Nationwide celebrations for Early Childhood Educators Day were a resounding success!

On Wednesday 4th September over 7,000 early learning services across the country celebrated Early Childhood Educators Day, making it more widely celebrated than ever before!

Inspired by World Teachers’ Day, an annual event which is celebrated every October in more than 100 countries, Early Childhood Educators’ Day was founded in 2011 in Brisbane, Queensland by the Australian Childcare Alliance’s Queensland State Body.

Their aim was to recognise and celebrate the work of early childhood educators in early learning services for their contribution to the wellbeing and healthy development of Australia’s youngest generation.

Since its inaugural celebration in 2011, Early Childhood Educators’ Day has enjoyed increasing participation Australia-wide from year to year among the early learning sector along with the broader community.

Now a well-known event embraced by sector stakeholders including Federal and State Government Departments, Early Childhood Educators’ Day acknowledges the vital role that early childhood educators play in the lives of young children and their families, along with the long-term benefits of high-quality early learning. It’s a day that seeks to honour and uplift the profession of early childhood education, creating a positive impact on both our educators and the wider community.

The Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) is immensely proud of the ongoing success of Early Childhood Educators’ Day in raising awareness of the benefits of early learning and the very important role that our educators play in giving Australia’s youngest children the best start in life.

Whilst each early learning service ran their activities and festivities in their own special way, common themes included dressing up, creating a ‘thank you wall’ or ‘thank you tree’, morning teas with families and personalised cards and gifts for the educators.

For example, each year at Sandgate Kids Early Education, Sandgate, Queensland, there is a celebration for Early Childhood Educators Day.  This involves a catered lunch, personalised gifts, recognition certificates, and a wall of recognition and positive affirmation from parents and carers of the Sandgate Kids community. “The wall of gratitude and personal comments towards the team members is inspiring,” says Heidi Richards, who manages the centre. 

Meanwhile, Amber Di Clemente, Area Manager at Broadmeadows Early Learning Centre, Broadmeadows, Victoria, says “we invite families to give positive feedback about our staff and make funny videos on what a day in the life of an ECE worker looks like. We celebrate our teams with turning the staff room into a relaxation zone filled with food and bean bags.”

Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) Vice President Nesha Hutchinson sums up the day as “a wonderful opportunity to say thank you to all of our educators who are making a difference day in, day out.”

“However learning services and their families choose to celebrate the day – whether through a homemade card or a more formal celebration – is up to them. The main aim is to let our early childhood educators know how much they are appreciated,” Ms Hutchinson explains.

“We were delighted to see a record number of early learning services getting involved this year, which means they are contributing to job satisfaction and a positive team culture, while helping to raise awareness of the fantastic work our educators do.”

​"ACA is extremely grateful to this year's Sponsors - Child Care Super, Coles for Business, Cargo Crew, TELUS Health and LoveHeart, without whom we simply could not have produced the event resources including the event website, the printable resources, the videos and the social media content," Ms Hutchinson concluded.

For more information about Early Childhood Educators’ Day, visit the event website at www.earlychildhoodeducatorsday.org.au.