FEATURED SERVICES
M&N Anytime Care
Anytime, before/after school care, emergency, day time, overnight,weekend/weekday, school holiday care.
3 months - 16 year old (disability care available too).
Meals are provided, Montessori based child care. Excursions and play groups are available and are a daily activity in the daycare. Safe and child friendly environment where kids enjoy the experience of growing and learning. Shift workers welcome.
Please contact me for more information.
Learning Links Gledswood Hills is currently offering FREE speech and language screeners for children over 4 years of age. The 30-minute screener by a qualified speech pathologist will assess your child’s speech quality, grammar, phonological awareness, story-telling and comprehension.
This can help you better understand if your child is struggling in any areas of their speech and language development, and if they need additional support from a professional. It can also help you access the necessary interventions to prepare your child for starting school.
For more information call our Customer Care team on 1300 003 900 or visit www.learninglinks.org.au/speech-screener. Our Gledswood Hills Learning Centre is located at Suite 7 (Level 1), SOMA Wellness, 7 Gregory Hills Drive Gledswood Hills NSW 2557.
Enrol now and secure a position for your children for 2020! Pop by one our state of the art facilities and speak to our highly qualified dedicated Educators. www.Jennyskindy.com.au
Jennys Kindergarten & Early Learning Gregory Hills 024623 1913
Jenny's Kindergarten - Mount Annan 02 4647 2422
Jenny's Kindergarten - Narellan Vale 02 4647 2622
Pied Piper Kindergarten - Blair Athol & Pied Piper Kindergarten - Raby
- Catering for children ages-0-12
- Open 6.30am – 6.30pm
- Long day care
- Short day care 9am-3pm or 8.30am-2.30pm
- Before and after school care
- Vacation care
- All meals provided
- Comprehensive developmental pre school program
- Idyllic childcare surrounds
For enquiries please
Raby 73-77 Thunderbolt Dr Raby 2566 Ph: 0298249680 Email or Blair Athol 37 Mt Erin Rd Blair Athol 2560 Ph: 0246209777 email Or www.piedpiperkindergarten.com.au
Macarthur Kids taking enrolments now for 2020.
Arrange a tour at a time that suits you secure a place for your child now!
Here at Macarthur Kids, we’re down to Earth and full of fun. We strongly believe in inclusion and diversity, therefore, everyone is welcome here.
We’re all for a natural, human environment and love to let the kids use their imagination by learning through creative play.
We’re a privately owned and operated childcare service, for more information please see our website, email
office@macarthurkids.com.au or phone Bernice on 9133 1360
www.macarthurkids.com.au
PARENT INFORMATION
Below is a brief guide to the Assessment and Rating process under which Child Care services are rated
What are the ratings criteria?
Early childhood education and care services (long day care, family day care, preschool/kindergarten, outside school hours care) are assessed and rated against the National Quality Standard (NQS) to:
- promote continuous improvement in the provision of quality education and care
- improve knowledge and access to information about the quality of services to help families make informed decisions about their child’s education and care.
The NQS is part of the National Regulations and includes 7 quality areas that are important to children’s learning and developmental outcomes.
- Educational program and practice
- Children's health and safety
- Physical environment
- Staffing arrangements
- Relationships with children
- Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
- Governance and leadership
Who rates services?
Services are assessed and rated against the NQS by the state or territory regulatory authority (RA) and given a rating for each of the seven quality areas and an overall rating based on these results. The quality ratings are published on the national registers on the ACECQA website and on the Starting Blocks website.
What does it mean if a service is rated Significant Improvement Required?
If a service has been rated as Significant Improvement Required, the regulatory authority has determined that there are identified risks to the safety, health and wellbeing of children. The approved provider is required to take immediate action to rectify these risks, and the RA will monitor the service closely to ensure those improvements are made.
Continuous Improvement
It may take time for new services to meet each element required in the standards, which can result in a Working Towards NQS or Meeting NQS rating. To find out more about how your child’s service is striving to achieve quality, you can ask to see the service’s Quality Improvement Plan (QIP).
A QIP is the document which records the service’s self-assessment of the quality of its practices against the NQS and National Regulations. It also identifies any areas for improvement and contains their statement of philosophy. Educators, children, families and the community should all be involved in the development and maintenance of the service’s QIP.
Why are services with no ratings operating?
Services that have not had an assessment and rating visit hold a rating of “Provisional – Not Yet Assessed”.
Education and care services must undergo many processes and approvals in order to be approved and operate under the National Quality Framework (NQF). This is also a way of ensuring quality and compliance prior to their assessment and rating.
The service will receive a rating when it is assessed and rated by the RA.
If you would like to know when the service will be assessed and rated, please contact the service directly. The RA in your state or territory, responsible for assessment and rating, may also be able to assist you.
You may also like to ask the service for their QIP and their family handbook. This will help you to make a more detailed assessment of the service’s strengths and could also help with identifying the criteria you wish to find in a service.
How often are services assessed and rated?
When regulatory authorities schedule quality rating assessments, the goal is to assess and rate the quality of services, drive continuous improvement and keep information for families and communities accurate and up to date.
To focus resources on services most in need of service improvement, the actions of the RA are responsive and risk-based. Services with a lower quality rating will be re-rated more frequently. Services with higher quality ratings will generally have a longer period of time between assessment and rating visits in recognition of their ability to meet the NQS.
RA’s consider the following factors when managing assessment and rating schedules:
- The previous quality rating of the service, including results against the quality areas, standards and at the element level.
- A change in service attributes that could be reasonably considered to affect the service’s quality – for example, changes in approved provider or service management team.
- Events that occur at the service – for example, serious incidents, complaints or non-compliance with the National Law can indicate a change in quality and a higher scheduling priority.
- The length of time since the last assessment – for example, over time a quality rating can lose its currency and value for families.
Each RA manages its assessment schedule in a responsive manner, making adjustments to the schedule as new information emerges and making best use of their available resources.
It usually takes a regulatory authority 10 weeks to assess and rate a service. The rating report or rating certificate should be made available to families.
How do RAs ensure that services keep delivering quality after receiving their rating?
RAs make unscheduled and scheduled visits to services in addition to assessment and rating visits. These include monitoring, spot check and compliance visits to ensure the service is operating within the national legislation.
Summary of the steps in the Assessment and Rating process
- Self-assessment and quality improvement
Approved provider conducts a self-assessment to determine the quality of current practices against the NQS and linked regulatory requirements.
Approved provider identifies strengths and where improvements can be made which is documented in a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP).
- Notice of visit
Regulatory authority provides written notice to approved provider that the assessment and rating process has commenced. The QIP is submitted to the regulatory authority prior to the visit, along with any additional information requested by the regulatory authority.
- Assessment and rating visit takes place at the service.
- Draft report
Regulatory authority provides the approved provider with a draft assessment and rating report.
- Feedback on draft report
Provider can give feedback on any factual inaccuracies in the report and evidence to support feedback.
- Final report and notice of final ratings is issued to the provider
Feedback considered before final report is finalised and issued.
- Final report
Approved provider may choose to apply for a review of final ratings within the set review period.
- Ratings published on national registers
Once the review period has ended, the final ratings are published on the national registers on the ACECQA website and on the Starting Blocks website.
https://www.startingblocks.gov.au/other-resources/factsheets/assessment-and-rating-process/