NSW Department of Education visits the Riverina

The NSW Department of Education has ‘hit the road’ to meet with more than 80 early childhood education and care teachers and educators from across the Riverina.

‘ECE Connect on the Road’ will be in Wagga Wagga today, 16 May, following its very popular first session in western Sydney on Monday, where Department leaders met with 115 early childhood educators.

The unique engagement event allows the department to visit regional and rural communities across the state and hear directly from the early learning sector.

“ECE Connect on the Road gives us the chance us to answer any questions in person about reforms and provide updates on policy initiatives, programs, funding, and regulatory matters,”  Executive Director of Early Childhood Outcomes, Jenny Merkley said, welcoming the return of the annual event.

“It’s an opportunity to build on the success of the sector to ensure every child gets the best start in life by working together as a community dedicated to early learning,” Ms Merkley said.

The annual event demonstrates the department’s commitment to listening and learning from teachers and educators and hearing about the issues that are most important to them. 

The Wagga Wagga event will including presentations which give details on Start Strong funding for long daycare and community preschools, the Flexible Initiatives Trial, the Workforce Strategy, Assessment and Ratings and the rollout of the digital Hub, which is a new centralised system for reporting, data collection and administration.

Participants will also hear the 100 new preschools to be established in NSW public schools by 2027.

49 of these public preschools will be built in regional and rural New South Wales, and 51 in western, south-western, and north-western Sydney.

Department leaders will also hear directly from educators, providers, and industry experts in a series of roundtable discussions throughout the day. Topics up for discussion include assessment and rating, local support, transition to school, and quality practice and regulatory support.

The Wagga Wagga and western Sydney sessions follows ECE Connect Online in March, which saw more than 5000 early childhood education and care professionals across NSW attend webinar sessions on a range of topics.

Visit ECE Connect online for more information.