Message from the Director

At the end of a challenging year I am delighted to share that through the generosity of the Leaper Foundation, the REEaCh Hub has received further funding to continue our work for a further three years, from 2021-2023. I would like to sincerely thank Jenny and John Leaper for their support of the REEaCh Hub and for their ongoing commitment to advancing the quality of early childhood education for all Australian children.

I was delighted that many of you were able to join us last month at the REEaCh Hub’s annual Jenny Leaper Lecture. This year we hosted the lecture as an online webinar, which was opened by the Dean of MGSE, Professor Jim Watterston and included closing remarks by Jenny Leaper. Our focus for this year’s lecture was our recent research with Early Childhood educators and parents during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the midst of Covid-19, supporting the wellbeing of early childhood educators, parents and young children has never been more important, and we are looking forward to presenting more findings and building on this research in the New Year through the support of the Ian Potter Foundation. A link to access a recording of the Jenny Leaper Lecture is provided below.

We are looking forward to 2021 and highlight a couple of next year’s initiatives in the Newsletter; in April we will co-host a virtual 3a (Abecedarian Approach Australia) symposium with the Northern Territory Department of Education, and will launch the first of a series of University of Melbourne MicroCerts in Educational Leadership in Early Childhood. As part of our Early Childhood Professionals Research Network we will have a focus in 2021 on children’s wellbeing and look forward to sharing more details of this work in the new year.

I thank everyone for contributing to and supporting the work of the REEaCh Hub this year, in particular, the educators and parents who have generously shared their experiences and insights with us during these difficult times.Stay safe and well and have a restful break over the holiday season. We look forward to seeing you at more REEaCh Hub events next year.

Associate Professor Tricia Eadie