“It’s our polite nudge in the ribs to help you and your team stay organised and on task.”
This week’s subject is Continuity of staff
Element 4.1.2: Every effort is made for children to experience continuity of educators at the service.
Does your service prioritise continuity of care by actively implementing a range of processes to support effective recruitment and retention?
A service that values and proactively supports continuity of staff is better placed to attract and retain educators, which in turn benefits children and families. Consistent and committed educators support quality standards and continuity of care for children. It is important for the service to attract appropriately qualified and experienced staff and retain staff members who can best meet the needs of children and their families. Guide to the NQF
At a time where staff shortage is becoming increasingly problematic across the education and care sector, services should review their practices for fostering continuity of staff to determine where improvements can be made to support a robust recruitment process and ensure staff feel valued, experience a sense of belonging and connectedness to the service, supporting quality care, education and outcomes for children and families.
Ensuring thorough recruitment processes will assist in attracting and selecting quality staff, who are passionate about early childhood, are a “good fit” for your service’s individual context and integration into the team.
It is important that staff and educators feel valued, respected, and supported in their professional roles at the service. To support staff retention, service managers will need to ensure consistency with staff needs being met, recognise staff commitment and achievements, and ensure that staff are supported to fulfil their responsibilities at the highest level.
Management should consider:
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- How does our service stand out from the crowd when advertising positions for the service?
- What incentives do we offer staff to ensure they feel valued and that their commitment to the service, children and families is appreciated?
- What opportunities are educators given to provide feedback and input into service operations including the selection of resources to support educators to fulfil their professional responsibilities?
- How do we obtain and use exit data to contribute to continuous improvement?
- What strategies are in place to help build staff cohesion and pride in the service?
- How do staff provide input when selecting professional development opportunities?
- How do we acknowledge, reward, and promote consistent outstanding performance, individual and team achievements?
- How does management set individual performance and learning goals for educators and staff? Are these developed collaboratively?
- How do our performance development processes provide educators with targeted feedback that supports continuity and quality improvement?
Resources:
Attracting and Retaining Staff
Belonging, Being and Becoming for Educators
Understanding and Supporting Educator Wellbeing
Qualifications Lead to Quality-CELA
Within System7 go to Quality Area 4/ 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 continuity of staff. These include Staff Exit Survey and Interview Guide and Questionnaire, Professional Development Policy, Educator Orientation Checklist, Professional Development Guide and Procedure, Professional Development Audit and much more.
Resources, NQS Element, Regulation and System7 links:
Childcare Centre Desktop – Childcare Centre Desktop
National Quality Standard – QA 4/ 4.1.2- Continuity of staff
National Regulations – 168
System7 Module – QA 4/ Module 3
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