“It’s our polite nudge in the ribs to help you and your team stay organised and on task.”
This week’s subject is Enrolment and orientation
Element 6.1.1: Families are supported from enrolment to be involved in the service and contribute to service decisions.
Have you reviewed your enrolment and orientation practices and procedure to ensure that it facilitates a positive and informative process, smooth transition and caters to the individual and specific needs of children and families?
Enrolment and orientation are an exciting and emotional time for many children and families, in particular, when a child is being enrolled into their first Service. It’s important to manage this time with sensitivity and support, building partnerships between families and the Service. Such partnerships enable the Service and families to work toward the common goal of promoting consistent quality outcomes for individual children and the Service.
Building positive, reciprocal and supportive relationships with families starts at the beginning. First impressions are lasting impressions, therefore it’s important that your enrolment and orientation procedures support the development of warm, meaningful, positive partnerships with children and families. The physical environment and the way in which a new family is welcomed into the Service will impact how the Service and staff are perceived by the family and therefore form their first impression. Consider conducting a periodic audit of the physical environment, where you request a few families complete an audit to identify any areas of improvement with the layout and the overall atmosphere at the Service at a “first glance”.
Following a checklist for enrolment and orientation is a great way to ensure a comprehensive process where all information about the Service is provided to families at the time of enrolment. Ensure you provide opportunities for families to ask questions and provide information about their specific needs.
Do you request families to complete an evaluation of the enrolment and orientation process? As we know, feedback is valuable in driving continual improvement and requesting family feedback and input aids in building respectful partnerships with families. It demonstrates that the Service values the family’s viewpoint and strives for continual improvement. An enrolment and orientation evaluation should be used to obtain different perspectives from families about their experience of being inducted into the Service. Use this feedback when reviewing your enrolment and orientation processes.
Resources:
Build Strong Partnerships with Families
Building Partnerships with Families
Getting up to speed on engaging with families
Within System7 go to Quality Area 6/Module 1 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 enrolment and orientation. These include Enrolment Policy, Enrolment Procedure, Enrolment Checklist, Orientation Checklist for New Parents, Building Relationships with families Audit, Physical Environment Parent Journey Procedure, Physical Environment Parent Journey Audit and much more.
Resources, NQS Element, Regulation and System7 links:
Childcare Centre Desktop – Childcare Centre Desktop
National Quality Standard – QA 6/ 6.1.1- Engagement with the service
National Regulations – 90, 91, 111, 157, 160, 162, 168, 172
System7 Module – QA 6/ Module 1
If you have any questions send us a note via the Contact page here!
