Childcare: Regulator says third of centres not meeting benchmarks
Date
November 17, 2013
Early childhood centres are struggling to meet demanding new standards for the education, health and safety of young children, according to the national regulator.
But new data shows most services are rated highly for their relationships with children, staffing arrangements, and partnerships with families and communities.
The latest figures from the Australian Children's Education & Care Quality Authority reveal 33 per cent of services do not meet the national benchmark for educational program and practice. They have particular difficulty tailoring their teaching to each child's individual needs, extending them and documenting their progress.
As well, 25 per cent are below standard for health and safety and one in three are below standard for physical environment, with ''promoting sustainable environments'' proving the most challenging criterion for centres to satisfy.
National convenor of the Australian Community Children's Services, Prue Warrilow, said services were getting used to a more rigorous system of benchmarks and assessments.
''You'd expect people to have more difficulty with it, it's a really positive outcome, it's not a negative at all,'' Ms Warrilow said.
She said services had always struggled with health and safety requirements, while the new standards for education and environment were more demanding than the old accreditation system.
A spokeswoman for ACECQA said it wasn't surprising services across the board had more difficulty meeting certain standards than others.
''Staffing and relationships with children and families are a well-established part of most providers' practice,'' the spokeswoman said.
''But the use of a learning framework and criteria around the environment are new aspects of the national standards.''
Early childhood services are assessed against seven quality standards, and then given an overall ranking. Since the new regulations were introduced at the start of last year, 25 per cent of Australia's 13,676 centres have been rated. More than half of NSW services that have been assessed are not meeting the new benchmarks, compared with a quarter of services in Victoria.
Only About Children in North Parramatta received the highest rating (''exceeding national quality standard'') for each of the seven benchmarks and overall. Director Tanya Rapa believes the new regulations are much more child-focused, as they should be.
Only About Children's programming has a strong multicultural focus, including an Aboriginal educator, because the centre's children come from a variety of backgrounds.
They celebrate different national holidays including Chinese New Year and Survival Day, have travelling mascots that go home with children, discuss different family customs. The teachers learn a few basic words of each child's home language. ''We really try and make it a home-like experience,'' Ms Rapa said.
''We believe children should be confident and involved learners.''
Gowrie Child Care Centre director Karen Dresser believes a longstanding commitment to highly qualified educators, lower staff-to-child ratios, and low staff turnover ensured her Erskineville centre also received the ''exceeding'' rating.
''Qualifications and ratios improve the quality of the environment, the learning experience and the relationship you develop with the children,'' Ms Dresser said.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/childcare-regulator-says-third-of-centres-not-meeting-benchmarks-20131116-2xnll.html#ixzz2kqAmftPx
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