Victoria’s ECTs off to a good start thanks to newly announced support measures

Early childhood teachers (ECTs) in Victoria will be given a range of professional development opportunities to ensure their careers “get off to the best possible start,” Education Minister Ingrid Stitt announced yesterday.

 

“Early childhood teachers have incredibly valuable jobs and deliver outstanding work – so we’re making sure they have all the support they need to thrive in their careers,” she explained while announcing the $3.9 million career support package which will be open to those in their first five years of teaching. 

 

The support offer includes up to five hours of individual coaching for first year early childhood teachers, access to Communities of Practice for second and third year teachers, and ongoing access to an Alumni Network to help these teachers stay connected and share their professional growth and expertise.

 

Participants will also be able to access tailored professional development to continuously improve their teaching, along with funding for Innovation Grants to help early childhood education and care services trial ways to improve early childhood teacher retention rates.

 

Grants from $5,000 to $30,000 are now available for services that deliver a Victorian funded kindergarten program and have at least one teacher in the first five years of their career employed at the service.

 

Applications for the grants are open until 21 June. To find out more, visit education.vic.gov.au/childhood.

 

“It is vitally important to attract and retain high-quality teachers to deliver Three-Year-Old Kindergarten – and this support will help to develop and retain our valuable staff,” Ms Stitt said in closing.