Submission to South Australian Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care

SVA’s submission to the Royal Commission shares our views on the most effective ways to support better outcomes for young children, particularly those experiencing disadvantage.

This document provides input to the South Australian Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care, led by the Hon Julia Gillard AC.

• Broad support for the findings of the Commission’s interim report, which included recommendations for universal three-year old preschool and recognised the importance of the ‘glue’, the often-unfunded work of teachers and centre directors in connection vulnerable families to support.
• The submission encouraged the commissioner to consider the core components and key enablers critical to success of an integrated child and family centre, as outlined in the SVA research paper titled Maximising Impact through Integrated Early Childhood Hubs: What Good Looks like
• Details around the need for investment in organisational and practitioner capability, enhance professional development, and what’s required to support the ‘glue’ in these centres was highlighted
• The submission also drew from research conducted by the Restacking the Odds Initiative into the first 1000 days, and Evidence for Learning’s synthesis of international evidence on what drives outcomes in children’s learning.