“It’s our polite nudge in the ribs to help you and your team stay organised and on task.”
This week’s subject is Parents views are respected
Element 6.1.2: The expertise, culture, values and beliefs of families are respected and families share in decision-making about their child’s learning and wellbeing.
How does your Service consistently and effectively communicate with families to understand their child’s evolving preferences, experiences, and routines, while also respecting the families’ expertise, cultures, languages, values, beliefs, and child-rearing practices to enhance each child’s learning, development, and wellbeing?
Services should be proactive, innovative and consistent in their efforts to obtain new information about children’s evolving preferences, routines, interests and experiences. Ensure educators collaborate with families about children’s individual needs on a regular basis and in a variety of ways, showing respect for the cultures and backgrounds of all families and recognising that families are children’s first and most influential teachers.
When management and educators implement a variety of practices to gather and share information about the individual backgrounds, cultures, and needs of children and their families, they foster respectful, ethical, and reciprocal relationships. This approach not only supports each child’s learning, development, and wellbeing but also encourages genuine collaboration and shared decision-making to achieve collective goals.
To assist in meeting the individual needs and preferences of families, educators should implement a range of methods for obtaining information about children’s learning and wellbeing, as well as other aspects of the service operations, including transitions, routines, Service policies and the Service Philosophy. This can be done through:
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- informal discussions & information being exchanged at arrival and departure times (request parent permission to document information/feedback)
- visual displays sharing information and inviting feedback
- group emails requesting specific information and preferences
- parent surveys (specifically targeted to obtain information about individual preferences to assist in decision making and curriculum planning)
- suggestions box
- communication book/s
- child details form (updated regularly throughout the year)
- online polls & posts
- online forum, inviting parents to provide feedback by asking specific questions about their child’s experiences and preferences
- providing space on the program for feedback
- requesting feedback via the Service newsletter
Educators can often learn key information through informal, daily discussions and interactions with families. Educators should keep a record of the information obtained and share with the team during team meetings and program planning. Ensure documentation of all family feedback and suggestions is consistently maintained, to provide valuable evidence for an Authorised Officer during the assessment and rating process.
Resources:
Information Sheet: Quality Area 6: Building Partnerships with Families
Collaborative Partnerships with Families
Partnerships- Working Together in Early Childhood Settings
Policy Tip Sheet- Including family input
Build Strong Partnerships with Families
Within System7 go to Quality area 6/ Modules 7, 8, 9 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 maintaining supportive relationships with families. These include Parent Surveys, Family Communication Policy, All about Me- Child Introduction Form, Family Goals Sheet, Program Template, our monthly “done-for-you” Newsletter template, Sharing Cultural Experiences letter and much more.
Resources, NQS Element, Regulation and System7 links:
Childcare Centre Desktop – Childcare Centre Desktop
National Quality Standard – QA 6/ 6.1.2- Parents views are respected
National Regulations – 155, 157, 160
System7 Module – QA 6/ Modules 7, 8, 9
If you have any questions send us a note via the Contact page here!
