The best start in life

Understanding the three-year-old pre-school debate and what it really means to you

Giving every South Australian child the best possible start in life is the driving force behind a major educational reform to provide access to preschool for every three-year-old child across the state.

Investing in universal provision of three-year-old preschool aims to build on the success of similar programs throughout the world to improve educational and developmental outcomes for children, particularly those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

The Royal Commission into Early Childhood Care and Education, led by Commissioner Julia Gillard, has recommended the South Australian government funds three-year-old preschool for a minimum of 600 hours per year – or 15 hours per week – for 40 weeks per year in a mix of government and non-government settings.

Approximately 1000 children in areas of high need will have access to 30 hours per week in newly commissioned services that offer a broad range of supports.

“Currently in South Australia, government-funded three-year-old preschools are available for certain populations – the Royal Commission is proposing to develop a strong, truly universal two-year preschool system, where all children are first eligible for government-funded preschool at age three,” says Dr Rhiannon Pilkington, epidemiologist at the University of Adelaide’s BetterStart Child Health and Development Research group.

“The recommendations from the Royal Commission are focused on ensuring three-year-old preschool can support children and families from all backgrounds, but particularly those who might be experiencing disadvantaged circumstances, to be in the best position possible to reach their full potential when they start school.”

Dr Rhiannon Pilkington is an epidemiologist at the University of Adelaide’s BetterStart Child Health and Development Research group.

Research carried out by Professor Sally Brinkman from Education Futures at the University of South Australia shows the success of early childhood education and care systems across the globe – particularly in low and middle-income countries but also from high-quality and high-intensity historical programs in the US. “There is evidence from many contexts that suggests high-quality early education and care is a foundational support that can improve a range of early-life outcomes for children – particularly those experiencing disadvantaged circumstances,” Dr Pilkington says.

“We’re ultimately talking about improving the life chances of children in this state because we know that if children start school behind, it’s very difficult to close those gaps between the most and the least disadvantaged.

Starting earlier through this universal three-year-old preschool investment hopefully gives us a head start, in which we actually start to see those gaps close. And we would like that to continue throughout their years of formal schooling.”

The Royal Commission will deliver its recommendations for the implementation of three-year-old preschool in its Final Report, due in August, and Dr Pilkington stresses the need for a strong focus on quality of delivery.

“The research is clear that when we can offer high-quality preschool, children do see improved outcomes – and that’s particularly true for some populations experiencing disadvantage,” she says.

“Quality is the key thing we need to think about and that includes both what program the preschool offers, but also other things less easy to measure such as the quality of the relationships children have with their educators. That can also have an impact on a child’s outcomes.”

Evidence shows that the first 1000 days of a child’s life are crucial to the development of the human brain, where exposure to trauma can negatively impact their ability to learn and cope with adversity.

The Royal Commission into Early Childhood Care and Education has recommended the South Australian Government provides universal access to three-year-old preschool.

The commission has also heard new research confirming the results of a study conducted in the 1990s which found a “30 million-word gap” in the vocabulary of children from socially disadvantaged parents compared to those from wealthy, educated parents. The three-year-old preschool program aims to redress this balance.

“At that age we really are thinking about holistic development, which spans from physical through to social and emotional development,” Dr Pilkington says.

“We’re looking at three-year-old preschool as a way to lift up the development of all South Australian children in those areas.

“That’s really important when we think about our drive to improve the state’s performance on the Australian Early Development Census, because we’ve currently seen a longstanding trend of the challenges of not being able to improve the level of developmental vulnerability in South Australia.

So this investment in universal three-year-old preschool is a platform for which we hope to improve outcomes for children by the time they start school.

“We have to make sure in our investment in three-year-old preschool that we are building a truly universal, equitable and inclusive system, and that means being inclusive and welcoming of all cultures and backgrounds.

“We can also view it as an investment in working towards a more integrated and co-ordinated child and family wellbeing system.

“There is an opportunity for South Australia to lead the nation with a strong program of monitoring and evaluation to underpin the rollout of three-year-old-preschool.

“This will help ensure we are in the best position to have all children in South Australia thriving before they start school.”

Report points to global success

The Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care has drawn on testimony from hundreds of researchers, educators, carers, service providers, families and community members in order to deliver its Interim Report.

Released in April, the report examines how South Australia can be “a global leader in early childhood education and care” by delivering universal preschool programs for three and four-year-olds across the state. The $2.45 million Commission was established in October last year and is being conducted by former Labor prime minister Julia Gillard.

Ms Gillard is tasked with identifying how to deliver on the State Government’s pre-election promise to provide access to preschool for three-year-old children by 2026.

Considerations in the decision include accessibility, affordability, quality and how to achieve universality for both age cohorts.

Professor Sally Brinkman, a researcher at the University of South Australia’s Education Futures who specialises in early childhood health and education, is part of the commission’s Expert Advisory Group which has spent the past six months examining submissions from parents and caregivers from diverse backgrounds, experts in early childhood development, service providers in the first 1000 days, leaders of early childhood education and care services, relevant unions and providers of Out of School Hours Care.

“There’s strong international evidence to show that good, high-quality early childhood education and care can have a positive impact, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds,” she says. “The State Government has understood that’s of interest, especially given results in South Australia on the Australian Early Development Census haven’t been improving at the same rate as some of the other states.”

Professor Sally Brinkman is a researcher at the University of South Australia’s Education Futures.

The report has handed down 33 recommendations including an approach to preschool which delivers in a range of settings, grows the number of places in the system and reaches out to families; invests in quality delivery for every child; and enables continuous improvement in outcomes.

The report also highlights the value of the three-year-old preschool in identifying potential developmental issues and opening doors to early intervention. “Three years of age is a really important developmental stage for children,” Professor Brinkman, pictured, says. “If concerns aren’t picked up until age four or five, you’ve missed an opportunity for early intervention.

“Developmental delays at age three can be quite predictive of later outcomes. So it’s an ideal age to be able to identify and provide additional support in that education environment, to be able to give children through play the tools and strategies to help them socialise with others or emotionally regulate themselves better.”

The findings and recommendations published in the Interim Report will inform the Commissioner’s Final Report, which is due in August.

“The Interim Report set the scene for what three-year-old preschool would look like with those wraparound services and early intervention supports,” Professor Brinkman says. “The Commission’s Advisory Group continues and is now getting more into costs, physical infrastructure and training requirements.

“The Commissioner will be seeking evidence from universities, TAFE and certificate-based training providers to explore training of early childhood educators and childcare providers. We need to look into what is required to get the best people to be able to support the children in a way that makes sense.”

Find out more at royalcommissionecec.sa.gov.au

Georgie Dent is the CEO of The Parenthood, Australia’s leading parent advocacy group.

Give our children the best chance to thrive

When I speak with parents across the country, a repeating theme emerges. Invariably, parents say having children is the best thing they’ve done in life. It is almost impossible to find words that adequately capture the love, joy, madness, rewards and privilege associated with raising children and building a family.

It is also hard to find words that capture the shock so many parents of children under five experience when it comes to finding and affording early childhood education and care. It’s a shock I first experienced 12 years ago when my husband and I returned from living overseas with our firstborn daughter. We quite naively assumed finding a place for our toddler four days a week would be a cinch.

How wrong we were. It took months to find a position and we felt like we’d won the lottery when we did. The place we secured was fantastic but it cost $165 a day and was located in the heart of Sydney’s CBD. Neither my husband nor I worked in the CBD so the daily commute involved catching a bus into the city with our toddler, then setting off to our own workplace and doing it all again each evening. The logistics were wild and the cost eye-watering.

In my day job as the CEO of The Parenthood, a national advocacy organisation representing parents and carers, I hear from new parents of young children often. Even though they’ve usually heard childcare is expensive and that wait lists can be so long it’s not uncommon for expectant parents to put their unborn child’s “name” on a list somewhere, many parents are still genuinely shocked when they come face-to-face with it.

And they’re not being precious. Australian parents pay some of the most expensive fees for early childhood education and care in the world – and they’re increasing. On average, childcare fees increased by another 8 per cent last year – up to $150 per child per day. More than a third of all families in Australia live in a “childcare desert”, defined as an area where there are three children for every available place within a 20-minute drive.

Now there are some truly hopeful signs are on the horizon. The Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care’s Interim Report recommends that all three-year-olds have access to 600 hours of preschool a year, rolling out from 2026.

The option of 15 hours a week of universal preschool access for three-year-olds for 40 weeks a year is wonderful. Improved choice and financial relief is welcome as it gives parents greater flexibility to return to work and the ability to financially provide for their families. This is particularly important for mums who are more often limited when affordable and suitable care isn’t available. Increased choice and financial relief can reduce household stress.

For children, access to 15 hours of free (or almost free) preschool can set children up for improved health, social, educational and economic outcomes for life. This is because 90 per cent of brain development occurs in the first five years and there’s a window of opportunity to positively impact a wide range of social, physical and mental development.

That’s why the Royal Commission recommends universal, but not necessarily uniform, access to three-year-old preschool, with the aim of equity for children and families who require additional support including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children or children with a disability.

One in five children in South Australia arrives at school developmentally vulnerable – two in five children in remote and rural SA. Unfortunately, children who arrive behind rarely catch up to their peers. The Royal Commission report indicates developmental delays can show in life expectancy, poorer health, poorer economic outcomes and potentially greater welfare dependency. Children who have access to quality early childhood education and care before they start school are half as likely to arrive at school behind.

We need an early learning system where every child has access to affordable, inclusive, quality early childhood education and care, and universal three-year-old preschool would be a cornerstone.

The significant proposed expansion of preschool access must be matched with an increase in the skilled and professional workforce. Quality early childhood education starts and ends with quality early childhood educators.

Georgie Dent is the CEO of The Parenthood, Australia’s leading parent advocacy group with a reach of more than 80,000 parents across the nation