Thrive by Five
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 129 No 1, 16 February, page no. 15
The QTU has joined with more than 30 other community organisations to form the Queensland Thrive by Five (TB5) Alliance.
TB5 is campaigning for Queensland’s early childhood services and early childhood education settings to be high quality and universally accessible. It is seeking well-coordinated, well-funded education, health, and family support services, to ensure that all children, regardless of background, location, or family circumstances, get the best start in life.
When families do well, children do well. The importance of the early years on brain, social and emotional development and education and employment outcomes has been confirmed by evidence and research.
Children and families need a range of support in their child’s earliest years, and all children deserve access to quality, inclusive and appropriate early years services, experiences and environments. No family should miss out on the support they need to enable their children to thrive.
TB5 is calling on the Queensland Government to deliver an early years plan to guarantee that all children in Queensland get the chance to thrive. The plan must address long-term systemic issues and include short-term measures. The six key areas it must include are:
- universal access to kindergarten for all children aged three and four
- a holistic early childhood system that supports child developmental outcomes, from birth to school
- a workforce strategy to attract and retain the best teachers, educators, and experts in Queensland
- nationally consistent implementation of the National Quality Framework to ensure high quality services
- local solutions that are connected to communities
- strong, sector-supported advocacy at National Cabinet.
The plan must include a road map that outlines the specific actions to be delivered by the government and sector partners, the advocacy needed for outcomes linked to national reforms, and structures within government to ensure accountability and a coordinated cross-portfolio delivery.
The early childhood sector is fully represented within the Queensland TB5 alliance, with partners such as Good Start Learning Centres, Creche and Kindergarten (C&K) Qld, the United Workers’ Union, the Queensland Community Alliance, the Queensland Independent Education Union and others.
Given the AEU’s push for two years of preschool before formal schooling, the benefits of well-coordinated wrap-around health and education support on the development of young children, and the number of our members who use these services for their own children, the QTU is very keen to be an active participant in the alliance. This participation aligns with our policy positions and the goal of equitable access to good quality public education for all children.
TB5 will campaign in Queensland in the lead up to the Queensland state election.