In Australia, Early Childhood Services are guided by the National Quality Framework regulated by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).
ACECQA is an independent national authority that assists governments in administering the National Quality Framework (NQF) for children's education and care by:
- Implementing changes that benefit children from birth to 13 years and their families.
- Monitor and promote the consistent application of the Education and Care Services National Law and Regulations.
- Support the children’s education and care sector to improve quality outcomes for children through the National Quality Standards (NQS) and Learning Frameworks.
Services are assessed and rated by ACECQA every couple of years against the NQS to promote ongoing quality and transparency for families.
Our services record the improvement journey in our centre's Quality Improvement Plan (QIP). Families are encouraged to contribute to the improvement ideas through ongoing feedback. Many child care centres do this in an incredibly creative and inspiring way, demonstrating their focus on helping each child reach their full potential.
So what does this mean for families? It means reassurance that all of our Lifelong Learning centres are assessed and rated by the government against the National Quality Standard to ensure your child receives quality care.
ACECQA has also developed the Learning Frameworks to support Educators in delivering a high quality educational program:
Early Years Learning Framework (commonly known as EYLF)
This Framework describes the principles, practices and outcomes essential to supporting and enhancing young children's learning from birth to school age.
My Time Our Place (commonly known as MTOP)
This Framework was developed to help educators to extend and enrich children's well-being and development in before and after school and vacation care settings.
In addition to the EYLF and MTOP - some Australian States also have their own Childcare and Kindergarten standards, such as the Queensland Government’s Approved kindergarten programs, the New South Wales Regulatory Framework, an the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework. Early education and care services must use these frameworks to deliver an educational program to all children in their care.
Our unique research-based Lifelong Learning approach was developed to support our passionate Educators to implement the NQF through each of the four intentions - Emotional Confidence, Social Connectivity, Foundational Learning and Physical Health and well-being. This means our families can be sure they are investing in high-quality early education to help set their children up for a lifetime of learning.
In addition, every Lifelong Learning Centre around Australia is assigned to a Quality Advisor, an early education specialist working alongside our services to embed best practices meeting the NQS.
So, it’s no surprise that more of our centres achieve ‘Meeting’ and ‘Exceeding’ yearly ratings! At Lifelong Learning Centres, we aim to deliver high-quality early education so every child in our care can reach their full potential.
The ‘Starting Blocks’ website was developed by ACECQA just for families and is a great source for further information. https://www.starting blocks.gov.au/other-resources/info graphics/national-quality-framework/what-are-the-7-quality-areas/
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