Having your childcare service rated as Exceeding the National Quality Standard (NQS) is the “gold star” goal of centre owners, managers and staff around Australia. Parents and families know that a rating of Exceeding or Excellent means that their child will be receiving the highest possible standard of education and early learning, and as such, preparing for assessment and rating in a way which showcases the work being done in your centre each day is critically important.
Having your childcare service rated as Exceeding the National Quality Standard (NQS) is the “gold star” goal of centre owners, managers and staff around Australia.
Parents and families know that a rating of Exceeding or Excellent means that their child will be receiving the highest possible standard of education and early learning, and as such, preparing for assessment and rating in a way which showcases the work being done in your centre each day is critically important.
We’ve prepared this guide to help you achieve that all important rating, and share some tips about showcasing excellence that we have learnt along the way.
A rating of Exceeding NQS means that a service is performing ‘above and beyond’ the requirements of the NQS. Authorised officers look for exceeding practice based on three themes, which they use to determine if approved services exceed each of the fifteen NQS quality standards.
The themes are:
Authorised officers use ‘observe’, ‘discuss’ and ‘sight’ techniques to gather evidence that is used to assess if the Exceeding NQS themes are evident in practice. All three themes must be demonstrated for a standard to be rated Exceeding NQS.
To be rated as Exceeding the NQS overall, all quality areas must be at least Meeting NQS, and four or more quality areas must be Exceeding NQS, with at least two of these being Quality Areas 1, 5, 6 or 7.
The Sharing Stories of Assessment series from ACECQA provides many fantastic opportunities to learn from services who have been through the process.
The stories shared in the section above can be found here, and for even more insight, check out this piece, from Authorised Officer Vashti Hicks, where she discusses her role and how services can prepare and embrace the assessment and ratings process.
Of course, the Sprout team stands at the ready to support you with any questions and to help you on your journey to a service which has less paperwork, and more play!
To find out more about how we can help, contact us or book a demo.
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