Educational Leader Allowance For Cert 3 and Diploma Educators Now In Effect

As of 01 November, Cert 3 and Diploma Educational Leaders, will now receive an allowance of $4412.84 per year.

It works out as:

• Hourly $2.23 - This is based on $4022.05 divided by 52 (weeks in a year) and then divided by 38 (hours in a full-time week).
• Daily $16.95 - This is based on $2.03 x 7.6 hours (the average of a 38-hour-a-week). 
• Annually $4412.84

Note: Updated rate as of 01 July 2024

As per the Children's Services Award:

• An educational leader’s allowance of $4412.84 per annum will be paid to an employee who is required to discharge the responsibilities of the educational leader under Regulation 118 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011.
• Where an employee is required to act as an educational leader for less than 5 days per week, the annual allowance prescribed by clause 15.8(a) will be payable on a pro-rata basis calculated by reference to the number of days per week the employee is required to act as an educational leader.

NOTE: The allowance prescribed in clause 15.8(a) is the same amount as the educational leader allowance prescribed by clause 19.4 of the Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2020 and will be adjusted each year to reflect the amount set in the Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2020.

As per the Regulation 118 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011:

An Educational Leader:

The approved provider of an education and care service must designate, in writing, a suitably qualified and experienced educator, co-ordinator or another individual as an educational leader at the service to lead the development and implementation of educational programs in the service.

Roles and Responsibilities Of An Educational Leader

• Identifying as an educational leader requires a fine-tuning of professional responsibilities and an understanding of leadership that enables you to transform and motivate team members. Your role as an educational leader includes:
• The chief responsibility of an educational leader is to provide curriculum direction to educators. The leader works with teachers and supports them in the development and implementation of the educational program as well as the cycle of planning and assessment. If teachers need support in developing activities, the educational leader might chalk out a monthly template for the teachers to use for their educational program or suggest improvements in the widening assessment strategies to include children with anxiety or additional needs.
• To engage educators with all elements of the approved learning frameworks including the principles, practices and learning outcomes. Additionally, teachers also need to be acquainted with broad ideas as well as detailed points of other teaching and learning pedagogies and regulatory standards like those related to babies and outdoor play or interactions with pets and animals at the centre.
• Create opportunities and facilitate an ongoing cycle of review through which current practices are examined, outcomes reviewed and new ideas generated. Reflection and review are critical aspects of the Early Years Learning Framework since they motivate teachers to think about what, why and how learning is happening in and outside the classroom.
• To put in place documentation that is relevant, clear and purposeful. Documentation is not only an important resource in assessing the efficacy of educational pedagogy and practice but also in staff appraisals and improvement.
• Mentoring educators in achieving professional growth is also the hallmark of good educational leadership. To do this effectively, a leader must bear in mind the difference between mentoring and monitoring staff. While the latter merely supervises, mentoring is about identifying the strengths and capabilities of the educators and drawing on them to build their professional skills and confidence.
• No educational programme can be effective without the collaboration of the learners’ families and to make this happen, the guidance of the educational leader is very important. They need to talk to families about the goals and principles of the educational program and ensure that specifics play and families understand leisure-based learning strategies. All of this will ensure learning continuity across different settings for the children
• Supporting quality improvement
• Strengthening educators’ knowledge and practice
• Assisting others in their curriculum decision-making to develop, implement and assess effective programs for amplifying children’s learning, development and well-being.
• Effectively leading the development and implementation of the educational program, and the assessment and planning process
  working with educators to document the learning, development and well-being program and ensure that families understand it
• Addressing complaints that relate to the program
• Talking with families about the quality of the educational program and the process implemented to drive continuous improvement—these conversations can take place when families enquire about the service, during the enrolment process, at planned information nights or during other service events.

Further Reading

A Guide For Educational Leaders In Early Childhood Settings - The following article includes information on the Roles and Responsibilities Of An Educational Leader, Supporting Educators, Supporting Continuous Improvement of the Service and more. 

Cert 3 And Diploma Educational Leaders To Receive Yearly Allowance Of $4,022.05 - For all Educational Leaders regardless of whether you're an Educational Leader employed under the Educational Services Teachers Award or the Children's Services Award, if you perform the duties associated with the title of Educational Leader you will receive an Educational Leaders allowance of $4,022.05 annually, according to the Fair Work Commission.

Educational Leader Checklist - The Educational Leader Checklist Template is to be used as a guide to support Educational Leaders to lead and assist educators to document children's learning. It also enables Educational Leaders to check on how educators are reflecting on and implementing the framework to inform curriculum decision-making.

Educational Leader Action Plan - The Educational Leader Action Plan template is a document for Educational Leaders of the service. It enables them to record details of meetings between other Educators and to detail the actions that need to be taken to accomplish the task. This document is an important record to keep as evidence that may be required during the rating process assessment. 

Reference:
Children's Services Award 2010