The landscape of early childhood education and care in Australia is continually changing. It’s crucial for the sector to stay informed about the latest advancements to guarantee optimal learning and development opportunities for children, including staying abreast of the updated national learning frameworks.

Come January 2024, Australia’s Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector is poised for a significant shift with the introduction of version 2 of the nationally approved learning frameworks. Throughout 2023, the original frameworks will run concurrently with the new version, providing a transition period for services to adjust and enhance their practices. These frameworks, namely “Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia” and “My Time, Our Place: Framework for School Age Care in Australia,” have undergone revisions to better align with the changing needs of educators, children and families. Join us as we delve into these changes and their implications for education and care providers nationwide.

Australia has maintained a steadfast dedication to delivering top-notch education and care for children from birth to 12 years old. The National Quality Framework (NQF) stands as a fundamental pillar of this commitment, with nationally approved learning frameworks playing a crucial role within it. These frameworks serve as a guiding beacon for providers of early childhood education and care, facilitating the creation of enriching learning environments that foster the thriving development of children and embed opportunities for lifelong learning.

What additions are in Version 2 of these revised national learning frameworks?

The revised 2.0 versions of “Belonging, Being and Becoming” and “My Time, Our Place” mark a notable progression. Key alterations and improvements encompass:

Getting ready to shift to the revised national learning frameworks

As Version 2 of the revised national learning frameworks is scheduled for rollout in January 2024, it’s essential for approved providers and services to ready themselves for this transition. Here are some steps to contemplate:

1. Get acquainted—Begin by thoroughly acquainting yourself with the updated learning frameworks relevant to your service. ACECQA (the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority) offers resources and guidance to assist educators in catching up.
2. Invest in professional growth—Contemplate allocating resources to professional development opportunities for your educators and staff, ensuring they are thoroughly equipped to implement the new frameworks effectively.
3. Connect with families—Ensure parents and families are well-informed about the changes and actively involve them in the process. Their support and understanding play a vital role in guaranteeing a seamless transition for children.
4. Revise educational programs—Evaluate and modify your educational programs and practices to synchronize with Version 2 of the frameworks. For users of Playground, we’ve integrated both basic and advanced versions of the frameworks, readily available for activation in your service.

 

Navigating change may pose challenges, yet it also unveils opportunities for growth and improvement. The revised national learning frameworks in Australia signify a positive stride toward elevating the quality of early childhood education and care in the nation. By acquainting yourself with the changes and taking proactive measures to prepare, you can guarantee that your ECEC service is well-prepared to deliver optimal learning experiences for children.

To enable the 2.0 versions of these frameworks in Playground at your service, please contact our incredible QikKids support team to request this be turned on in your Playground system. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact QikKids support.

Natasha Veiman

Training Specialist

A former childcare centre manager and customer success coordinator at Xplor Education, Tash now empowers childcare staff to get the most out of Xplor Education’s suite of tools.

Now educators can get more done without needing to be in front of their computers.

Playground, QikKids’ educator platform, simplifies everyday tasks for educators and enhances parent engagement through its convenient and practical features. In its initial release, the Playground app focussed on ensuring every child’s safety through features that track and document health and safety events. Other useful features, such as programming and planning, required educators to log in to the Playground web platform. 

We are thrilled to announce that we are upgrading the app experience as we bring in core web features, such as programming and planning, into the Playground app. With this functionality made available on mobile, educators can efficiently accomplish programming and planning tasks and ensure compliance even when they’re on the go. 

“Direct access to the programming and planning records via the Playground app means educators are able to create meaningful documentation and record experiences with greater flexibility. The app will enable educators to interact with the platform in ways that suit them best, saving time and supporting increased engagement with Playground and shared decision-making with children,” said Kirsten Holland, General Manager of Program and Practice of Catholic Early Ed Care. 

Adding to this innovative mobile-first planning experience, Playground also offers Documents, Tables and Canvases in the app. These features make it convenient for educators to create and share learning journeys with parents to report on and track each child’s learning outcomes and progress. Canvas gives educators the ability to make their plans more creative and visually appealing. 

Our commitment to empowering the early education sector is always a priority. In line with this, we consulted with an education advisory group of five pedagogical leaders and engaged with them to learn how to improve our software for the wider sector. The initiative reveals that adding programming and planning functionality to the Playground app would be a transformational benefit to educators across the sector.

Another leader in the ECEC sector, Dr Melinda Miller, the Director of Early Learning, First Five Early Learning, expressed how the new update addresses the modern needs of educators. “When digital platforms are responsive to the nature of educators’ work in early childhood education settings, documentation can become more meaningful and accessible. The evolution of Playground web functionality into the app is responsive to the time-critical nature of educators’ work, a need for flexibility in how documentation is accessed and recorded, and opportunities for working with digital documentation in more innovative ways for and with children.”  

To take advantage of this cutting-edge functionality, users must update to Playground app version 2.14.0 on their iPad or Apple mobile device. After the update, educators will be able to save time and enjoy the freedom of completing programming and planning tasks while on the move. 

To learn more about how Playground can benefit your service, book a demo with us. 

 

Patricia Podolig Donaldson

Marketing Content Specialist

Marketing and communications professional with over eight years of experience, writing about Xplor Childcare & Education’s comprehensive suite of products since 2021.

Canberra hosted the annual Early Childhood Australia (ECA) conference from the 6th to the 8th of October at the National Convention Centre. This was the first time in several years that the conference was held in person after being held online due to COVID. With the theme “Passion to power: Our future profession,” the conference aimed to reflect on how far the sector has come, from the visionary and passionate women of the 1920s to the competent and qualified educators of today.

It was also an opportunity to consider how early childhood professionals can become thought leaders and power brokers in the sector. Early Childhood Australia has served as a voice for young children since 1938. It represents the interests of young children, their families and early childhood professionals. The annual conference emphasized ECA’s vision of ensuring that every young child thrives and learns.

Over 1,600 delegates attended the conference in person and another 600 virtually, with over 100 workshops and breakout sessions held throughout the week. Attendees were treated to talks by respected leaders in the ECEC sector, such as Dr Melinda Miller, Colin Slattery, Anthony Semann & Pippa Procter, and Dr Michele Peden & Bridy Garnon. There was also a welcome address from the Hon Jason Clare MP, Federal Minister for Education, and keynote addresses from Dylan Alcott AO and Dr Laura Jana.

Among the highlights of the conference was the well-received address by The Hon Julia Gillard AC and Catherine Liddle, CEO of SNAICC – National Voice for our Children. As part of their conversation, the two discussed the importance of investing in early childhood education and care, gender equality, and closing the gap. In addition, part of the program included four researchers and early childhood advocates being recognized for their contributions to the profession and early childhood education sector.

The HESTA Early Childhood Education & Care Awards have also long been associated with the ECA conference. Educators play a vital role in helping young Australians succeed, and this awards night celebrates and acknowledges that role. Awards were given in three categories: Advancing Pedagogy & Practice, Outstanding Organization, and Individual Leadership. The Xplor team congratulates all finalists and winners.

As a leading conference in early childhood education, the ECA conference provided an excellent opportunity to showcase both the QikKids and Xplor brands in the co-branded booth. For the first time since the merger, both brands were represented in a single booth, introducing the broader market to the Xplor Childcare & Education brand, as well as our leading ECEC products, QikKids, Office, Playground, Home and MyWaitlist.

 

Matt Varley, General Manager, attended the conference on Thursday, stating that it was “Great to be back in-person in Canberra, connecting with customers, people who are looking to move to new software like QikKids and Xplor and connecting with people in the sector was fantastic.” With the Xplor and QikKids custom-built booth, we were able to create a hub where delegates and other exhibitors could interact freely. This was another successful conference hosted by Early Childhood Australia. The QikKids team is already looking forward to next year’s conference, which will be held in Adelaide from October 4th to 7th, 2023.

 

Mufaro Maringe

Community & Engagement Lead

Building communities in the ECE sector with my learnings as an early childhood educator and a customer support coordinator with Xplor Childhood & Education since 2021.

Debit Success removes data security concerns from early childcare services.

You likely heard “Level One PCI DSS compliance” mentioned as a feature of Debit Success when you were signing up for the platform. It probably sounded important and good to have, but what does it really mean? 

What is PCI compliance? 

PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. It is designed to ensure all payments processors properly and securely store and process credit card information. 

PCI is independently assessed and rated by the PCI Security Standards Council and is scored against twelve requirements. These requirements are:  

1. Install and maintain a firewall configuration to protect cardholder data 
2. Do not use vendor-supplied defaults for system passwords and other security parameters 
3. Protect stored cardholder data 
4. Encrypt transmission of cardholder data across open, public networks 
5. Use and regularly update anti-virus software or programs 
6. Develop and maintain secure systems and applications 
7. Restrict access to cardholder data by business need to know 
8. Assign a unique ID to each person with computer access 
9. Restrict physical access to cardholder data 
10. Track and monitor all access to network resources and cardholder data 
11. Regularly test security systems and processes 
12. Maintain a policy that addresses information security for all personnel 

 

Businesses must achieve an assessment score of 100% in each field to maintain Level 1 PCI Compliance. Debit Success has maintained this 100% score in all twelve fields since it was implemented as a payments process for QikKids.

 

Why is this important to my business? 

With more and more of our lives online and an increasing amount of personal information stored online, data security is at the forefront of most people’s minds. Knowing the information your families provide to Debit Success is secure whilst removing the burden from your service to adequately protect this information provides you with peace of mind. 

Whilst PCI compliance applies to how we process and store credit card information, it is essential to note that this level of data security is applied to all information Debit Success collects and stores. We have a dedicated IT security team that performs regular external penetration testing to identify and repair any possible areas of weakness.  

You can rest assured that your payments data is in safe hands when you use Debit Success. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions about Debit Success or want to get started with Debit Success at your centre.

 

Tenille Johnson

Team Lead Payments and Billing

Now’s the right time to make service upgrades at your centre.

As a result of the ongoing collaboration between the New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria governments, significant changes are coming to the childcare and education sector. In what the state premiers have called “the greatest transformation of early education in a generation”, an additional year of play-based learning will be introduced.  

The policy reform will benefit all children in Victoria and New South Wales. As they have a full year of play-based learning before they begin school, they have the opportunity to grow, learn, make friends and gain new experiences. Children four years of age will be offered 30 hours per week of play-based learning, up from the current 15 hours/week. The program will be called “pre-prep” in Victoria and “pre-kindergarten” in NSW. 

They have also announced plans to invest billions in childcare to drive down prices and increase the number of places over the next ten years. More than $5.8 billion will be allocated to introduce universal pre-kindergarten in NSW by 2030. Meanwhile, programs will be rolled out in Victoria starting in 2025 as part of early childhood education’s $9 billion overhaul. 

New childcare centres will be built in suburbs where there are long waiting lists. This will increase the overall childcare supply by about 3 to 5 per cent. This will help solve the problem in childcare deserts or places in the state where there are more than three times as many children as childcare facilities within 20 minutes of a family’s home. The reform will benefit hundreds of thousands of working families with limited access to childcare, making it easier for working parents to return to work on their own terms.

 This collaborative effort will undoubtedly benefit providers of early childhood care and education. A workforce plan is also included in the policy to ensure expanding centres can find qualified staff. These reforms should enhance the financial stability of childcare providers. Centres will be in an excellent place to consider improving business practices and availing themselves of upgrades to continue thriving.  

Revisiting software upgrade plans can help services future-proof their business. Adopting convenient and easy-to-use platforms like Playground is a practical next step. Playground integrates compliance, safety and parent engagement into one platform. It makes it easy to document learning outcomes, record observations, and improve parent engagement—resulting in centres providing better quality care. As the childcare sector takes a step forward, so should your centre. 

 

For more information about Playground, visit https://qikkids.com.au/products/playground 

 

Relationships with children: Quality Area 5 

Quality Area 5 of the National Quality Standard focuses on the value of relationships with children that are responsive and respectful in nature. Respectful and meaningful relationships help a child to feel secure, confident and included. When a child is supported, their self-esteem gets a boost. 

Respectful relationships encourage children to explore the environment and engage in play, resulting in positive learning outcomes. Good relationships ultimately empower children to connect with others, build positive friendships and resolve conflicts. These relationships support children to self-regulate their own behaviour and respond appropriately. 

Relationships between educators and children 

The goal of NQS Quality Area 5 is for children to develop a strong sense of belonging and well-being through nurturing and respectful relationships with their educators. Early childhood education services are responsible for developing and nurturing respectful and equitable relationships with children.  

Staffing arrangements must be taken seriously by education and care services for young children. Children’s relationships early in life influence their identity and how they belong in particular groups. Educational leaders must always promote responsive and meaningful interactions with children.  

Educators play a crucial role in ensuring services’ compliance with the national quality standard. They must take the lead in creating various constructive everyday interactions and shared learning opportunities with each child. By supporting children through nurturing relationships, educators help promote children’s sense of self-confidence and skills to manage their behaviour and relate positively to others.  

Positive educator-to-child interactions  

Through positive interactions and shared learning opportunities, educators can stimulate children’s thinking and enrich their learning through routines, play and ongoing projects.  

Educators can use daily interactions to develop sensitive and responsive relationships with children. One simple and practical way to enable children to communicate effectively and respond appropriately is to actively engage with them through listening and responding to what they are saying. Children learn by example. 

Build and maintain sensitive and responsive relationships with children. An educator can do so by being extra attentive to the children’s non-verbal cues, especially when immersed in a small group setting. 

Creating a safe space for a child to share their thoughts and feelings is imperative in fostering a positive educator-to-child relationship. It allows them to feel accepted and safe. The child is supported when they feel that they have a voice in the group and can contribute to decisions.  

More than just guiding children’s behaviour, educators who are developing responsive and meaningful interactions must also observe and note how children prefer to communicate. It’s one way of showing children their thoughts, opinions and preferences matter. Showing respect for a child’s feelings will encourage them to keep sharing them with you. 

Dignity and rights of the child   

The Early Childhood Australia (ECA) Code of Ethics encourages early childhood professionals to value, acknowledge and respond to all children’s rights to their identities, abilities, strengths and culture.  

One of the guiding principles of the National Quality Framework (NQF) is that the rights and best interests of the child are paramount. Each child has a right to be heard, to be free from violence, abuse and neglect, to have the opportunity to thrive, to be engaged in civics and citizenship and opportunities, and to act and be accountable.   

Providing education and care based on rights means understanding these rights and implementing practices that reflect them. 

Relationships between children 

Each child is supported to build and maintain sensitive and responsive relationships. Children will also need to manage their relationships with one another. Relationships between them and their peers will gradually become more complex as they grow. 

Developing sensitive and responsive relationships is vital for them to set a base for learning how their choices affect themselves and others. Secure children have increased empathy, better relationships with parents and peers, and increased capacity to handle emotions more effectively. 

Collaborative learning  

Children are active learners, and they learn skills needed by watching, copying and practising or through trial and error. They develop skills through play more than any other activity. That’s why services should provide many opportunities for children to practice working together collaboratively and effectively, including through play activities.  

Collaborative experiences help hone children’s behaviour. Through these, children learn about their responsibilities to others and appreciate their connectedness and interdependence as learners. Interaction with other children helps a child learn life and social skills, such as conflict resolution and negotiation skills. 

Self-regulation  

Self-regulation develops through interaction with caregivers and the broader environment. It is critical to support self-regulation at each stage of development. During their early childhood, children should start knowing how to manage thoughts and feelings to enable goal-directed actions. 

In addition to becoming aware of their own interactions with others, children begin to understand how their actions affect others. Self-regulation includes cognitive, emotional and behavioural skills and processes that support children in coping with strong feelings, controlling impulses, learning and getting along with others.  

Role modelling and supporting children to convey and construct messages with purpose and confidence can encourage young children to relate to others. Modelling positive ways to express needs, resolve conflict, or respond to their own behaviour and other people’s behaviour is an essential part of teaching young children.  

Parents, educators, staff of afterschool care providers, extended family members and others support self-regulation development by using three strategies in a process called “co-regulation.”  

Their strategies include: 

1. Building Warm, Responsive Relationships 
2. Structuring the Environment 
3. Coaching Self-regulation Skills  

 

For more ways to build respectful and genuine relationships with children in your care, along with tips for improving your Quality Area 5 ratings, check out our free guide.

For more ways to build respectful and genuine relationships with children in your care, along with tips for improving your Quality Area 5 ratings, check out our free guide.  Bonus content in the guide:  A handy self-assessment checklist to prepare your staff for the Assessment and Rating process. Download Guide

 

Understanding and implementing the National Quality Standard (NQS) for all quality areas is essential for childcare services. But if you don’t have documentation showing that your staff understands and puts in place NQS guidelines, you may be missing out. If assessors don’t receive concrete proof you’re implementing these standards, your centre may not get the ratings it deserves.

Along with providing high-quality care based on the NQS, amassing your “Wall of Evidence” should be your next course of action. Document your centre’s implementation of all NQS elements across all quality areas and include Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) outcomes. Together, these are your path to higher NQS ratings, and, according to Early Years Research 2021, this can eventually lead to higher occupancy rates.

Documenting interactions throughout the day may seem overwhelming, but such efforts are highly beneficial. One of the easiest ways to collect documentation is through pictures and videos. Let’s look at how one picture and one video can do much more than ‘capture a memory’.

Meeting NQS for Quality Area 2 – Health & Safety

Quality Area 2 (QA2) is Health & Safety, and centres are tasked with supporting each child’s wellbeing through a safe and hygienic centre environment. One way to do this is by modelling and implementing good hygiene and healthy eating habits. So how do you document this?

Let’s start with a picture of a child washing her hands before a meal. This picture documents your understanding and implementation of Element 2.1.2 (Healthy practices and procedures). If you use People Engagement Software (PES) and share this picture with a family member, you’ll also fulfil Element 1.3.3 (Information for families).  

Once the child has washed her hands and is ready to eat, what now? As the child is eating, you could record a short 10-15 second video clip. This might not seem like much more than recording a happy memory. But it can be much, much more with Programming and Planning (P&P) tools which can log details of children’s activities in both text and graphic files. Educators can then share these with families and help them stay connected with their child’s daily development.

A short video clip is more than a captured memory

The video shows a lot more than the child eating. You’ve already documented the child washing her hands before mealtime. But the video displays that the table she’s eating at is also clean (hygienic). This is further evidence that your centre meets Element 2.1.2.

The table, chairs, and utensils in the dining area can provide further proof. Showing that the furniture is child-friendly is evidence of careful planning when designing and furnishing the centre (Element 3.1.1 Fit for purpose). The use of child-appropriate utensils to avoid injury is yet more proof of Element 2.1.2.

Let’s take a closer look at the food that the child in this short video is eating. This video is an easy way to prove your centre provides nutritious meals to children, in line with Australian Dietary Guidelines. Providing nutritious food options helps you meet Element 2.1.3 (Healthy lifestyle).

In addition, if the video shows different children have different food on their plates, in varying amounts, it is further evidence of Element 2.1.3. It shows that children aren’t required to eat foods they don’t like and aren’t required to eat more than they need. With a P&P tool, you could include information about individual dietary needs or food allergies—further proof of Element 2.1.2.

Documentation can meet several NQS Elements

If the video includes educators in the background, you’ve met another element. Showing that qualified supervisors monitor activities at all times helps you meet Element 2.2.1 (Supervision). If the video includes a respectful interaction between staff and children while eating, you have evidence of staff fulfilling Element 4.2.2 (Professional standards).

Finally, a video of a child eating by herself is evidence of EYLF learning outcomes. Choosing what food to eat and feeding herself helps a child have a strong sense of identity. Eating nutritious food that she enjoys can also help promote a strong sense of well-being.

 

Our free guide, How to Improve Your Ratings in NQS Quality Area 2, has excellent tips and information to help your centre deliver quality care and achieve high ratings.     Download Guide

Documentation—your path to higher NQS ratings

Hopefully, you can now see how simple documentation of daily interactions at your centre can benefit your NQS ratings. The simple picture and video prove that your centre understands and implements several elements of the NQS in its day-to-day operations. But without that picture and video, you have no proof to offer assessors—even though you did everything right. Assessors would have no way of knowing how thorough your efforts are.

Documentation can seem like a formidable task, but P&P tools and PES can make the job much more manageable. They provide a simple means to store the documentation, tag learning outcomes, and make notes relevant to different Quality Areas.