Teachers and educators  >  Early childhood

Early childhood

Find a childcare centre

Find a pre-school or school

Child welfare emergency contacts

Ages 0 to 8 years

The Department of Education and Training (DET) recognises the importance of the early years of a child's life and its impact on a child's health, wellbeing and lifelong learning. The Early Years framework aligns the departments priorities to support young children and their families to achieve the best from their early childhood years.

The Australian Government's mychild website can help you find a childcare centre that best suits your needs and those of your child.

Northern Territory Government schools are not zoned unless a school has reached or is about to reach capacity. If a school is full or almost full, children from within
the school's feeder area will have priority. Find a Territory school

Age of entry for pre-compulsory schooling policy

Early Childhood Workforce Plan

The Early Childhood Workforce Plan has been developed to provide a vehicle for partnerships across government, non-government and industry agencies to build, support and develop the early childhood workforce.

Grants and scholarships

The Australian and Territory Governments are supporting the early childhood sector through a range of grants and scholarships to help meet the needs of educators and service providers.

Regulations

Commencing 1 January 2012, the Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011 apply to all centre-based long day care, family day care, preschool and outside school hours care services. More about the regulation changes

Families as First Teachers-Indigenous Parenting Support Services Program

Early learning

The early years of a child's life are the most important for learning and development. The Families as First Teachers-Indigenous Parenting Support Services Program builds family knowledge of early learning through active engagement in quality early childhood education programs. Play based programs support families through modelling, side by side engagement and discussion. Resources have been developed to give families information about how young children learn and how parents can make the most of everyday opportunities. These resources can be used in group or individual family settings.

School readiness is addressed through the Families as First Teachers-Indigenous Parenting Support Services Program in early learning groups with a focus on literacy and numeracy foundations, orientation to school programs and parent engagement initiatives. A dual generational approach provides adult activities during early learning sessions.

Child development knowledge

Families who are aware of their children's development can support learning and access help if they are concerned. Through engagement in early learning programs, home visits, family workshops or individual consultations families will strengthen knowledge of child development, birth to three. With this knowledge families will be able to take advantage of everyday learning opportunities and give their child the best possible start in life.

Health, hygiene and nutrition

Health, hygiene and nutrition are major contributing factors to developmental outcomes. The Families as First Teachers-Indigenous Parenting Support Services Program works to build an awareness of these factors in order to address the improvement of developmental outcomes for young Indigenous children.

The Families as First Teachers-Indigenous Parenting Support Services Program models health promotion messages in early learning programs, engages parents in health and nutrition activities, holds parent workshops, partners with clinics and health promotion officers to co-deliver Healthy Kids under 5's program and works with other agencies to support families in need of specific information and skills. Resources have been developed to support the interactions with families around the topics of healthy bodies, healthy foods, healthy homes and safe homes.

Parenting and family support

The Families as First Teachers-Indigenous Parenting Support Services Program works to strengthen positive relationships in families, promote positive behaviour in children and build confidence in parenting. This is done through modelling behaviour management at the early learning sessions, encouraging families in their interactions, group discussions, parenting workshops, home visiting and individual consultations. The program takes a strength based approach to parenting, working from the belief that all families want the best start in life for their children.

Families as First Teachers (FaFT) at work – Video

Video clip part 1 Families as First Teachers programs are delivered in remote communities across the Northern Territory to support the healthy development and early learning of young Indigenous children. The video clips explain how FaFT is rolled out across several locations, and highlights the importance of people, place, collaboration and community. View video

Families as First Teachers-Indigenous Parenting Support Services Program newsletters

Resources