Standard 1.3: Assessment and planning
How Standard 1.3 contributes to quality education and care
Thoughtful and professional approaches to assessment and planning for each child and the group of children have the potential to enhance their learning, development and wellbeing.
The approved learning framework and the service’s philosophy statement (see Element 7.1.1) guide educators in developing an educational program and practice that supports their beliefs and values about children’s learning.
Educators collect information on each child, analyse what that information tells them about how to support the child’s learning further, document, plan experiences to incorporate into the program, implement the program and then reflect on what has been learned.
Planning ensures that the educational program and practice responds to children’s strengths, abilities and interests, and scaffolds and extends their learning. It ensures that educators’ practice is intentional and supports children to progress towards the learning outcomes.
Critical reflection encourages educators to engage in analytical and diagnostic thinking to honestly and critically reflect in detail on all aspects of the program, their professional practice, and children’s learning and development.
Educators work in partnership with families in collecting information and planning for each child’s learning and development and seek to keep families informed about the program and their child’s progress. Children’s views and opinions also inform this process.
Questions to guide reflection on practice for Standard 1.3 (for all services)
A planned and reflective approach to program implementation
- How do we ensure that the way we document and plan for children’s learning aligns with current approaches?
- How can we work collaboratively with each family to share information about children’s learning, development and participation in the program?
- How do we recognise and support continuity of learning at the service, and how does information gathered from each child’s home, school or other support service inform planning for continuity of learning?
- What do we do to critically reflect on and evaluate the program, how is this documented and how are our evaluations used to make informed curriculum decisions to improve outcomes for children?
- How do we use critical reflection when discussing programs with colleagues?
- How do we critically reflect on all aspects of pedagogical practice so that quality improvements occur?
