In case you haven't noticed, more and more services are losing confidence in the Assessment & Ratings process in NSW.
ACECQA recently stated that 91% of services were either Meeting or Exceeding the National Quality Standards (NQS). In NSW, it is actually 87.79% of services either Meeting or Exceeding the NQS. In fact, NSW has consistently been rated lower than the national statistics, especially since 2018.
As shown on pages 20-23 of the ACA NSW Submission to the NSW Government for its upcoming NSW Budget 2025, there is what now appears to be a structurally higher likelihood for NSW-based ECEC services to be downgraded in their Quality Ratings, and a lower likelihood to be upgraded in their Quality Ratings.
One of the main reasons for Quality Ratings is to convey the level of quality of a service to parents and the public. Another main reason is for it to be a framework for services to strive for higher quality.
However, especially since 2018, fewer NSW services are achieving the Exceeding the NQS Quality Rating, and such can lead to negative consequences, including loss of confidence and morale of educators and teachers, and ultimately staff leaving due to loss of vocational faith.
If you want to (privately) share your experience, you can register for one of ACA NSW's A&R online discussions with other services (see registration form below).
For any further information/clarification, please contact the ACA NSW team via 1300 556 330 or nsw@childcarealliance.org.au.
PUBLISHED: 15 JANUARY 2025