By Five hosts interactive walk through exhibit to boose ECEC numbers

Place based community collaboration the By Five Wimmera Southern Mallee (WSM) Early Years Initiative recently offered an opportunity for attendees at the Western Victorian Careers Expo to experience a career in early childhood education and care (ECEC) with an interactive walk-through exhibit. 

By Five represents five Local Government Areas, working together to improve outcomes across five developmental domains measured at school entry through the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC).

The exhibit, held at the expo on 20 June, offered a glimpse into the world of working in ECEC, showcasing all the things an employee in an ECEC setting would encounter, minus the children. 

Filled with hands-on learning experiences such as drawing and playdoh, teacher Mary-Ellen Lamont helped to design the space to showcase how children learn through play and how important the first five years of a child’s life are in shaping them as a person.

The exhibit also aimed to outline the different pathways into ECEC including through being a trainee, exploring vocational education and training (VET) pathways, and completing tertiary qualifications at university. 

Early childhood teacher Alice was also on hand to offer first hand insights into the value of joining the ECEC workforce, describing it as a very caring space for both children and educators, “accommodating men and women from all walks of life.” 

“It is a very important profession. It’s not spoken enough about how important the first five years of a child’s learning are, once that time has gone, it is gone,” she shared with local news source The Weekly Advertiser.

“I’m also primary school trained, but I choose to work in a kinder because this timeframe, I think, is most important, before they hit five years of age,” Ms Crick added.

To read the original coverage of this story please see here. Learn more about By Five here.