ACECQA Newsletter Issue 1 2025

CEO foreword

Happy New Year and welcome to our first newsletter for 2025.

The beginning of a new year is a common time to reflect on personal and professional lives: to prepare for what lies ahead; to make new resolutions; and to consider how we can make the year ahead a successful one.

ACECQA was established to undertake many functions, including to promote and foster continuous quality improvement by services; to support parents and the community in understanding quality in relation to early education and care; and to support the sector in understanding the National Quality Framework. Worldwide, it is acknowledged that the fundamental component of ‘quality’ in education and care is the educator’s knowledge, professional experience, and close relationship with each child and family.

So, our teams work months ahead of publication to consider the topics and resources that will be of most help to you. We do our research: we plan ahead; we reflect on what is happening in the sector to achieve strong outcomes; we listen to providers, educators and families to identify emerging issues; and we set goals for our continuous improvement. Just as you do.

This edition, we have a rich selection of articles to support your role. A running theme this month is the absolute need to build close and trusted relationships with children and families, and within your teams for mutual professional support and educator wellbeing. Great educators regularly reflect, plan, evaluate, and adjust their programs and practices. These take time.

And speaking of time, ‘documentation’ has been consistently raised as a significant burden for many educators, which prompted us to investigate why. We touch on the use of children’s images in documenting their learning journey while respecting children’s choices and right to privacy. We provide links to our information sheets to challenge some assumptions about what needs to be documented and what is really expected under the NQF.    

In a recent edition of the European Early Childhood Education Research Journal (Vol 32, No 5, October 2024), a number of articles reiterate the fact that children need positive early relationships for optimal development and long-term flourishing. This edition, we talk about relational pedagogy as the foundation for your programs and practices.

We also touch on the contemporary topic of supporting children as citizens in a digital society, with Safer Internet Day coming up on Tuesday 11 February. How do you create a learning environment that helps children to flourish from their online experience?

This edition, we have included a link to our Annual Performance Report on the NQF. We are required to report to, and advise, Education Ministers on the NQF. Our annual reports are one way in which we know that the NQF continues to be an internationally recognised framework for high quality early education and care: children’s safety and their learning and development. Did you know, for example, that there is a high degree of correlation between performance against educational program and practice (Quality Area 1) and leadership (Standard 7.2)? This demonstrates the critical role of service leadership in supporting educators to deliver high quality educational programs.

As CEO, I have the privilege of being the editor of this newsletter, which means I get to read these and many more articles. Without fail, I learn something new and inspiring, and I hope that is true for you too. If it is, please share our newsletter with your teams, colleagues and families.

Gabrielle Sinclair
ACECQA CEO