“It’s our polite nudge in the ribs to help you and your team stay organised and on task.”
This week’s subject is: Promote family participation.
Element 6.1.1: Families are supported from enrolment to be involved in the service and contribute to service decisions.
What strategies does your Service implement to ensure that families feel comfortable and supported to provide feedback and input on Service operations, policies, procedures, routines and their child’s education?
The approved learning frameworks acknowledge that the family is the most powerful influence on each child’s life and that learning outcomes are most likely to be achieved when educators work in partnership with families to ensure the experiences planned for children are meaningful.
Parent and family involvement create a more positive experience for children and help to establish and support respectful, reciprocal and collaborative relationships between educators and families, whilst supporting educators to better cater to children’s individual and varying needs. Services should aim to meet the varying needs of their families by implementing a range of methods and opportunities for families to engage with your Service.
Provide evidence of how your Service develops a culture of engagement by inviting parents, families and extended family members to participate in the program and a variety of events and build connections within the community. This should start at the point of enrolment which could include an Orientation Evaluation/Survey and then extend into more routine strategies such as:
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- Online or paper-based surveys that focus on specific aspects of Service delivery
- Regular newsletters
- Regular online posts/questions inviting feedback
- Suggestion box or feedback box with targeted questions requesting individual responses
- Targeted posts or groups on social media
- Online “polls” where parents can vote/select their preferred response (i.e. via Instagram stories)
- Communication books
- Parent information sessions
- Inviting families to Committee/board meetings and Annual General Meetings
- Invitations to engage in the program, activities and events (i.e. cooking experiences, family members sharing their profession, Grandparents Day, Child Protection week, fundraising events)
- Policy and procedure review and feedback
- Philosophy review/input
- QIP feedback/input board
- Visual displays inviting feedback
How does your Service communicate and inform families of the range of ways that they can provide feedback and participate in the Service?
Services should regularly communicate the variety of ways in which families can provide feedback and become involved in Service operations and events. Ensure your communication methods are catered to the individual needs, interests and skills of the families you’re communicating with. Information should also be provided in languages represented within the community.
Resources:
A Targeted Approach to Parent Engagement- Case study
Build Strong Relationships with Families
Engaging with families: Social Media- Smart Online
How to Generate Family Involvement in Service Management
Father-inclusive practice guide
Within System7 go to Quality Are 6/Module 5 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 family participation. These include orientation Family Communication Policy, Satisfaction Survey, Sharing Cultural Experiences Form, Share a Story About your Profession form, General Satisfaction Survey, Family Participation form, Building Relationships with Families Audit and much more.
Resources, NQS Element, Regulation and System7 links:
Childcare Centre Desktop – Childcare Centre Desktop
National Quality Standard – QA6 / Element 6.1.1- Engagement with the service
National Regulations – 157, 160, 171, 172
System7 Module – QA 6/ Module 5
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