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Preparing for assessment and

rating under the National

Quality Standard (2018)

Madeleine Smith

Executive Director Quality Assessment and Regulation Division

Australian Childcare Alliance Victoria

Excellence in ECEC Conference 2018

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The National Quality Framework

Established under the

National Partnership Agreement

to:

• deliver an integrated and unified national system

• provide aspirational requirements through the National Quality Standard

• drive continuous quality improvement in education and care services.

NQF and NQS

informed by research/best

practice including:

• the OECD’s Starting Strong series which found high quality early childhood education and care contributes to positive outcomes for children.

“Children who have a good start in life are more likely to develop the capabilities that will better

equip Australia to compete in a global society.”The Council of Australian Governments (COAG 2009, p.7)

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The best measure we have of how well our young

children are developing, the Australian Early

Development Census, recorded little improvement

between 2009 and 2015.

In 2015, it showed one in five Victorian children were

developmentally vulnerable on one or more domains.

Too many Victorian children are starting school behind.

High-quality, play-based learning, such as that in high-

quality education and care services, can have a strong

positive impact on child development

How well our young children are developing

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Structural and process quality

Two main components of quality in early childhood

education and care:

Process quality:

Relates to the quality of interactions in the program and

includes elements of the emotional, organisational and

instructional environment

Structural quality:

Supports process elements and refers to characteristics

such as educator-to-child ratios, space, resources, group

sizes, staff qualifications and the educational curriculum.

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E4KIDS:The importance of high-quality play based learning

• Australia’s largest longitudinal research project,

E4Kids studied the impact of participation in

early childhood education and care programs

• This research showed that process quality is a

significantly stronger predictor of child outcomes

than structural quality.

• Findings include:

• The quality of adult-child interactions is

the most significant driver of child

development

• Need to focus on instructional teaching

even during play.

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Assessing quality under the National Quality Standard

The National Quality Framework

established a national benchmark for the

quality of education and care services

across quality areas including structural

and process aspects of quality.

This approach represented a

strengthened focus on assessing process

quality through observation and

discussion of practice.

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Assessing quality under the National Quality Standard

Sight

• Sight documentation

as evidence to support

particular practices at

the service

• For example,

attendance records,

policies and

procedures,

collections of

children’s work and

documentation of child

assessments or

evaluations

Observe

• Observe what

children, educators,

co-ordinators and

staff members are

doing

• For example

engaging in caring,

friendly and respectful

interactions

Discuss

• Discuss why and

how particular

practices occur at

the service

• With the approved

provider, nominated

supervisor,

educators, co-

ordinators, family

day care educators,

assistants or staff

members

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Revised and streamlined National Quality Standard

A revised and streamlined

National Quality Standard

and a new process for

determining the Exceeding

rating was introduced in

February 2018.

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Implementation of the National Quality Standard (2018)

Assessment and Rating Process

Additional Information

• Additional information is collected prior to the visit. This includes:

• policies and procedures related to compliance with the Child Safe Standards

• the current Quality Improvement Plan • Increased focus on the service’s previous assessment and rating and

history compliance• More focus on discussion at the pre-visit phone call, at the

commencement of and during the visit

Contextual Information

• More focus on the context in which the service operates and the link to the service’s philosophy

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New reports increased focus on quality improvement

Assessment and Rating Reports

More concise but tailored to

the service

Less descriptive information about what

the service is doing to

achieve their rating

Focus on QIP notes to assist

services in ongoing quality

improvement

Summary and rating overview

provides rationale for

rating, identifies strengths and

areas for quality

improvement

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Long day care - top elements ‘Met’ under the National Quality Standard (2018)

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Long day care - top elements ‘Not Met’ under the National Quality Standard (2018)

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Long day care ratings under the revised National Quality Standard

• 155 long day care services have

had an assessment and rating

under the National Quality

Standard (2018)

• 74% of services achieved a

rating of Meeting National Quality

Standard or above

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Long day care next assessments in Victoria

•

•

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Exceeding themes

Practice• is embedded in service operations

Practice• is informed by critical reflection

Practice

• is shaped by meaningful engagement with families and/or the community

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Learning from exceeding practice

• Critical reflection on the needs of the children and families

led to a long day care service embedding a trauma

informed practice.

• All educators and staff across the service were equipped to

support children and families using this approach.

• The service worked in partnership with families and the

community to shape practice when implementing this

approach across the service.

• The service demonstrated a deep understanding of the

context of the community and circumstances of children

and families attending the service in the implementation of

this trauma informed approach.

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The value of building partnerships with families

Feeling their contribution is

valued and respected

Increasing levels of confidence

in the ECEC service

Feeling supported in their parenting role

Having the confidence to ask questions and express their concerns

Developing a better understanding of the role of early childhood staff

Developing a better understanding of their child’s learning and development

Contributing to service decision making about matters that affect them and their

child

In addition to feeling part of the community,

research shows that families benefit from

collaborative relationships by:

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The value of meaningful engagement with the communityCommunity is essential to quality outcomes for

children: it promotes belonging; a sense of identity and

learning; supports active participation in the world and

continuity of learning, and connects children and

families to supportive relationship and resource

networks.

Community means different things to

different people, and people can

belong to multiple communities

A service that is connected and

collaborates with its community is

better equipped to support

families

A community is usually driven

By a shared purpose – it is often a

meaningful connection to a place and/or

people

Connection to community creates a

responsive, safe and stable education and

care environment which promotes children’s

belonging and learning

Positive relationships and a positive sense

of community promote children’s sense of

identity

Connection and collaboration between

education and care community members

supports continuity of children’s

learning

The ability to participate in different

communities helps children respond to

diversity and become socially responsible

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Celebrating unique circumstances of your service

Services that base their

philosophy, practice,

policies and procedures

on the unique context of

the service , their children

families and community

are more likely to

demonstrate the

Exceeding themes and to

be rated as Exceeding

National Quality

Standard.

In an Exceeding service critical reflection and meaningful

engagement with families and/ or the community will be

demonstrated across the service and inform and shape practice

across different standards

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Minor adjustment policy

If a minor adjustment could result in an

individual element being assessed as ‘met’ a

minor adjustment may be offered

The approved provider will be given a short

time to make the adjustment in the

circumstances that:

• There is no unacceptable risk to the safety,

health or wellbeing of children

• The quality of the service provided is

minimally impacted

• Rectification can take place quickly and

easily.

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Can services provide feedback on the draft report?

• Services have 10 working days to provide feedback about

the report accuracy.

• If no feedback is provided the report is considered final.

How should feedback be provided?

• Feedback must be:

• Succinct

• Factual

• Demonstrate how the service has met an element or

is Meeting or Exceeding a standard

• Each Exceeding theme must be demonstrated for a

standard to be rated as Exceeding.

• An application for review of the draft report, including

submitting additional evidence, must be done through

NQA ITS

Provided feedback on the draft assessment and rating report

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An approved provider can apply to

a regulatory authority for a review

of ratings (Section 141)

The application must be submitted

in writing via NQA ITS within 14

days of receiving the final

assessment and rating report

Identify the grounds the review is

being sought

First tier reviews

You can make a complaint about:

• A Quality Assessment and

Regulation Division (QARD) staff

member

• Your satisfaction with the action

taken by QARD

To make a complaint or give

feedback, contact your local

regional office

Complaints will be handled in a

confidential and professional

manner

Complaints

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Resources

QARD website: www.education.vic.gov.au/childhood/providers/regulation/Pages/nqf.aspx Guide to the National Quality Framework: http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/NQF/Guide-to-the-NQF-3-Guide-to-the-NQS-Part-A.pdf Quality Improvement Plan template from 1 February 2018 is available at: www.acecqa.gov.au/quality-improvement-plan_1 Revised National Quality Standard is available at: http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/NQF/RevisedNQSHandoutA4.pdf Transitioning to the revised National Quality Standard is available at:

http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/NQF/TransitioningtoRevisedNQS.pdf Comparison between current and revised National Quality Standard is available at:

http://files.acecqa.gov.au/files/NQF/ComparisonBetweenCurrentandRevisedNQS.pdf New Guidance for determining Exceeding: www.acecqa.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-

01/NewGuidanceDetermingExceedingNQS_0.pdf Information on making a complaint about QARD staff:

www.education.vic.gov.au/childhood/providers/regulation/Pages/complaints.aspx ACECQA’s Occasional Papers: www.acecqa.gov.au/resources/research#OP Education and care sector research: www.acecqa.gov.au/resources/research#OP We Hear You, ACECQA blog: https://wehearyou.acecqa.gov.au/ ACECQA Newsletters: www.acecqa.gov.au/newsletters/previous-issues ACECQA Assessment and rating resources: www.acecqa.gov.au/assessment/assessment-and-rating-process/materials National Quality Standard: useful links: www.education.vic.gov.au/childhood/providers/regulation/Pages/natqualstandardlinks.aspx QARD website on assessment and rating: www.education.vic.gov.au/childhood/providers/regulation/Pages/assessrating.aspx

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Thank You