Documenting the assessment and planning cycle
The assessment and planning cycle and its documentation can sometimes be a challenging process for the children’s education and care sector. According to NQF Snapshot Q1 2024, Standard 1.3 (Assessment and planning) is the highest standard rated Working Towards NQS out of the 15 standards of the National Quality Standard (NQS). However, interestingly, the NQF Snapshot data also shows that Standard 1.3 is in the top four standards rated Exceeding NQS. This demonstrates that, when educators are provided with support to understand the planning cycle and are empowered to use their professional judgement to document the cycle of planning, they can exceed in their practice.
Educators, with support from educational leaders and in partnership with families, use the assessment and planning cycle to design programs that enhance and extend children and young people’s learning, development and wellbeing.
The planning cycle involves five stages:
- OBSERVE / Listen/ Collect information
- ASSESS / Analyse/ Interpret learning
- PLAN / Design
- IMPLEMENT / Enact
- EVALUATE / Critically reflect
Critical reflection should be part of every step in the cycle. This involves educators thinking deeply about their practice, how decisions are made, and children’s engagement in the program.
The planning cycle is available in two versions:
- Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) planning cycle poster
- My Time Our Place: Framework for School Age Care in Australia (MTOP) planning cycle poster.
What about documentation?
As stated in the Guide to the National Quality Framework, documentation should occur at each stage of the assessment and planning process. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, specific templates, prescriptive amounts or legislated timeframes for services to use or follow, which can present challenges but also opportunities to develop processes that work for individual service contexts. The outcome-focused standards encourage educators and educational leaders to use their professional judgement while being creative and innovative in the way the standards are met. Services should recognise and respond to the unique context of their services and community.
In addition, approved providers should offer support to service leaders and educators, collaboratively setting expectations to ensure documentation meets legislative requirements.
We have developed a new suite of educational documentation resources to guide educators and approved providers on the educational program and practice documentation requirements:
- ACECQA – Information sheet - Educational Program Documentation for Educators and Teachers - Early childhood
- ACECQA – Information sheet - Educational Program Documentation for Educators - School age care
- ACECQA – Information sheet - Educational Program Documentation for Approved Providers - Early Childhood
- ACECQA – Information sheet - Educational Program Documentation for Approved Providers - School Age Care
When service leaders and educators take time to collaboratively consider what is required under the National Law and Regulations, they are empowered to critically reflect on the purpose of documentation and look for more succinct, efficient, purposeful and meaningful ways to document.