Page 2127 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 6 June 2018
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have special needs. It will improve their educational outcomes and ensure a student-centred health and high quality school environment.
Their participation and contribution to school and community life is one that encourages us all to respect and value all students in our schools, and one that benefits us all. We are a richer society because of having more inclusive schools and having a deeper understanding of the different types of students that can be in that schooling environment.
In the ACT we have a great public preschool system where children can access high quality early education in the year before school. Our preschool system is well integrated into the community. It is local, and it is free, meaning that we are able to reach those families whose children may have had limited contact with the education system up until they are four.
The 600 hours of preschool in the year before school is currently supported by the national partnership agreement on universal access to early education. I know that the states and territories are considering how to improve and expand that high quality early education to two years before schools starts. Certainly the Greens are very supportive of this, as we know that the early years of a child’s life are important in terms of developing both their social and emotional skills, and for laying down the foundations for their lifelong learning.
The Greens and the ACT government are interested in how to improve access for three-year-olds, and also to ensure better access for disadvantaged and vulnerable families. We know that, for socially isolated families, this can be a particularly powerful investment. Also for migrant families, families from a non-English-speaking background, which we heard about earlier in the debate, it is very important for children to be exposed to preschool environments at the earliest possible opportunity.
It is also important that we continue to improve the quality of early childhood education outside the public system in the ACT through the delivery of community run and privately run early education and care services. With so many families returning to the workforce while their children are still young, we are seeing younger children entering early education and care services well before their preschool period.
It is crucial that these facilities not only are up to standard with regard to children’s safety and wellbeing but also have the capacity to support children’s development in these important first years of life. The research is clear: young children need nurturing and supportive environments; they need warm and engaging interactions; and they need emotionally responsive and aware adults caring for them.
Quality of care in Australia’s early childhood services is underpinned by the national quality framework, something I note that the federal government appears to be withdrawing from in its latest budget, as it has cut the funding to states and territories to support the regulation of early education and care services. Yet the national quality framework strengthens Australia’s early education system and gives comfort to families. They can rely on the fact that the assessment and rating of services provides
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