What's new?

New Resources!

Children in out-of-home care

Out-of-home care (OoHC) is the term used in Victoria to describe the living arrangement of a child who is placed in formal statutory care away from their parents or guardians. It includes placement in kinship care, foster care and residential care. This information pack has all long day care services need to know about supporting children in OoHC.

Click here for the OoHC information pack

How Early Start Kindergarten grants work in long day care

Early Start Kindergarten (ESK) provides eligible children with 15 hours per week of free or low-cost kindergarten, for two years before they start school. Accessing high-quality, play-based learning is a powerful way to support children's development, especially those experiencing vulnerability and disadvantage. This information pack has all long day care services need to know about ESK.

Click here for the ESK information pack

OOSH Educators day – Wednesday 27 July 2022

National Out of School Hour Care Educators Day is the annual National day to celebrate and recognise the important role Educators play in the lives of children. It is coordinated by Network of Community Activities and member organisations of NOSHSA (The National Association for Out of School Hours Care in Australia). Each year it is celebrated on the last Wednesday of July.

Visit the Network website for resources

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Report: Investing in our future – Growing the education and care workforce

We examine current workforce pressures, their impact on education and care services and possible ways forward. In the context of the release of the ACECQA workforce strategy and a focus on workforce in many states, we propose a range of measures to support our sector to attract, develop and retain our vital workforce.

Read the report.

Quiz: Will your quality improvement plan actually improve quality?

New ACECQA research reveals exactly what it takes for children’s services to improve their overall quality at reassessment. Is your service doing what’s needed? Take the quiz.

Graphic: What to do if somebody at your early childhood or OSHC service tests positive for COVID-19

Save this graphic so you know what steps to take if somebody at your early childhood or OSHC service tests positive for COVID-19.

Resource: CCC call card

Print off a copy of CCC's call card and keep important contacts at your fingertips!

Resource: Walking Together

Put together by VAEAI, in collaboration with the Victorian Inclusion Agency (VIA), Walking Together is a helpful resource that provides educators with a jumping-off point to achieve three key aims for embedding Aboriginal perspectives in early childhood. These focus on culturally appropriate and inclusive practices related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and cultures. Use this resource to support children’s learning in the most effective ways, increase knowledge and understanding, and actively contribute to reconciliation and counter racism and prejudice.

Quiz: How eco-friendly is your service?

The frameworks promote embedding sustainability in all daily routines and practices. So how green is your early childhood or OSHC service? Take the quiz.

The early education government report card

This document is a brief rundown on rates of participation in care in Victoria, and nationally, according to the Productivity Commission's Report on Government Services. We're encouraged to see that:

• While Australian Government funding for early education has not grown in the past two years, the Victorian Government has consistently increased early education funding.
• In Victoria, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 3–5 participate in kindergarten and child care in similar numbers to the numbers they represent in the community. Nationally, they are underrepresented in education and care. 

Quiz: Is your children’s service prepared for portable long service leave?

Do you need to register your organisation, submit quarterly returns and pay the levy? Take the quiz.

Quiz: Are you ready to become Ed Leader?

Before you say yes to an Ed Leader role, take this quiz to find out if you’ve got what it takes.

Early childhood agreement for children in out-of-home care

We know that quality early education and care makes a significant difference to the lives of children, particularly if they are vulnerable. The early childhood agreement for children in out-of-home care aims to ensure children living in out-of-home-care have access to high quality early education and care. The Agreement is between eleven partners (including CCC and the Department of Education and Training) and lays out our shared responsibilities to make this a reality.

Quiz: Are you ready for assessment and rating?

Your next assessment and rating visit might be over before you know it – use our quiz to see how prepared you are.

Is your service child safe? A checklist you’ll want to bookmark

The Victorian Child Safe Standards have been in effect since January 2016 and are compulsory for all education and care services. Use this handy checklist to make sure your service is child safe.

Inclusion News

Have you registered to receive Inclusion News updates from the Victorian Inclusion Agency (VIA)? If not, sign up now to keep up to date with the latest news, info and resources.

Newly appointed OSHC-focussed roles with the Victorian Department of Education and Training

DET has recruited personnel to work within its regional services groups, focusing on OSHC, to support schools to provide quality OSHC services. CCC is working to establish an ongoing relationship with the personnel in these roles, working together to support and resource the OSHC sector.

Visit the Department's ‘Running outside school hours care’ page

Intentional teaching resource for your staff

Effective Mentoring Program

It is vital that there are a sufficient number of trained mentors across the state to support provisionally registered teachers to gain their full teacher registration by guiding them through the Victorian Institute of Teaching’s registration process.

Visit the Department website for more information

Marrung – Aboriginal Education Plan 2016–2026

Victoria will be a state where the rich and thriving culture, knowledge and experience of our First Nations peoples are celebrated by all Victorians; where our universal service systems are inclusive, responsive and respectful of Koorie people at every stage of their learning and development journey; and where every Koorie person achieves their potential, succeeds in life, and feels strong in their cultural identity.

Marrung  is a strategy to ensure that all Koorie Victorians achieve their learning aspirations and realise the full benefits of the Education State reforms across early childhood, schools and further education.

Nutrition Australia – Want to upgrade your skills and knowledge in food service?

Free online training modules are now available!

Nutrition Australia is very excited to announce that their new online training modules are now available on their Healthy Eating Advisory Service (HEAS) website!

This training was developed by dietitians and nutritionists from Nutrition Australia.

This is a convenient way for long day care and OSHC educators to access training that will help them to provide a healthier environment for all. It’s free of charge, can be completed at a time and place that suits the participant and a certificate is available on completion of the training.

Both the ‘Healthy eating in long day care’ and the ‘Healthy eating in out of school hours care’ training modules have been created especially for all educators working in the service.

By completing the module educators and staff will learn about the importance of healthy eating, the whole-of-service approach to healthy eating, how to plan a menu and how to deal with challenges such as allergies plus much more!

The online training modules cover the same content as the face-to-face workshops.

Narragunnawali: Reconciliation in schools and early learning