ACECQA Newsletter Issue 8 2017
New resources to help you with the changes to the NQF
With just over a month until changes to the National Law and Regulations come into effect, we are publishing new National Quality Framework (NQF) resources to support the education and care sector.
The resources explain some of the key changes and continuing requirements for providers and educators across all service types.
The resources include:
- a two-page summary of the key changes for family day care educators
- an information sheet for approved providers, services and family day care educators outlining changes to notifications, incidents and complaints
- guidance explaining the changes around responsible persons, and the removal of supervisor certificate provisions
- an information sheet for outside school hours care services on documenting programs for school age children.
Additional resources and a new Guide to the National Quality Framework are planned for publication on the ACECQA website before 1 October 2017 to provide more guidance and support. Visit our Changes to the National Quality Framework page for the full range of resources and more information.
More than 14,000 education and care services quality rated
The latest NQF Snapshot shows continued growth and ongoing quality improvement of the education and care sector. As at 30 June 2017, 14,106 education and care services – 91% of all services approved to operate under the National Quality Framework (NQF) – have received a quality rating. Since there will always be a small number of services that have only recently been approved or have only been operating for a short time, the proportion of services with a quality rating will not reach 100% at any one time.
Almost three-quarters of services with a quality rating (73%) were rated at Meeting National Quality Standard or above. There have also been almost 2500 quality rating reassessments, with 59% of these leading to an improved overall quality rating.
The range of data included in the online version of the NQF Snapshot continues to expand, with information and analysis on the profile of the sector, progress of assessment and rating, quality rating of services and waivers held by services.
This Snapshot is the 17th report on the NQF and both PDF and online versions of the Snapshot are available on the ACECQA website. NQS data for all services that have received a quality rating is also available to download as an Excel workbook.
Transition to school: a collaborative effort
Why is the process of transitioning to school from early childhood education so important? How can educators, families, schools and community members collaboratively develop useful and meaningful strategies to help children? Why is this collaboration essential?
This month on We Hear You, we look at the latest OECD Starting Strong V report on this transition and explore what a quality transition to school looks like.
Starting Blocks Resource of the month
Starting Blocks, ACECQA’s family focused website, is updated regularly with factsheets, infographics and resources for families and education and care services.
The newly updated Other Resources page on the website now includes a featured ‘Resource of the month’ as well as quick links to a variety of handy tools and translated resources.
If you are looking for a resource to share with families about illness in education and care services during the cold and flu season this month, the practical and printable August resource can help. The fact sheet steps parents, carers and families through the basics including the reasons children become ill while attending services and the ways to lower the risks of contracting infectious illnesses.
Visit Starting Blocks to download the fact sheet and share with your networks.
ACECQA's Occasional Paper 5
ACECQA has published its fifth occasional paper analysing Quality Area 7 – Leadership and service management. This completes the suite of occasional papers that cover the four quality areas of the National Quality Standard that are comparatively challenging.
The NQS recognises the importance of effective leadership and internal administrative systems in guiding and supporting educators, coordinators and staff members to deliver quality education and care programs. While Quality Area 7 focuses on leadership and administrative systems, the paper highlights the direct influence this quality area has on all other areas of the NQS.
The paper highlights contemporary research and theory related to leadership and service management and the distribution of quality ratings for Quality Area 7. It also provides case studies while exploring future directions and the implications of the data and literature for service leadership and management.
Download Occasional Paper 1: Educational program and practice
Download Occasional Paper 2: Children’s health and safety
Download Occasional Paper 3: Promoting consistency and efficiency under the NQF
Download Occasional Paper 4: The quality of physical environments in education and care services
Download Occasional Paper 5: Leadership and service management
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