Quality Area 7: Governance and leadership

Overview

Quality Area 7 focuses on effective leadership and governance of the service to establish and maintain quality environments for children’s learning and development. Effective leaders establish shared values for the service that reflect the service context and professionalism and set clear direction for the service’s continuous improvement. Governance refers to the systems in place to support effective management and operation of the service, consistent with the service’s statement of philosophy.

To achieve the best outcomes for children and families, a service requires a skilled and engaged workforce, sound administrative and risk management systems, well-documented policies and procedures, and a safe and healthy learning environment for children.

Effective evaluation and self-review enables a service to continuously improve their practice, policies and procedures. An ongoing cycle of self-assessment, planning and review, together with engagement with all stakeholders including families, creates a culture of continuous improvement at the service.

Educational leaders exercise collaborative leadership and teamwork by supporting educators, through professional and respectful conversations, to reflect on their practice and identify opportunities for improvement. Collaborative leadership and teamwork support a culture of peer mentoring and shared learning, where all team members contribute to and facilitate each other’s professional learning and growth (Early Years Learning Framework; Framework for School Age Care).

Standards, elements and concepts

Quality Area 7 has two Standards that focus on governance and leadership at the service. These Standards are crucial to delivering quality outcomes for children under the National Quality Framework because:

• effective governance requires a statement of philosophy, adequate management systems and clearly delineated roles and responsibilities to support the effective operation of a quality service
• effective leadership establishes a culture of reflective practice to encourage continuous improvement across all aspects of the service, resulting in a higher quality service for children and their families.