Play Based Learning

Preschool teachers and champions for play, Sherry Hutton and Donna Burns have a mantra, ‘make it irresistible!’ Sharing their passion for active learning, their blog, ‘Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning‘ is proving irresistible to educators the world over. Ingrid Maack reports.

A group of preschool children at St John’s Anglican Kindergarten* in the Melbourne suburb of Croydon engage in an impromptu weaving game. Armed with a box of coloured wool, they gather interestingly-shaped sticks and begin to weave a spectacular web. Continue Reading →

Are staff keeping children safe?

Children’s services staff play a vital role in child protection, but do we have the skills and resources to properly fulfil our role as mandatory reporters under Keep Them Safe? Ingrid Maack reports.

While Keep Them Safe (KTS) has been welcomed as the necessary first step to better child protection, there are calls for clarity on the role children’s services are expected to now play. Continue Reading →

Breaking the silence on abuse

Child abuse was highlighted during 2002 with the allegation that a number of churches and institutions had covered up incidents of child sexual abuse. Eddy Jokovich looks at the history of child abuse in Australia and welcomes the end of one of our country’s great silences. Continue Reading →