As part of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) reform agenda, the National Quality Framework for early childhood services will apply from 1 January 2012. This national framework will apply to Long Day Care, Family Day Care, Preschools and Outside School Hours Care. It will replace the licensing and accreditation processes undertaken by Community Services (in NSW) and the National Childcare Accreditation Council.
A new national body, the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) will oversee the implementation of the framework, with administration of the regulation being undertaken by the NSW Government. The regulatory authority for school based early childhood services in NSW is the NSW Department of Education & Communities.
The new National Quality Standard is divided into seven areas that contribute to the quality of early childhood education and care. These areas have been identified by research and are:
- Educational program and practice
- Children’s health and safety
- Physical environment
- Staffing arrangements (including the number of staff looking after children)
- Relationships with children
- Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
- Leadership and service management
The Children (Education and Care Services National Law Application) Act 2010 was passed by the NSW Government. This Act covers:
- Approval for providers of education and care services
- Assessment and rating systems
- Offences, obligations and compliance
- Review processes
- Roles of MCEECDYA, ACECQA and the NSW regulatory authority
- Records & privacy
- Transitional arrangements
Under the new processes all early childhood education and care services will be assessed and given a rating against the seven quality areas, and an overall rating, against the National Quality Standard. These ratings will be published to provide parents and the community more information about individual services.
Independent schools providing school based early childhood services will need to engage with the framework, standards, quality areas and assessment and rating instrument to ensure the service is fully compliant with government requirements.
The websites and resources on the right hand side of this page provide some essential documents for schools including the Regulation, the Early Years Learning Framework and FAQs posed to the state regulatory authority.
The AIS is actively working with NSW Department of Education and Communities on the implementation of the National Quality Framework in NSW and can provide general advice for independent schools in relation to the introduction of the National Quality Framework.
For more information about the requirements relating to school based early childhood services please contact Robyn Yates, Director: Government Education Policy at the AIS on (02) 9299 2845.