Non-contact time was never meant to be an afterthought. It’s a cornerstone of professional practice, yet too often it’s lost to competing demands. This piece explores why leadership must step up to protect, prioritise, and reframe how we use non-contact time to sustain quality, wellbeing, and equity across the early childhood sector.

In 2025, pedagogical leadership is evolving. It’s about guiding teams, supporting families, and shaping learning culture in real-world conditions. Discover the skills, strategies, and systemic insights that define the next generation of early childhood leaders.

Diwali offers more than a moment of celebration. It's a chance to honour cultural diversity, foster inclusion, and support every child's sense of identity. In this post, we explore why and how early childhood educators can celebrate Diwali with intention, care and respect.

In Victorian sessional kindergartens, co‑educators greet families, reset classrooms, and provide the steady presence amid staff turnover. Yet despite their pivotal role, they remain largely undervalued and under‑utilised. This post examines the structural barriers, from limited career development and planning time to pay and title gaps, and invites educators, leaders and policy‑makers to imagine a future where co‑educators are recognised as the professionals they are

Thinking of making the shift from long day care to sessional kindergarten? You’re not alone. With better balance, stronger community connections, and growing demand thanks to major reforms, sessional kinder is becoming a powerful next step for early childhood educators. Here's why it might be the move that reignites your career, and your sense of purpose.

Diploma and Cert III-qualified educators are essential to sessional kindergarten programs, yet under VECTEA, they’re locked into a flat classification structure with no path to progress unless they go back to university. This article explores why that needs to change and what a more equitable future could look like.

Non-contact time is meant to support educators to plan, reflect, and stay on top of compliance, but in sessional kindergartens, it’s rarely enough. As session lengths grow and workloads increase, it’s time to rethink how non-contact is allocated, protected, and valued under VECTEA.

The Victorian Government’s guide to retention in early childhood misses a glaring issue: wages. While the document talks about workplace culture, induction and mentoring, it completely sidesteps the biggest factor driving educators out, inadequate pay and a broken pipeline to career progression, especially in sessional kindergarten. This article breaks down what’s in the guide, what’s missing, and what real retention reform should look like.

Educational Leadership is more than a job title, it’s a powerful, complex, and often under-recognised role. In this deep dive into Clause 45 of the VECTEA, we unpack what Educational Leaders are really expected to do, why one hour a week isn't enough, and how the current agreement stacks up against the Award. If you're in the role (or considering it), this one's for you.

Completed your VIT full registration before finding out about Clause 52 leave? You may still be entitled to back pay or to have other leave reclassified, even if it’s been months! In this final part of our Clause 52 series, we explain your options, outline how to make a request, and provide a free template that you can personalise to help you take action.

Clause 52(a) entitles all provisionally registered teachers, regardless of time fraction, to up to four days paid leave for the purposes of moving to full teacher registration. It does not say that full-time staff only may access it, and requiring you to use non‑rostered days for VIT work effectively undermines that paid‑leave intent.

What happens if your employer refuses to grant the leave you're entitled to under Clause 52 of the VECTEA 2020? In Part 2 of our series, we explore what your rights are, what steps to take, and how to respond when your VIT registration leave is unreasonably denied.

The VECTEA can feel dense, but once you break it down, it’s a powerful tool for protecting your rights, especially during something as important as your VIT full registration!

Over 1,200 early childhood educators united outside Victorian Parliament on September 16 demanding fair pay, respect, and real support. After more than 15 months of stalled talks, it’s clear: the government must fund the workforce behind Free Kinder and Best Start, Best Life, not just the programs. VSKEA members stood strong, because when educators come together, change becomes unstoppable.

With Apple Watches now restricted under Victoria’s updated Child Safe Practices, what wearable tech, if any, can educators still use on the job? This follow-up unpacks the legal definitions, storage risks, and grey areas in the policy, plus explores practical alternatives like camera-free fitness trackers. A must-read for sessional educators navigating digital device compliance.

We all want children to be safe, but banning smartwatches won’t fix unsafe ratios or systemic under-resourcing. As new rules roll out across Victoria, this blog breaks down what’s changing, what educators need to know, and why solidarity is our strongest safeguard.