PEAK Training Newsletter Autumn 2021

Welcome to the autumn edition of the PEAK Training newsletter. Please read on for all the latest information you need to know about regulations, upcoming dates to mark in your calendar and meet the PEAK Training team.

Happy reading!

In this newsletter:

Calendar Events

After Hours Student Support

Calendar Events

Thursday 22 April
International Mother Earth Day
Organisation: United Nations
Acknowledgement that the Earth and its ecosystems provide its inhabitants with life and sustenance.

Saturday 24 April
Nature Play Week
Organisation: Kids in Nature Network
Nature Play Week celebrates initiatives of all shapes and sizes that reconnect kids with nature and the outdoors.

Sunday 25 April
Anzac Day
A day of remembrance for all Australians who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations.

Saturday 1 May
Play Outside Day
Organisation: Australian Conservation Foundation
Let’s reclaim nature and grow our connection with each other and the places we love!

Sunday 2 May
Starlight Day
Organisation: Starlight Children’s Foundation
Starlight needs your help to raise money for seriously ill and hospitalised children, and their families, throughout Australia.

Sunday 2 May
International Composting Awareness Week
Improve awareness about the importance of this valuable organic resource and to promote compost use, knowledge and products.

Monday 3 to Sunday 9 May
National Family Day Care Week
National Family Day Care Week offers a chance for the family day care sector to unite and celebrate the amazing work of educators and approved services

Sunday 9 May
Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day is the annual celebration of mothers and the hard work they do.

Saturday 15 May
National Families Week
Organisation: Families Australia
National Families Week is a time to celebrate with your immediate family, contact your extended family and friends and share in the enjoyment of family activities within the wider community.

Tuesday 17 May
National Walk Safely to School Day
Organisation: The Pedestrian Council
promotes better attitudes to road safety, health, public transport, and the environment. Parents and carers are encouraged to walk their children to school on the day.

Thursday 27 May
National Reconciliation Week
Organisation: Reconciliation Australia
National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is celebrated across Australia each year between. The dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey-the anniversaries of the successful 1967 referendum and the High Court Mabo decision.

Monday 7 June
NAIDOC Week
Organisation: NAIDOC
NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. It is a time to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and an opportunity to recognise the contributions that Indigenous Australians make to our country and our society.

Tuesday 8 June
World Oceans Day
Organisation: United Nations
An opportunity to raise global awareness of the importance of the oceans and why we must protect them.

Saturday 19 June
National Pyjama Day
Organisation: The Pyjama Foundation
Thousands of schools, businesses and groups will be encouraged to stay in their PJs to show support for The Pyjama Foundation’s work with Australian children in foster care.

Wednesday 30 June
International Day of Friendship
Organisation: United Nations
Inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.

After Hours Student Support

We heard you!

We understand for some educators working full time, it can be a challenge to connect with our Student Support team during office hours. Therefore, we are providing evening student support sessions via zoom.

These will be scheduled once a fortnight and held on different nights of the week. This will be an open session where students can join zoom and chat with one of our trainers. You can ask questions regarding any of your assessments, learning materials, work placement or just to touch base about your progress. We are here to help!

Compliance Updates

New First Aid courses

As you may be aware, the Industry governing body has made a few minor changes to First Aid units. This means the First Aid course names and codes we were familiar with have changed. The changes are listed below

HLTAID001 Provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation will be superseded by HLTAID009 Provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation:
If you complete HLTAID001 in 2020, it will remain fully recognised and valid for a full 12 months.

HLTAID004 Provide an Emergency First Aid Response in an Education & Care Setting will be superseded by HLTAID012 Provide First Aid in an Education and Care Setting:
If you completed HLTAID004 in 2020, it will remain fully recognised and valid for the full 3 years. This unit is the required unit by ACECQA and is designed for those actively working in the childcare industry. It also includes training in anaphylaxis and asthma.

If you currently hold HLTAID001 or HLTAID004, these will remain fully recognised until they expire.

Recipe Idea

We would like to share a recipe with you each month to provide inspiration for your cooking experiences!

Ingredients:

420g can of red kidney bean or black beans
1 tbsp of water
1 tsp vanilla extract
70g cocoa
1 tsp gluten free baking powder
½ bicarb of soda
125g butter (or coconut oil)
5 eggs
140g coconut or brown sugar
100g dark choc chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180c/355f.
Drain and rinse the can of beans, add to blender with 1 tablespoon of water and 1 egg. Blend until there is a smooth consistency.
Beat together butter and sugar until all combined.
Add remaining ingredients (including bean mix) and mix until combined Spoon into mini muffin container and bake for about 20 minutes. If you have a donut tin, adjust the cooking time to 15 minutes.
Allow to cook and enjoy your magic bean cupcakes!

This month’s recipe has been provided by our lovely student Morgan Hick, we hope you enjoy it!

Staff Introduction

Rachelle Menczel

Hello everyone. My name is Rachelle. I am a Trainer and Assessor and Student Support Officer at PEAK Training. My Early Childhood journey began after I had my second child where I begin working in the LDC that my children attended! I enrolled into the Certificate lll and Diploma whilst working their full time. It was a very busy time, but I really enjoyed it as I learnt so much from my peers and found that completing assessments became second nature whilst being an actively working educator.

After completing my ECEC qualifications, I moved to another service to become room leader in the toddler’s room. This is where I realized that I wanted to become a trainer and assessor; I became enthusiastic in assisting, supporting students and being their workplace supervisor. I gained my Certificate lV in Training and Assessment in 2014 and commenced my first role as a Trainer and Assessor, delivering face to face classes. This was a wonderful experience as I learnt a lot more about ECEC whilst delivering the courses and forming friendships with students. I have loved seeing how some of my first class of students have now become directors and room leaders of services!

The team here at PEAK Training are wonderful and I have learned so much in the past 12 months of being here. I thoroughly enjoy supporting you all and delivering our Professional Development Webinars.