A is for Assessment and Rating

(Not just play all day; A day in the life of an Educator)

“Excellence is not a gift, but a skill that takes practice. We do not act rightly because we are excellent in fact, we achieve excellence by acting rightly.” Plato

The driving ambition of every service is to achieve the elusive ‘Exceeding’ rating for Education and Care. It is an acknowledgement of; the great work that we do, our dedication to bettering our practice and a way for us, as professionals, to set goals for our own growth and development.

“How do we do this?” I hear you ask. The answer is through Assessment and Rating, a process where Education and Care services are assessed and rated by their state and territory regulatory authority, against the 7 quality areas of the National Quality Standards (NQS).

If that sounds complex and difficult, that’s because it is!

With 7 Quality Areas, 15 Standards and 40 Substandard Elements to, not only meet but to exceed. To give you an idea of how difficult it is, there are 1311 approved service providers in WA (including OSCH and vacation care) and of those, less than 10% have an overall exceeding rating. Quite a startling statistic on the one hand but not altogether surprising, given how very high those standards are set.

What does this mean for you and your family?

Research has shown that, the higher the standard of care, the better the outcomes for children and families so…. the better we are as a service, the better the outcomes for you and your children. It also provides families piece of mind, knowing that the service they chose, is meeting the high benchmarks set by the NQS.

What does this mean for us as a centre?

There is a great deal of professional pride that goes along with this recognition. It is validation that the hours of work, that happen just below the surface, are contributing to the quality of our practices and the high level of care that we want to provide. We all want to do and be our best and we all want our families to experience and benefit from that too.

Fact: “Research shows quality early education and care leads to better health, education and employment outcomes later in life.”