Today

I attended a City of Yarra Professional Development Day at the Richmond Town Hall, which was attended by early childhood professionals employed by the City of Yarra. This included employees, program coordinators and administrators from a broad range of childcare centres, kindergartens, after school hours care services throughout Richmond, Abbotsford, Collingwood, Fitzroy and Clifton Hill. The speakers covered a range of topics, from childrens rights, family and migrant support services, child safety at home and in service, as well as vulnerability and risk factors. This professional development day was engaging, interesting and insightful, and whilst it covered many topics that have been discussed throughout university units, I also learned an invaluable amount of information about local family support services, as well as child safety and vulnerability issues that are particularly relevant to this cultural context. It was heartening to discover that there is ongoing support and collaboration between early childhood professionals and government officials to ensure the best interests of children and families enrolled in services funded by the City of Yarra. This was my first professional development day, and I found it informative, insightful and relevant to the cultural and community context of the families within the City of Yarra district.