Yirrkala Preschool, part of the broader Yirrkala School (also referred to as Yirrkala CEC), in North East Arnhem land, has received an Excellent Rating from the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) – one of only 45 Excellent services in Australia, and the first very remote service – to achieve this rating.

A new Australian recycling program will make all brands of pens and markers 100 per cent recyclable, providing another way for early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to meet their sustainability requirements under the National Quality Framework.

Queensland-based approved providers have been reminded of the 31 December expiry date for the current transitional regulation which allows some providers to apply a 1:5 ratio for children aged 15 to 24 months.

The percentage of all services retaining their exceeding rating at reassessment has fallen to a new low according to the Australian Children’s Education and Care Authority’s (ACECQA) latest NQF Snapshot, marking the continuation of a trend that started in earnest in the first quarter of 2018 after the introduction of revised “assessing exceeding centre” guidance.

At a time when sustainability concerns are increasingly front of mind for early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, one centre, in the UK, has launched a free online platform, designed to support other ECEC settings to become more sustainable.