“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.
Have you recently reviewed your service philosophy to ensure it’s an accurate and current representation of your service’s values, beliefs, goals and community?
Have you maintained documented evidence of regular reviews that involve collaboration and input from all relevant stakeholders?
A statement of philosophy serves three purposes:
-
- underpins the decisions, policies and daily practices of the service
- reflects a shared understanding of the role of the service among staff, children, families and the community
- guides educators’ pedagogy, planning and practice when delivering the educational program.
A thoughtfully written statement of philosophy will prove to be a valuable tool to help guide leaders and educator’s practice. Together with the Approved Learning Framework, it assists educators in considering the service’s approach to learning, development and wellbeing. It should also underpin the policies and procedures and guide all aspects of a Service’s operations and practices.
To ensure your Service philosophy remains a living document Services must regularly review the content to ensure it consistently meets the needs of the current families, staff and children and reflects the values of all stakeholders. Services should seek input from families, children and staff to ensure that the core principles outlined in your philosophy are an accurate representation of the families, children and staff of the Service.
Consider a philosophy review meeting or simply add it to the agenda for your next team meeting. Allocate a few minutes to review your philosophy and reflect on whether it accurately represents your current purpose, practice and community before seeking out input from families and relevant stakeholders.
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.
Services must be able to demonstrate that their philosophy is a living document by:
-
- 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 and 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 r55
Resources:
Reviewing your Service philosophy
How does your service philosophy guide effective leadership and governance
We Hear You: Does your service vision lead the way?
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 developing, reviewing and documenting your service philosophy. These include the Record of Philosophy Review, Philosophy Development and Review Procedure, Philosophy Template and more.
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!
