia, BELONGING, BEING & BECOMING (EYLF)references children’s resilience Outcome 1 and Outcome 3 as follows:● Children develop their emerging autonomy, inter-dependence, resilience and sense of agency ● Wellbeing is correlated with resilience, providing children with the capacity to cope with day-to daystress and challenges.● Children’s developing resilience and their […]

Excellence Matters Early Childhood Professional Development Blog Responding to Families About Learning Through Play

Aug 02

How to Respond When Families Ask About Play

Family Relationships , NQS Quality Area 1 , NQS Quality Area 6

You may receive questions like this from a parent:Why are the children just playing all the time here? Shouldn’t they be learning to read? Why aren’t you helping them get a head start for school?Some educators may find that they feel immediately defensive when confronted with queries like this from families or that it’s hard […]

Excellence Matters Early Childhood Professional Development Reasons for Conflict

Jul 25

5 Reasons Why Your Team May Be Experiencing Conflict

Leadership , NQS Quality Area 4 , Team Building

We often speak to directors and managers who are frustrated with unresolved conflict in their teams. It’s normal to ask:Why is this conflict happening in my team?Of course you understand that conflict is normal at times and that team members won’t always agree…. but sometimes it seems nearly impossible to break the cycle and get […]

Excellence Matters Early Childhood Professional Development Language Barrier

Jul 19

Tips for dealing with language barriers with families

Family Relationships , NQS Quality Area 6

A frequently asked question from educators is:How do I deal with language barriers with families?And it’s a great question because most of us don’t have ESOL (English as second or other language) training. Educators want to build great relationships with families and need to be able to communicate about the child. Additionally, it’s important to be […]

Jul 11

Found and Natural Resources for Early Childhood Education

Environment , NQS Quality Area 3

American horticulturalist and botanist, Luther Burbank (1849 – 1926), said: Every child should have mud pies, grasshoppers, water bugs, tadpoles, frogs, mud turtles, elderberries, wild strawberries, acorns, chestnuts, trees to climb, brooks to wade, water lilies, woodchucks, bats, bees, butterflies, various animals to pet, hayfields, pine-cones, rocks to roll, sand, snakes, huckleberries and hornets. And any […]

Excellence Matters Professional Development Intentional Teaching Reflective Practice Discussion

Jul 04

Reflect on Intentional Teaching with these 5 Professional Learning Activities

Intentional Teaching , NQS Quality Area 1 , Professional Development , Reflective Practice

Intentional teaching is best practice and a requirement of the National Quality Standard, Element 1.2.1 Intentional Teaching:Educators are deliberate, purposeful, and thoughtful in their decisions and actions.The following ideas can be used at a staff meeting to facilitate professional discussions between educators and to assess best-practice skills. This may link to the quality improvement process […]

Jun 27

Getting the Most Out of Online Professional Development

NQS Quality Area 7 , Professional Development

Online training is great! You don’t have to go anywhere, you can learn from wherever you are (at work, in a cafe, at home in your PJs…) and it’s usually very affordable and accessible. But…we all know that sometimes although we register for online professional development with good intentions, we don’t always see a lot of […]

Excellence Matters Early Childhood Education Service Leader Stress Team

Jun 21

Stress in Early Childhood Education Settings

Leadership

Simon Sinek, a well-known speaker and author, said:Leaders in early childhood education settings can support the educators, coordinators, leaders and all other staff in their teams by monitoring and managing stress levels. This would be one way of supporting people to “perform at their natural best”. What could cause stress?There are many factors that could heighten […]

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