“It’s our polite nudge in the ribs to help you and your team stay organised and on task.”
This week’s subject is Service Philosophy and Purpose
Element 7.1.1: A statement of philosophy guides all aspects of the service’s operations.
Is your Service philosophy a living document? Have you recently reviewed and reflected on your philosophy to ensure that it accurately reflects your Service’s current purpose, principles and represents the backgrounds and views of current children, families and relevant stakeholders?
Ensure that the practices of Service management and educators are in line with your statement of philosophy. An authorised officer should be able to enter your Service and observe your philosophy embedded in your everyday practice, policies and procedures and overall Service delivery.
It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day management of the Service and your philosophy can end up being another wall display that’s slid past it’s scheduled review date. Consider a philosophy review meeting or simply add it to the agenda for your next team meeting. Allocate a few minutes to unpack your philosophy and reflect on whether it accurately represents your current purpose, practice and community before seeking out input from families and relevant stakeholders.
Services must be able to demonstrate that their philosophy is a living document by:
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- Having documented evidence of a recent review involving all relevant stakeholders, is in line with the NQS, reflects current purpose, practice, new research, policy and procedure and legislative changes
- Including the current statement of philosophy in the Service’s staff induction pack/procedure
- Including the current philosophy in the family orientation pack/procedure
- Using the service philosophy to guide educators and management in decision making, pedagogy and practice
- The values stated in the philosophy being reflected in the service environment, policies and procedures
- Ensuring the most recently reviewed version is included in the service’s QIP
When reviewing your statement of philosophy, consider the Service’s growth and any changes to your policies and procedures since the last philosophy review. Ensure these are reflected in your philosophy to support continual improvement.
Resources:
Reviewing your Service philosophy
Does your Service vision lead the way?
How does your service philosophy guide effective leadership and governance
Within System7 go to Quality Area 7/Module 3 to submit self-assessment notes and if required, open a QIP issue if you identify any areas of improvement.
The Childcare Centre Desktop has a range of resources to assist services with reviewing their philosophy and documenting it. These include Record of Philosophy Review, Philosophy Development and Review Procedure and Philosophy Template.
Resources, NQS Element, Regulation and System7 links:
Childcare Centre Desktop – Childcare Centre Desktop
National Quality Standard – QA 7/ 7.1.1- Service philosophy and purpose
System7 Module – QA 7/ Module 3
If you have any questions send us a note via the Contact page here!
