26 AugELAA CEO update 26 August 2020
- COVID advocacy
- COVID resources
- ELAA strategic plan
Dear members,
I hope that your work colleagues, friends and families all remain well. The response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has certainly tested every aspect of our lives. Reassuringly, in a Victorian context, we are now seeing daily reported cases in the low one hundreds, down over 600 per day since the peak of the stage two pandemic in late July 2020. Hopefully, if we all continue to support one another and do the right things, we will see restrictions gradually easing again across the State at some point in the future.
ELAA has continued to provide ongoing advocacy on behalf of members at both a State and Federal level, as well as keep members up to date with the latest information and resources. Recent activity has included:
- information sessions for both standalone members, as well as EYM CEOs, featuring the latest policy and funding advice
- launch of new member resources including an updated Infectious Diseases policy template (in PolicyWorks), a COVID-19 Planning Checklist, a step-by-step guide on what to do if you have a positive case of COVID-19 at your service, plus a couple of great ‘non-COVID’ resources including a Road Safety Education Parent Resource and a valuable information sheet for Heads of Organisations who have obligations under the Reportable Conduct Scheme
- regular updates to ELAA’s coronavirus (COVID-19) FAQs (https://elaa.org.au/resources/coronavirus-updates-2/)
- timely and quality responses to around 500 member enquiries in the last fortnight alone.
Looking ahead, ELAA advocacy activities within Victoria will focus on ensuring continued funding of sessional kindergartens for Term 4. Federally, we will be advocating for ongoing funding support well beyond the proposed end of the transition payment arrangements on 27 September, 2020. Our goal is to ensure that the sector remains sustainable long term and that the roles of teachers and educators are maintained.
Looking ahead to the future, ELAA is currently in the final stages of updating its strategic plan, the major thrust of which is to ensure the long term relevance and sustainability of the community early childhood education and care sector. As part of this update we have developed a new vision for the organisation focused on excellence and equity in early childhood education and care, supported by a new set of values:
- Excellence – determination and resilience to achieve the highest quality
- Equity – actively applies fairness and respect in all interactions
- Collaborate – seeks, shares and combines knowledge to create positive influence
- Empower – enables others through high quality service and solutions
- Innovate – leadership, initiative and innovation to improve outcomes.
In the coming months we will share more of our strategic plan as we seek to support the sector to respond to, recover from and thrive post the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Take care in the meantime.
David Worland
Chief Executive Officer
