January 2012 sees some changes happening in all children’s services and this has created some speculation about hefty fee rises for childcare to pay for changes to new staffing requirements. Fifty percent of staff will need to have a Diploma in Children’s Services by 2014 and more Early Childhood Teachers will be required. The Government has provided some incentives to help with training costs for staff which is great for children’s services providers. The difficulty is attracting Teachers to a career in Early Childhood especially in rural areas. We need more school leavers to think about Early Childhood Teaching as a career and start studying now! Early Childhood is the most important time in a child’s life and it is very rewarding to see young children learn and grow so much in such a short time!
The Australian Children's Education and Quality Care Authority (ACECQA) is the new national body set up to oversee implementation of the National Quality Framework (NQF) come 1 January 2012. The NQF replaces Quality Assurance Systems formerly managed by the National Childcare Accreditation Council and the NCAC is winding down many of its former functions in preparation for transition to the NQF.
ACECQA is an independent statutory authority which will work with state and territory governments to ensure the NQF is applied consistently.
ACECQA's other responsibilities are to:
report to and advise the Ministerial Council on the National Quality Framework promote continuous quality improvement by approved education and care services establish, maintain and publish national registers of approved providers, approved education and care services and certified supervisors publish, monitor and review ratings of approved education and care services assess approved services to determine the highest level of rating excellent educate and inform services and the community about the National Quality Framework publish guidelines and resources to support services, parents and the community in understanding quality in relation to education and care services
publish practice notes and guidelines for the application of the Law determine the qualifications and provide support and training for staff of Regulatory Authorities
decide the qualifications required to be held by educators, including the assessment of equivalent qualifications.
Below is an example of one of the areas that services will need to look at and assess whether they are meeting the criteria for all areas or not. All service need to submit a Quality Improvement Plan to ACECQA by April!
NQF: Quality Area 6: Collaborative Partnerships with Families and Communities states that:
Learning Outcomes are most likely to be achieved when educators work in partnership with families and communities. Families are the primary influence in their children’s lives and also have strong beliefs and values regarding the education and care of their children. Effective relationships between educators and families are fundamental to the quality of education and care that children receive. Educators can nurture the important attachment relationship when they seek to involve all those who are important to families and children at the service.
Continuous, honest and open two-way communication with educators assists families to feel connected with their children’s experience in education and care and helps them develop trust and confidence in the service. This helps children to feel safe, secure and supported and the service will need to consider a range of strategies to build and maintain relationships with families.
Therefore we will include in our Quality Improvement Plan strategies to enhance parent involvement and communication such as:
Surveying parents about their children’s interests and abilities and goals they would like them to achieve.
General day to day communication books in each room so requests etc are written down for staff on various shifts to be aware of.
A separate parent enquiry book for administrative questions relating to extra days or account queries etc.
A monthly,Stay and Play day, Roster for parents to nominate a time that suits them to come and join in with their child’s activities.
Family disco nights or special occasion visits for Grandparents etc.
Daddy’s Day out Activities for father’s day in September.
Information nights on services available to support families with babies and toddlers, or Transition to School information for Preschoolers.
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