Early years

A new study by researchers at the University of Canberra has seen three- and four-year olds increase their daily total physical activity by 28 minutes, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity by 16 minutes. In today’s Q&A, Dr Rohan Telford and Professor Dick Telford discuss the key findings and the importance of physical literacy in developing primary school readiness.

The architecture and landscape design of the Mary Rice Early Learning Centre in Brisbane provides opportunities for children to experiment, discover, create and explore. In today’s article we speak to an educator and the architects who worked on the project to hear more about how the design of the centre facilitates learning and play.

The fourth topic in a series revisiting the ‘big five’ challenges in Australian education asks what progress has been made towards ensuring all children get off to the best start in life. Ahead of their webinar this week, expert panellists Dr Dan Cloney, Myra Geddes and Mary-Ruth Mendel give Teacher readers an overview of what they’ll be discussing.

In Strong Foundations: Evidence informing practice in early childhood education and care, Associate Professor Anna Kilderry and Honorary Professor Bridie Raban lead a team of 34 contributors, sharing knowledge and insights from research and links to everyday practice. This exclusive extract for Teacher readers discusses the ‘Principles of quality assessment’.

A study of children participating in book talks in libraries has shown differing lines of priority between classroom teachers and librarians when it comes to reading, and suggests they should work together more cohesively.

A primary school in Melbourne will be implementing a new four-week program for incoming Foundation students next year to better prepare them for learning following disruption to their kindergarten year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

What bullying policies and procedures are in place at your school? Do you have a specific anti-bullying education program? In this podcast we talk to Dr Lesley-anne Ey about her work with early childhood teachers in South Australia to identify problems with bullying in their own school context and co-design tailored activities and strategies.

A new series of research papers related to integrating science learning in the early years aims to help educators of children in preschool to Year 2 to incorporate the latest research into their teaching. In this podcast, we speak to the paper’s co-author Gayl O’Connor.

A new research-based series encourages early years educators to take advantage of everyday teaching and learning opportunities to improve young children’s scientific understanding, and shares four step-by-step activities for the classroom or learning at home.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented some unique challenges for early years educators as they move to a remote learning approach. In today’s article, Dr Deborah Price discusses some practical ways for embracing the teaching and learning opportunities this new environment provides.