Victoria’s expansion of free kindergarten has increased access for families, but rising group sizes are changing the realities inside kindergarten rooms. This article explores the growing tension between access, quality, workforce sustainability, and the future of sessional kindergarten.

Victoria’s universal kindergarten expansion is ambitious, but the workforce delivering it is under increasing strain.

With VECTEA 2026 negotiations still underway, salary compression across Level 3 teachers, funding supplements that don’t translate into improved conditions, and ongoing retention pressures, many Early Childhood Teachers are asking the same question: who is reform really for?

As university-qualified professionals delivering education during the most formative years of a child’s life, we deserve meaningful salary progression, recognised leadership responsibilities, and genuine parity with other teaching professionals in Victoria.

In this post, I share a letter I have written to The Hon. Lizzie Blandthorn outlining concerns about pay equity, funding accountability, and workforce sustainability. If these issues resonate with you, I encourage you to adapt the letter and send one too.

Universal kindergarten cannot succeed without a respected and sustainable workforce.

As the sector moves into the new VECTEA, there is an opportunity to shift Educational Leadership from a compliance-focused role to one grounded in best practice. By recognising the complexity of the role, allocating realistic leadership time, and embedding proper support structures, services can ensure Educational Leaders are empowered to drive quality improvement and strong pedagogical outcomes.

A historic pay rise is coming for early childhood educators as the Children’s Services Award undergoes a long-overdue gender-based undervaluation correction. Here’s what it means for VECTEA educators, teachers, and educational leaders.

Recent policy changes by Australia’s largest early childhood provider have raised serious concerns about the recognition of Graduate Diploma and Postgraduate Diploma qualifications for Early Childhood Teacher (ECT) status. For many experienced educators, this shift represents more than regulatory adjustment -it signals a troubling devaluation of professional practice, lived experience, and sustained contribution to the sector.

Teacher capability is not determined solely by qualification pathway. It is shaped by commitment to professional learning, reflective practice, leadership, mentoring, and workplace culture. In a sector already facing workforce shortages and burnout, excluding an entire group of qualified and experienced teachers risks further destabilising the profession. Recognition must be grounded in demonstrated competence and ongoing contribution -not assumptions attached to qualification labels.

Leadership cannot exist where responsibility is stripped of authority. In early learning, risk is increasingly managed through documentation rather than judgement, while accountability is pushed downward and power remains centralised. This is not safety. It is system failure.

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.