Background: Challenging and disruptive behaviour is commonly reported among children placed in the out-of-home care sector. Little is known about how stakeholders in this sector understand or manage challenging behaviour. Method: Ninety-two stakeholders in the South Australian out-of-home care sector were interviewed about their approach to…

Smooth transitions through the early years of education are recognised as pivotal to later personal and academic success. However, for children considered outside the mainstream, these transitions can provide extra challenge for them, their families and educators. This paper reveals the findings of two qualitative studies investigating early…

Parental pressure to include formalised school-type literacy lessons has been reported as a factor influencing the types of phonics instruction young children encounter in the prior-to-school years. Parents and early childhood teachers support effective phonics instruction through guided play-based learning in the prior-to-school years. Few…

In Australia, more attention is being paid to inclusion of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (the so-called STEM subjects) concepts in early childhood education and care curricula. In addition, the focus on the quality of learning in the years prior to school is a growing priority, evidenced by pre-election promises to extend the…

There is considerable need to understand the current impact of COVID-19 on young people, particularly with regard to widespread global school closures and remote learning. This research provides an overview of school counselling use during a 5-week (April-May, 2020) remote learning (learning from home) for an Australia Prep to Grade 12 school,…

Karen Orr Vered demonstrates how children's media play contributes to their acquisition of media literacy. Theorizing after-school care as intermediary space, a large-scale ethnographic study informs this theory-rich and practical discussion of children's media use beyond home and classroom.

In the last 10 years, the problem of school exclusion in England has reached a crisis point. Figures on permanent exclusions from primary, secondary and special schools in England show that for 1996/97, 12 700 children were excluded. Among these, 12% were pupils permanently excluded from primary schools. When the present Labour Government came to…