Access to local, tailored learning for Regional Educators.

The CLA is facilitating access to professional development resources and training opportunities to those working in the childcare sector in regional Australia. Both local in-person events and online.

Our goal is to foster professional, competent, passionate leaders in childcare by giving you the tools to promote positive workplace culture and access ongoing development opportunities. We want to equip you with key skills and knowledge to grow your confidence as an early years educator.

Our hope is to support educators to bring unique community aspects into their programs to truly partner with and support families and children.

Current professional development offerings:

Care to Lead: A leadership and professional networking program

The CLA, along with the generous support of The Local Buying Foundation and the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, is providing educators in Moranbah and Dysart with the opportunity to participate in a bespoke leadership and professional networking program, Care to Lead.

This program has been developed in consultation with educators, and aims to provide opportunities for professional and personal growth, professional networking, and the development of a supportive and engaged community of early childhood and school age care professionals.

Sessions are delivered in a live, online setting every month. Participants are greatly encouraged to attend the live sessions as this gives them the opportunity to connect and collaborate with their colleagues and the facilitators. We do, however, understand the need for flexibility and we do provide recorded sessions after the live version so those who can’t attend live can catch up on the session at a time that suits them.

FAQs

Opportunity to attend the C&K conference in Brisbane in July 2024

The C&K Conference is renowned for being a dynamic gathering of minds dedicated to shaping the future of early childhood education. Care to Lead participants will be offered the opportunity to attend the conference in Brisbane in July 2024. This is an all-expenses paid trip that will offer the chosen participant an inspiring and engaging experience, not only for them, but for their colleagues and peers back in Moranbah and Dysart. The chosen participant will return to the Care to Lead group to share their knowledge, insights and experiences.

How you can be the lucky educator

1. If you wish to throw your hat in the ring to attend, you need to:

• Attend Care to Lead – if you haven’t attended so far, that is ok – you can engage with the online sessions that have already taken place and start attending the live sessions.

• Be able to share with us what Care to Lead has provided you with so far.

• Provide an outline of a project or piece of work you want to focus on in your service and identify how it relates to one of the key themes of the conference. (There is a link to these below).

• Commit to sharing the insights and knowledge you gain from the conference with your colleagues and peers AND how it influenced your project. This will be presented to the Care to Lead attendees and this might be online or at an in person event.

2. The conference is on Saturday 20 July 2024 – you will fly to Brisbane on Friday 19 July, and fly home on Sunday 21 July.

3. You will be supported! When you return from the conference, you will be able to work with Kylie and Shelley to reflect on, synthesise, and apply your insights and knowledge to your chosen project. And then you will be supported to prepare your presentation to share your insights, knowledge, and project outcomes with the other Care to Lead participants.

4. There is an application process – applications will open 6 May and close 31 May. We will – announce the chosen educator on 8 June 2024.

5. We are working very hard to secure more funding to send more than one educator.

If you are interested, here is what you should do today:

Check you are available on the weekend of the conference (19-21 July 2024)

Sign up for the next Care to Lead session when it is announced

Engage with the previous sessions online – we are busy building an online program and will announce this very soon.

Look at the conference key themes and guiding questions and consider how these might relate to your project or key focus area. If you don’t yet have a project or key focus area, consider the theme questions and how they might relate to your QIP.

Start making notes in relation to the Application Questions.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please reach out to Kylie or Shelley at CLA@weareastute.com.au

“Get Ready for Work” – an online program to support new and newly arrived educators

This online program is aimed at those who are new to the early childhood education and care sector, or those who are new to working in the sector in Australia.

The program explores different aspects of early years education and care in Australia through a series of short video modules. It covers topics such as regulations, career opportunities, understanding the National Quality Framework, and embracing play-based learning. It also looks into what it is like to live and work in a regional community.

This program is currently available to early childhood and school age care educators working in our pilot towns of Moranbah and Dysart. For access, please email CLA@weareastute.com.au

Previous professional development offerings:

Supporting children’s behaviour through communication rich environments: An in person session

In May 2023, the Childcare Leadership Alliance brought one of the Astute Early Years Specialist team to Moranbah to deliver an evening session to educators at no cost that explored how we can support children’s behaviour through the creation of communication rich environments.

Educator self care: An online session

In March 2023 the Childcare Leadership Alliance asked Astute Early Years Specialists to deliver an online session for all educators on the topic of self care, recognising the considerable burden and pressure that educators in the sector do experience. This was recorded and is available on the Childcare Leadership Alliance Facebook page.