Staffing under the NQF - CareforKids.com.au®

Staffing Under The NQF
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When the National Quality Framework comes into effect in January 2012 all long day care, outside school hours care, family day care and kindergarten services will be required to appoint an educational leader and nominated supervisor for their service.

An Educational Leader is a suitably qualified and experienced educator, co-ordinator or other individual that will lead the development and implementation of education programs in the service. Being an early childhood teacher does not mean you are automatically the educational leader of a service.

A Certified Supervisor is a person granted a supervisor certificate by the Department of Education and Training and deemed capable of being in day-to-day charge of a service, certified as a fit and proper person, and also meets the minimum requirements for age, qualifications, experience and management capabilities. Persons who are currently the equivalent of Certified Supervisors will transition into the NQF as Certified Supervisors from 1 January 2012.*

A Nominated Supervisor is a Certified Supervisor who has agreed to oversee the day-to-day operation of a service at all times education and care is being provided. Services may employ several staff who are Certified Supervisors and any one of them could be appointed as the Nominated Supervisor or could act in this role during absences. Only one Nominated Supervisor is required at each service.

In addition, from 1 January 2014, all long day care and kindergarten services will be required to either have access to or employ an early childhood teacher.

An Early Childhood Teacher is a teacher with a relevant qualification approved by the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA). An early childhood teacher may be suitable to fulfil the role of Educational Leader and Nominated Supervisor, however, services may also choose to allocate other suitably qualified staff to these positions.

Services can decide whether one staff member fulfils several roles or whether these are split amongst several staff. For example an early childhood teacher may also agree to be the educational leader and/or Nominated Supervisor.

In choosing staff to perform these leadership roles, services will need to demonstrate that they are providing effective leadership and service management, as outlined by Quality Area 7 in the National Quality Standard (NQS). This will be a key part of their assessment and rating against the NQS.

If you are concerned about your service's ability to meet these new staffing requirements make sure you take a look at ChildCareJobs.com.au for your staffing needs.

Through this website Job Seekers are connected to the best possible jobs and career opportunities and employers are able to cost effectively advertise to a highly targeted audience of child care professionals.

Child care service providers are well aware of the staff shortages facing this industry, to maximise your chances of finding the best child care talent to help you meet the requirements of the NQF be sure to check out ChildCareJobs.com.au.

*Work is currently underway to identify the qualification requirements for the educational leader, early childhood teacher and Certified Supervisor roles and outcomes of this work are expected to be provided later in 2011.

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