Weekly Alert Newsletter Being Informed - 10 October 2011
Being Informed - 10 October 2011
In this week's Being Informed
- ECE conference update
- It's just over 1 month out from the Election - are the parties promising ECE any carrots or just peanuts?
- The Healthy Heart Award scheme
- Is your ECE service breastfeeding friendly?
- Halloween on 31st October: Help with preparing for children's questions and tips for marking the day appropriately and safely
- Updated resource for employers in community-based organisations
- What's coming up
1. ECE Conference Update
We were uncertain with so many things happening what response we would get for the call for papers for the Early Childhood Conference next January, but we had a huge response in the end! Abstracts have been reviewed and others are being checked and all presenters will hear by the end of this week if their proposal is accepted.
The conference programme will include many early childhood research papers and discussions on different topics, provide an excellent opportunity for early educators to extend their professional knowledge and reflective thinking ability, as well as being an intellectually stimulating event for researchers and tertiary educators.
Registrations are now open for the full conference (over 3 days) or for Friday only. Register now as an early bird and save!
* READ MORE: Conference registration
2. Are the political parties promising ECE any carrots or just peanuts?
Just over one month out from the election a number of parties including the current Government – National – have yet to release their official policies for early childhood education. ChildForum contacted each party to ask for its ECE policy.* READ MORE: Party Policies for Early Childhood Education Just Over One Month Out From the Election
3. The Healthy Heart Award scheme
A healthy lifestyle is important and it is never too early to start. Early childhood centres can play a big part in helping children to eat healthily and get active, and to encourage centres to promote healthy living the National Heart Foundation has recently revamped its Healthy Heart award scheme.* READ MORE: Helping Children to Eat Healthily and Get Active
4. Is your ECE service breastfeeding friendly?
Early childhood services can be places that support breastfeeding, and the attitude of staff and teachers and what they do makes a big difference. But there's often not time to discuss questions such as whether there is any risk of babies being given the wrong bottle, whether its okay for mums to breastfeed older children, or what to do if another parent protests about a mum breastfeeding or expressing milk at the centre.
* READ MORE: Information, practical strategies for families and teachers, and a checklist
5. Halloween with young children in New Zealand
October 31st, was All Hallows Eve – eve of the holy ones – which later became Halloween. One of the main aspects of modern Halloween is trick or treating, which may have its origins in All Souls Day parades. During the parades poor people would beg for food and richer families would give them cakes known as soul cakes in return for their promise to pray for the families dead relatives.
In modern times many churches and youth groups organise Light Parties as an alternative to Halloween. Light Parties in New Zealand started in 2000 when an Auckland mother and children’s worker was looking for a different way to mark October 31st.
* READ MORE: Ideas and tips for marking Halloween with young children at home and in early childhood education settings
6. Updated employment resource for the Community/voluntary sector
Have you seen the employment resource Mana Mahi, and the latest update Mana Mahi 2 which includes information on the 1 April 2011 changes to the Employment Relations Act 2000 and the Holidays Act 2003, as well as additional information on collective agreements and their application in the community and voluntary sector?
These resources provide the essentials and more of what you need to know for good employment relations and practice, including employment agreements and health and safety, with special relevance for community-based organisations including ECE.
* READ MORE: Employment Resources
7. What's coming up
Look out next week for ChildForum's release of the results of a nationwide survey on the state of early childhood education and opinion on what the government could do for children and for the sector. This will be published on our website. If you participated in the survey and included your email address details will be emailed to you next week.
As well we have been working on a number of new articles in response to members' queries for information on important issues and aspects of practice. We had hoped to bring you several of these articles this week, but so much has been going on - and its school holidays! - that we have run out of time. We hope to have these published and available online in the coming week or two.
The 2011 edition of the NZ Research in Early Childhood Education is about to go to print and all going well, it will be available online for free for Childforum members and in hard copy for universities, ECE services, personal subscribers and libraries before or by the end of November. If you have a manuscript you would like considered for publication in the next edition click here for a copy of the guidelines for authors and submission information.
We have only a small number of the 2010 edition, Volume 13 NZRECE Journal left in stock. It has many great articles in it! If you would like to snap up a copy, click here for details about content and to order a copy.
The information provided by ChildForum in this newsletter is general information only.
No responsibility is taken for any errors. If you spot an error please inform us so that it can be corrected.
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
ChildForum Early Childcare and Education Networks, PO Box 58-078, Porirua 5245, NEW ZEALAND