February 2018 newsletter: NQS Update effective 1 February 2018

National Quality Standard 2018 has commenced
1 February 2018 | All services

Services will be assessed and rated against the revised National Quality Standard (NQS 2018) and the new exceeding themes from 1 February 2018.

The NQS 2018 strengthens quality through placing greater emphasis on Quality Area 1: Educational Program and Practice. It introduces key “concepts” for each standard and element and has been streamlined, removing conceptual overlap between elements and standards, clarifies requirements and has reduced the number of standards from 18 to 15, and the number of elements from 58 to 40.

Find out more about the revised NQS 2018 here.

Changes to the National Quality Standard are included in the revised consolidated version of the Education and Care Services National Regulations, effective 1 February 2018 and can be viewed here.

New Assessment and Rating Instrument
February 2018 | All services

ACECQA has created a new assessment and rating instrument, a new assessment and rating report, and a number of resources that assist in the impementation of the revised NQS. After an assessment and rating visit, approved providers will receive a new streamlined assessment and rating report incorporating the NQS 2018 and the new exceeding themes designed to encourage quality improvement in an easier-to-use format.

If your service is scheduled to be visited in February and March, you have already been informed of this by letter, with the actual visit date confirmed 10 days before the visit.

If you didn’t receive a letter from us in December 2017, your service will not be assessed until at least April 2018.

Services with assessment and rating visits scheduled to commence from April onwards will receive the usual written notice of the upcoming assessment 5 weeks in advance.

Help us improve

We're working on a website upgrade to help you, your teams and your families find the right information at the right time.

We invite you to participate in a brief, 5 minute testing activity. You'll be asked to focus on a particular task, and your approach will help us make sure that our website provides what you need from it.

Click here to participate in our testing before 21 February.

Emergency management in extreme heat

Extreme heat kills more Australians than any natural disaster.

While heat affects everybody, babies and young children are among groups that are most at risk. Causing illness such as heat cramps and heat exhaustion, this can also lead to heat stroke.

The best way to survive the heat is to plan ahead for hot days:

ensure children drink plenty of water
make sure children wear appropriate clothing and follow sun smart guidelines
avoid being outdoors during the hottest part of the day
remind parents and staff to never leave children (or animals) in the car in the heat
refrigerate food
prepare for power failure
prepare for transport disruption or delay
reschedule sports and outdoor activities

What you should do

Download the VicEmergency app to prepare for days of extreme heat, and record that you have done this in your Emergency Management Plan.

Check the Vic Emergency website for alerts and advice

Federal Minister for Health: Screen time damaging school readiness and language development

An update to Australian Government Department of Health guidelines advise against any sedentary screen time at all for children under two, and no more than one hour a day for children older than two.

Research warns that exceeding these guidelines can lead to language delays and lower levels of school readiness for children.

Use sedentary time to offer children diverse options for rest and relaxation that are meaningful and engaging like reading, storytelling, playing with play dough or puzzles. It isn’t all bad through: devises like tablets can be effective tools for intentional teaching with children over two when engaged in purposeful and critical discussions around relevant, shared content.

Consider how these guidelines may inform practices and routines at your own service in relation to the Revised National Quality Standard across NQS 2018 1.2.1 Intentional teaching, 2.1.1 Wellbeing and comfort and 2.1.3 Healthy lifestyle

New guidelines on physical activity, sedentary time and sleep for young children
Out now | All services

The Australian Government Department of Health’s Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years (Birth to 5 years) have been updated. They now cover the entire day, and include recommendations on limiting sedentary screen time for young children, and how to help children get good quality sleep. Read more and access a brochure here.

Menu planning tools
Out now | All services

In 2018, Victorian early childhood education and care services will have a choice of two free online menu assessment tools – the Victorian Government’s FoodChecker (available now) and Healthy Australia’s feedAustralia (available 1 March 2018)

Currently, to be recognised by the Victorian Government for the Healthy Eating and Oral Health area of the Achievement Program, services must have their menus assessed by the Healthy Eating Advisory Service using FoodChecker.

In Victoria, information sessions about the feedAustralia tool will occur in February 2018. Learn more here.

Child Safe Standards and Reportable Conduct Scheme
Out now | All services

The Child Safe Standards and Reportable Conduct Scheme have been developed to provide guidance and support to assist your organisation in developing appropriate systems to meet your regulartory requirements.

Used in conjunction with the Commission’s A Guide to Creating a Child Safe Organisation (click here to order your copy) and the Reportable Conduct Scheme information sheets, the Commission has developed narrated PowerPoints to reflect the information sessions they have recently been delivering.

Child Safe Standards Narrated PowerPoint
Reportable Conduct Scheme Narrated PowerPoint

Connect with us

Share your story

Important Updates

What’s Happening

Resources for Your Service