Commitment to Quality

“Our educators engage in an ongoing process of reflection, planning and review to ensure they can build on their strengths, and work on areas that need further focus.”

National Quality Framework

The National Quality Framework (NQF) encourages kindergartens to provide a high quality and consistent standard of early childhood education and care across Australia. The NQF applies to our kindergarten and includes a:

National legislative framework that creates a standard approach to the regulation and quality assessment of education and child care services.

National Quality Standard that sets a national benchmark for the quality of education and care services.

National quality rating and assessment process that rates services against the National Quality Standard.

State and territory regulatory authorities are responsible for administering the NQF.

National Quality Standard

The National Quality Standard (NQS) sets a high national benchmark for early childhood education and care and outside school hours care services in Australia.

The NQS:

is informed by research about best practice

is designed to encourage ongoing quality improvement

includes assessment and rating of services in seven key quality areas, including the education program, health and safety, physical environment, staffing, relationships with children, families and communities, and the management of the service.

Quality Area #1 - Educational program and practice

Educational program and practice of educators are child-centred, stimulating and maximise opportunities for enhancing and extending each child’s learning and development.

Quality Area #2 - Children's health and safety

Children have the right to experience quality education and care in an environment that safeguards and promotes their health, safety and wellbeing.

Quality Area #3 - Physical environment

Physical environment is safe, suitable and provides a rich and diverse range of experiences that promote children’s learning and development.

Quality Area #4 - Staffing arrangements

Qualified and experienced educators, who develop warm, respectful relationships with children, create predictable environments and encourage children’s active engagement in the learning program.

Quality Area #5 - Relationships with children

Relationships with children are responsive, respectful and promote children’s sense of security and belonging.

Quality Area #6 - Collaborative partnerships with families and communities

Collaborative relationships with families are fundamental to achieving quality outcomes for children, and community partnerships based on active communication, consultation and collaboration are essential.

Quality Area #7 - Leadership and Service Management

Effective leadership and governance of the service contributes to quality environments for children’s learning and development. Effective leaders establish shared values for the service and set clear direction for the service’s continuous improvement.

The Rating System

Services are assessed and rated by their regulatory authority against the NQS, and given a rating for each of the seven quality areas and an overall rating based on these results. The process of assessing and rating a service is a combined approach of quality assurance and regulatory compliance.

The ratings are:

Excellent rating, awarded by ACECQA
Exceeding National Quality Standard
Meeting National Quality Standard
Working Towards National Quality Standard
Significant Improvement Required

Chelmer-Graceville Kindergarten was rated in

2019 as "Meeting" National Quality Standards

in all areas.

Quality Improvement Plan

To ensure we consistently provide a high quality early childhood education and care program that meets the needs of our community, we are committed to continuous review and improvement in all 7 quality areas. We value family and community input into our Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) as this provides our Management Committee and staff with short and long term direction.

According to Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), the aim of a QIP is “To help providers self-assess their performance in delivering quality education and care and to plan future improvements. The QIP also helps the regulatory authorities with their assessment of the service. A QIP helps providers to document the strengths of their services and to recognise areas for improvement.”

If you would like to view our QIP or contribute please speak to our Director or Management Committee.