Speaker

 Physical health and wellbeing in the context of the AEDC refers to how children are arriving at school and their physical independence and readiness for the day, as well as their proficiency in activities and tasks using gross and fine motor skills.

The physical health and wellbeing domain includes these three subdomains, including: physical readiness for the school day, physical independence, gross and fine motor skills.

Growth and development, the physical health and wellbeing domain enables children to: come to school, well fed, be rested and physically comfortable, independently practice activities, such as: maintaining good hygiene, eating, removing clothing as requirements of the day, develop their fine motor skills and dexterity to engage with writing, drawing, and information technology, enhance gross motor skills by improving coordination and strength through activities like running, jumping and climbing, develop healthy habits by establishing routines for exercise, nutrition and sleep that contribute to overall wellbeing, improve self-care skills by gaining independence in managing personal needs such as dressing, toileting and grooming.

Children's development in the physical health and wellbeing domain is embedded in practices aimed at meeting the Early Years Learning Framework Outcome 3. Development in this domain is supported by National Quality standard Quality Areas 1, 2, 3 and 6.

To enhance development in the physical health and wellbeing domain, educators and carers can: plan physical activities that support the development of fundamental movement skills, encourage children practice how to pack and unpack their lunchbox, plan musical experiences that involve movement such as body percussion, songs with actions, and responding to music through movement, provide a range of manipulative experiences to help strengthen children's fine motor skills, for example, using scissors or modeling clay.

Children maximize opportunities to practice emerging skills and learn new skills when their physical and health needs are met.

For more information, including reflective questions and ideas on how to foster physical health and wellbeing, download the AEDC domain guide for physical health and wellbeing or visit the department's AEDC webpage to access the other domain videos in the series.

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Speaker

 Social competence refers to a set of abilities that enable children to independently navigate their social world, to interact with peers and adults, to form friendships, and to understand the needs of others. The social competence domain includes four subdomains including: overall social competence, responsibility and respect, approaches to learning, readiness to explore new things.

Growth and development in the social competence enables children to be self-confident to engage with new situations and learning experiences, have a secure sense of self that gives them a feeling of safety and belonging, interact respectfully, get along with their peers and engage with cooperative learning.

Children's development in the social competence domain are embedded in practices aimed at meeting the Early Years Learning Framework Outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4. Development in this domain is supported by National Quality Standard Quality Areas 1, 5, 6 and 7.

To enhance development in the social competence domain, educators and carers can: prompt and support children to understand and follow daily routines and game rules, give children tasks or responsibilities that encourage them to help out during activities, provide imaginative and dramatic play opportunities for children to practice their social skills, read stories that explore social conflict and resolution, ask children to explain the rules of a game to each other.

When children feel secure in their environment, their learning is optimized as they become curious, ready to try new things and are open to forming relationships with their peers.

For more information, including reflective questions and ideas on how to foster social competence, download the AEDC domain guide for social competence or visit the department's AEDC webpage to access the other domain videos in the series.

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Speaker

Emotional maturity refers to a set of abilities that enable children to understand and manage how they respond when faced with situations that elicit an emotional reaction, including children's consideration of others, concentration and patience. In this domain, the AEDC measures these subdomain indicators: pro-social and helping behaviour, anxious and fearful behaviour, aggressive behaviour, hyperactivity and inattention.

Growth and development in the emotional maturity enables children to manage the demands of social and learning environments, understand different feelings and express their emotions in socially acceptable ways, develop constructive emotional responses and build resilience, recover from disappointment or sadness, concentrate on play and learning tasks, form positive relationships by building and maintaining healthy relationships with peers and adults.

Children's development in the emotional maturity domain is embedded in practices aimed at meeting Early Years Learning Framework Outcomes 1, 2 and 3. Development in this domain is supported by National Quality Standard Quality Areas 1, 5 and 6.

To enhance development in the emotional maturity domain, educators and carers can: teach children the language to use when describing their feelings, model how they manage their own feelings by thinking aloud, play games where children have to wait for their turn to participate, give children explicit tasks around an area of interest and encourage them to finish the task.

Children who display emotional maturity can persevere, self-regulate and are resilient enough to maintain focus on a task regardless of the challenge. Their learning is more effective as children are calm and focused to learn new information, integrate information, and apply information to new contexts.

For more information, including reflective questions and ideas on how to foster emotional maturity, download the AEDC domain guide for emotional maturity or visit the department's webpage to access the other domain videos in the series.

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Speaker

The language and cognitive skills (school-based) domain refers to skills that children need to enable, then learn concepts and apply those skills before they can engage with more formal literacy and numeracy. The language and cognitive skills (school-based) domain includes four subdomain indicators; children's basic literacy; advanced literacy; basic numeracy; interest in literacy, numeracy and memory.

Growth and development in the language and cognitive skills (school-based) enables children to view themselves as competent learners and they approach learning with curiosity and enthusiasm, have the cognitive skills that supports children's learning which include memory, problem solving and creative thinking, develop effective communication skills by expressing thoughts, ideas and emotions clearly and confidently, foster adaptability by adjusting to new situations and learning environments with ease.

Children's development in the language and cognitive skills domain are embedded in practices aimed at meeting Early Years Learning Framework Outcomes 4 and 5. Development in this domain is supported by National Quality Standard Quality Areas 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7.

To enhance development in the language and cognitive skills domain, educators and carers can; encourage children to think critically by providing opportunities to solve problems, encourage children to tell and retell stories, to build vocabulary and memory, share and enjoy books together, talking about what is happening in the story, plan learning experiences that develop children's memory and creative thinking skills, compare things of different sizes or compare similar objects by using numbers and comparative language like 'big', 'small' and 'medium'.

Language and cognitive skills provide the foundation for children to be curious and interested in stories and books and have a foundational understanding of shape, category, time and number as they begin their formal learning journey.

For more information, including reflective questions and ideas on how to foster language and cognitive skills, download the AEDC domain guide for language and cognitive skills or visit the department's AEDC webpage to access the other domain videos in the series.

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Speaker

 The communication skills and general knowledge domain does not include any sub-domains. It measures children's expressive and receptive language skills and their ability to take part in imaginative play and show knowledge about the world.

Growth and development in the communication skills and general knowledge domain enables children to: express their needs, interact successfully and demonstrate their knowledge, have the background and prior knowledge required to actively engage in learning experiences, enhance vocabulary and language comprehension by building a strong foundation in language to communicate more effectively, strengthen cultural awareness by understanding and appreciating diverse perspectives and traditions, foster curiosity and inquiry by asking questions and seeking information to expand their knowledge.

Children's development in the communication skills and general knowledge domain is embedded in practices aimed at meeting Early Years Learning Framework Outcomes 4 and 5. Development in this domain is supported by National Quality Standard Quality Areas 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7.

To enhance development in the communication skills and general knowledge domain, educators and carers can: use routines as an opportunity to interact with the children around topics of interest or what is occurring, ask open-ended questions about the characters, setting and plot when reading books, engage children in child-led discussions or conversations, for example, ask probing questions and encourage them to reply, listen to children, follow their lead and talk about the things they share, use familiar books as prompts for children to create their own stories.

Communication skills and general knowledge supports children to communicate their thoughts, beliefs and feelings and enables them to better have their needs met, making the most of learning opportunities.

For more information, including reflective questions and ideas on how to foster communication skills and general knowledge, download the AEDC domain guide for communication skills and general knowledge or visit the department's AEDC webpage to access the other domain videos in the series.

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