Professional Development Overview

The Professional Development Community

Gowrie NSW supports and actively works to influence others in the early childhood sector through its training and professional development activities, and by forming strong partnerships with other organisations. In 2010, Gowrie engaged with the broader Human Services sector in delivering practical, relevant projects and events to early childhood professionals and others working with children.

In 2011 Gowrie NSW will once again Chair NIFTeY New South Wales, the State branch of the National Investment for the Early Years, a coalition of organisations advocating for the importance of the early years of life with Government and other professionals. The NIFTeY national conference will take place in 2011 at Dockside, Darling Harbour. Visit the website for more information www.nifteyconference.com

Gowrie believes that the highest standards in early childhood care and education go hand-in-hand with the quality of the people providing the service. Best Practice and professional excellence can really only be achieved when an organisation earnestly invests in its people.

A History of Quality

Gowrie NSW’s commitment to professional development stems from its early history when the first Gowrie was founded as a ‘demonstration centre’ at the outbreak of World War II. It provided a unique model of a one-stop-shop where predominantly poor children and babies were cared for in a quality environment, and where their health was monitored with regular medical checks. Over the decades, and particularly since the 1980s, Gowrie NSW has grown its reputation for planning and delivering high standards of professional development with the result of great performance outcomes and career satisfaction.

Gowrie’s vision for the future is to build further on this strong foundation – to offer the best training and professional development programs possible by drawing on the best offerings from the national and international field as well as to extend its important child-focus and relevance to the contemporary social environment. Gowrie NSW will ensure responsiveness to the sector’s professional needs and deliver an engaging calendar of events for many years to come.