Welcome to fka Children's Services (fkaCS) eNewsletter for Term 3, 2020!

Well, we got through it! Term three in Victoria during stage 3 and 4 lockdowns has really challenged our endurance. As we entered term three we thought we were heading back towards some familiarity but no sooner had we started warming up to business as (almost) usual we had to turn on our heels and head back to learning at home for most and limited on site education for a small percentage of Victoria’s young children.

Talk about resilience. We’re really practicing what we preach now. If we want children to learn to persist and develop resilience we need to role model it to the best of our ability and that’s what early childhood educators across the state have been doing this term. Education has continued and evolved with the changing demands of the present moment. We’ve come to understand flexibility like never before and are learning how to find more in the tank well past the warning light!

Being an early childhood educator has always required a diverse skill set. We are a workforce made of educators, artists, philosophers, musicians, counsellors, actors, athletes, directors, academics, leaders, designers, scientists, explorers, gardeners, chefs and engineers just to name a few of the roles educators inhabit in their daily work in early childhood education and care. This pandemic has bought these skills to the fore is so many new ways with educators creating their own screen content drawing on the multiple skills of their teams, providing support and camaraderie to families isolating at home and doing it all with a compassion and humility shared by few other professions.

In this edition, we reflect on the meaning of inclusion and identity in our practice with children, families and each other. We hear a story of support and community from the sector and learn more about how to use the School Readiness Funding available to all State funded Kindergarten programs in Victoria for both three and four year old children.

There is also links to sector updates including fkaCS new website page for Learning at Home!

We hope this edition of the fkaCS eNewlsetter provides some inspiration, reflection and ideas for supporting children and families engaging with your early childhood programs and services both now, during this challenging time of pandemic and lockdowns, and into the future.

Download the eNewsletter in PDF form, here.