Quality Area 2 has two standards that focus on children’s health and safety.
There are three Exceeding themes that services will need to demonstrate for a standard to be rated Exceeding NQS. A rating of Exceeding NQS means going above and beyond what is expected at the Meeting NQS level for a standard.
The following three themes must be demonstrated in service practice for a standard to be rated as Exceeding NQS:
Theme 1: Practice is embedded in service operations
Theme 2: Practice is informed by critical reflection
Theme 3: Practice is shaped by meaningful engagement with families and/or the community
The following guidance is provided to assist services and assessors to consider if practice demonstrates the Exceeding themes at the level required for a rating of Exceeding NQS. The indicators provided are not exhaustive, and services may demonstrate Exceeding level practice for Quality Area 2 in a variety of ways that suit their particular operating environment and approach to practice.
Standard 2.1 - Health
Exceeding theme 1: Practice is embedded in service operations
• Educators, the educational leader, and co-ordinators demonstrate a deep understanding of the requirements of the standard and its component elements and a commitment to high-quality practice at all times.
• All educators are consistently attuned to and respond to children’s changing health and physical activity requirements throughout the day, provide a range of opportunities to effectively address and respond to children’s needs for sleep, rest and relaxation throughout the day individually and in groups.
• Educators manage and support children’s health and medical needs in line with established best practice at all times, actively promote healthy eating, physical activity, and effective hygiene practices in the delivery of the daily program.
• Educators provide regular opportunities for explicit learning about health and wellbeing, respond confidently to the daily events that impact on children’s health and activity needs.
• The observed and discussed approach to supporting and promoting children’s health and physical activity consistently aligns with the design and delivery of the educational program and service philosophy and demonstrates a strong commitment to the priorities, principles and practices of the approved learning framework.
• The service’s approach to supporting and promoting children’s health and physical activity reflects a commitment to the prevention of illness and injuries and this is evident in the service’s approach to reporting and responding to health and illness-related incidents.
Exceeding theme 2: Practice is informed by critical reflection
• Educators, the educational leader and co-ordinators, systematically and regularly reflect on opportunities to enhance each child’s health outcomes and promote physical activity with children and families, seek out and consider alternate ways of supporting each child’s health and activity needs, and make changes where opportunities to further enhance
children’s outcomes are identified.
• Educators are able to explain how reflection on children’s changing health and activity needs influences the design and delivery of the educational program, reflect together on health and illness-related incidents and support the service to make changes to practices, policies and procedures where opportunities are identified to strengthen the approach.
• Educators are aware of and able to discuss the influences on their approach to supporting and promoting children’s health and activity requirements and outcomes, the recognised guidelines that underpin their practice approach, and how these build on the approved learning framework/s and the service’s health policies and procedures.
• Educators consider and discuss social justice and equity implications of their practice decisions to ensure that practice takes into account the needs and rights of every child at the service.
• The service’s approach to supporting and promoting children’s health and activity needs and outcomes reflects robust debate, discussion, and opportunities for input by all educators, and is informed by critical reflection on past incidents.
• The service’s approach to supporting and promoting children’s health and physical activity, including safe sleep and nutrition, is informed by current recognised guidelines and up-to-date information.
• Any change to the service’s approach to supporting and promoting children’s health and activity needs are understood by all and implemented appropriately.
Standard 2.2 - Safety
Exceeding theme 1: Practice is embedded in service operations
• Educators, the educational leader, and co-ordinators demonstrate a deep understanding of the requirements of the standard, concepts and the component elements, and a commitment to high quality practice at all times.
• All educators ensure that children are supervised effectively at all times are consistently attuned to the needs of all children to ensure each child’s safety at all times.
• Educators are aware of and act on their responsibilities for ensuring children’s safety at all times, including in relation to child protection, and are able to articulate these responsibilities, proactively identify and manage risks and take precautions to protect children from harm and hazard.
• Educators identify and respond confidently to changes in the service environment throughout the day, adjusting practice where necessary to ensure that children are safe and effectively supervised at all times.
• Ongoing risk assessment and management is built into day-to-day operations across the service to ensure a consistently safe environment.
• Effective plans to manage incidents and emergencies are developed and reviewed in consultation with relevant authorities and practised regularly.
• The observed and discussed approach to supporting and promoting children’s safety consistently aligns with the design and delivery of the educational program and service philosophy and demonstrates a strong commitment to the priorities, principles and practices of the approved learning framework.
Exceeding theme 2: Practice is informed by critical reflection
• Educators, the educational leader and co-ordinators systematically and regularly reflect, individually and as a team, on practices to support child safety, including risk assessment and emergency management procedures and practices, and make changes when opportunities to further enhance children’s outcomes are identified.
• Educators are responsive and adjust supervision strategies as required, are able to explain how an ongoing commitment to children’s safety influences the design and delivery of the educational program, reflect together on safety-related incidents, and support the service to make changes to practices, policies and procedures where opportunities are identified to strengthen the approach.
• Educators are aware of and able to discuss the influences on their practice to support and promote children’s safety, including recognised guidelines, information sources, and other legislation that underpin their practice approach, and how these align with the approved learning framework/s and the service’s policies and procedures.
• Educators consider and discuss social justice and equity implications of their practice decisions to support and promote each child’s safety to ensure that practice takes into account the needs and rights of every child at the service.
• The service’s approach to risk assessment, emergency management and child protection reflects current recognised guidelines and up-to-date information from trusted sources.
• The service’s approach to supporting and promoting children’s safety reflects robust debate, discussion, and genuine opportunities for input by all educators and is informed by critical reflection on past incidents.
• Any change to the service’s approach to supporting and promoting children’s safety are understood by all.
Exceeding theme 3: Practice is shaped by meaningful engagement with families and/or the community
• Educators actively engage with families about their concerns and priorities for their children’s safety, actively raise awareness of issues impacting on child safety with families and the community, including in the context of child protection familiar with and respond respectfully to the differing cultural contexts of families and the community that impact on perspectives about child safety and protection, while ensuring that practice decisions always reflect a best practice approach.
• The service’s approach to managing risks and supporting child safety reflects the voices, priorities and strengths of the children and families at the service, is informed by meaningful and ongoing partnerships with the broader community, for example local community and emergency services, considers the geographical context of the service and is responsive to changes in the environment throughout the year.
Reference:
New Guide To The National Quality Framework, Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority
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