Guide for Service Assessment - Standard 1
(Adapted with permission from a document developed by Louise Hanrahan, Director Maitland Pre-school and her team)
Questions for reflective practice
Standard 1.1
How do we build our knowledge & understanding of the learning framework that we use in our service to ensure enhanced learning outcomes for all children?
•
How do we ensure enhanced learning outcomes are a priority for all age groups?
•
How do we get to know about each child & their strengths, abilities & interests?
•
How do we make decisions about children’s daily experiences & routines & who is involved making these decisions?
•
How do we make sure that experiences & routines are child-focused rather than adult-focused?
•
How do we support every child’s participation in the program?
•
How do we demonstrate in the program that we value children’s ideas, thinking & interests?
•
How can we improve the ways in which we engage children in making decisions about their own learning?
Babies and Toddlers
•
How do we ensure that all babies & toddlers develop a sense of belonging in our service?
•
How do we communicate the importance of learning outcomes for babies & toddlers with their families?
•
How do we apply our knowledge of learning & development & the learning framework to this age group?
School Age Children
•
How do planned or intentional aspects of the program support spontaneous play & leisure experiences initiated by children?
•
How do we incorporate learning outcomes into leisure opportunities & the everyday experiences we provide?
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Observe
1.1.1
Educators & children displaying behaviours
& engaging in activities consistent with
evidence for outcomes described in the
approved learning frameworks:
•
Children expressing a wide range of
emotions, thoughts & views
constructively
•
Children exploring aspects of identity
through role play
•
Children expressing opinions in matters
that affect them
•
Children being empowered to make
choices & solve problems to meet their
needs
•
Children are working collaboratively
with others
•
Children moving around & through their
environments confidently & safely
•
Children being curious & enthusiastic
participants in their learning
•
Children using play to investigate,
imagine & explore ideas
•
Educators providing experiences that
actively promote or initiate the
investigation of ideas, complex concepts
& thinking, reasoning & hypothesising
by, e.g.:
 Talking explicitly about concepts
such as rhyme, letters & sounds
when sharing texts with
 children
 Engaging children in discussions
about symbol systems, such as
letters, numbers, time, money &
musical notation
 Supporting children to contribute
constructively to mathematical &
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Sight
Discuss
A written program or documentation
regarding the assessment of learning
that demonstrates how curriculum
decision making contributes to each
child’s learning & development
outcomes
•
•
Reflections
How the service communicates
learning outcomes for children with
their families
• How the service’s statement of
philosophy guides pedagogy &
teaching decisions
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scientific discussions & arguments
Using everyday events as a basis
for children's learning about nature
& science
 Supporting children to take on roles
that use literacy & numeracy in
their play
Children conveying & constructing
messages with purpose & confidence
Educators consolidating & extending
children’s communication by, e.g.:
 Engaging children in singing &
chanting rhymes, jingles & songs &
engaging children in play with
words & sounds
 Supporting children to convey &
construct messages with purpose &
confidence, building on
home/family & community literacies
 Providing opportunities for children
to express ideas & make meaning
using a range of media
 Supporting children to be
independent communicators who
initiate Standard Australian English
& home language conversations &
who demonstrate the ability to
meet listeners’ needs
 Providing a literacy enriched
environment that includes
displaying print in home languages
& in Standard Australian English

•
•
BABIES & TODDLERS
Educators:
•
Supporting & promoting babies’ &
toddlers’ early attempts to initiate
interactions & conversations
•
Acknowledging & responding sensitively
to babies’ & toddlers’ cues & signals
•
Initiating one-to-one interactions with
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babies’ & toddlers’ during daily routines
Babies & Toddlers
•
Reaching out & communicating for
comfort, assistance & companionship
•
Being playful & responding positively to
others
SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN
•
Strategies used by the service to
ensure that all children have a
sense of belonging in the service,
including regular & occasional
attendees
• Strategies applied to ensure the
needs of children attending on an
irregular basis are reflected in the
program planning & delivery
SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN
•
Acknowledging & planning
opportunities for children to relax
through play & leisure
•
Incorporating/including children's
diverse experiences, perspectives,
expectations, knowledge & skills in the
program
Observe
1.1.2
Educators:
•
Observing. listening & talking with
children for sustained periods of time &
paying close attention to what they are
saying, thinking & doing
•
Demonstrating flexibility in program
delivery to incorporate children’s ideas,
cultures & interests to ensure that
experiences are relevant & engaging
Children:
•
Initiating & contributing to play
experiences that emerge from their own
ideas & interests to their satisfaction
•
Repeating, revisiting & adding to
projects or experiences that they have
initiated
•
Developing strong foundations in the
culture & language of their family & in
that of the broader community, without
compromising their cultural identities
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Sight
Discuss
•
•
•
Evidence that information about
the children’s family, culture &
community is collected & used to
inform the program
Examples of how educators:
 Plan programs that are
responsive to children’s
knowledge, ideas, culture,
abilities & interests
 Promote children’s wellbeing &
learning outcomes in this
context
•
Reflections
Educators current understanding of
individual children’s knowledge,
ideas, culture & interests, & how
they have developed an
understanding of this in relation to
each child
How educators’ curriculum decision
making builds on the child’s
knowledge, ideas, culture,
interests, skills & development
when actively planning learning
experiences
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•
•
Indicating their deep involvement in
experiences that are rich & meaningful
to them with facial & vocal responses, &
sustained concentration
Exploring ideas & theories using
imagination, creativity & play, during
large blocks of uninterrupted time
Observe
1.1.3
Children
•
Noticing & predicting patterns of regular
routines & the passing of time
•
Using effective routines to help make
predicted transitions smoothly
•
Participating collaboratively in everyday
routines, events & experiences & having
opportunities to contribute to decisions
•
Having opportunities to enhance their
learning during routines
Sight
Discuss
•
•
Policy documentation outlining
routines
Reflections
How the service organizes its
program & routines to maximize
opportunities for children’s learning
Educators:
•
Using routines & play experiences to
interact with babies & children to build
attachment
•
Using routines to undertake intentional
teaching
•
Seeking opportunities within routines
for spontaneous learning
•
Minimising the times during which
children are expected to do the same
thing at the same time
Babies & Toddlers
•
Educators initiating one-to-one
interactions with babies & toddlers
during routine activities to ensure these
provide opportunities for positive
interactions & learning
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School Aged Children

Children taking increasing responsibility
for self-help & basic health routines

Educators collaborating with children
about routines & procedures
Observe
1.1.4
Educators:

Exchanging information about the
educational program

Showing meaningful documentation to
families

Strategies used by the service to
involve children in designing the
program & organising the routines
Sight
Discuss

Documented expectations for
recording information from families
Documentation at the service that
provides all families with
information about the educational
program
Relevant records about each child’s
program & progress:
 in a format that can be shared
with families
 that is appropriate to the age
of the child & the time the
child attends the service

Relevant records about each child’s
participation in the program in a
format that can be shared with
families & is appropriate to the age
of the child & the time the child
attend the service





Reflections
How information is made available
to families, including how they
access it & how meaningful it is to
them
Educators’ understanding of the
importance of regular
communication with families
How arrangements are made to
exchange information about the
child with families at mutually
convenient times
School Aged Children

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Collaboration between educators &
children in documenting children’s
achievements to share with families
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Observe
1.1.5
Children:
•
Regardless of background, age, gender
or ability, being supported to fully
participate as valued members of the
group
•
Being acknowledged as competent &
capable & being encouraged to do
many things independently
Educators:
•
Acknowledging each child’s uniqueness
in positive ways
•
Supporting children’s efforts, assisting &
encouraging as appropriate
•
Being consistently aware of &
responsive to children who may require
additional support, assistance or
attention
•
Noticing & listening carefully to
children’s concerns & discussing diverse
perspectives on issues of inclusion &
exclusion and fair & unfair behaviour
Observe
1.1.6
Educators:
•
Providing children with strategies to
make informed choices about their
behaviours
•
Encouraging children to make choices &
decisions
•
Displaying delight, encouragement &
enthusiasm for children’s attempts to
gain new skills & knowledge
•
Supporting play experiences initiated by
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Sight
Discuss
•
•
•
•
•
Acknowledging each child’s
uniqueness in positive ways
Supporting children’s efforts,
assisting & encouraging as
appropriate
Being consistently aware of &
responsive to children who may
require additional support,
assistance or attention
Noticing & listening carefully to
children’s concerns & discussing
diverse perspectives on issues of
inclusion & exclusion and fair &
unfair behaviour
Sight
•
How educators support children to
explore different identities & points
of view through play & everyday
experiences
Aspects of the program that have
been adapted or changed to
minimise barriers to participation
Discuss
•
•
Reflections
Reflections
Educators’ expectations of each
child’s capabilities
How educators provide
opportunities for children to
influence what happens to them &
to exercise choice
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children
Children:
•
Making choices & decisions about things
that affect them
•
Openly expressing their feelings & ideas
in their interactions with others
•
Initiating play
•
Beginning to initiate negotiating &
sharing behaviours
SCHOOL AGED CHILDREN
Educators:
•
Allowing children to direct their own
play & leisure experiences with their
peers
•
Creating possibilities for peer scaffolding
Children:
•
Showing leadership, making decisions &
following directions given by other
children
•
Leading their learning, designing
experiences & freely making choices
about participating in experiences
•
Actively participating in decisions that
affect them, including their learning &
leisure
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Questions for reflective practice
Standard 1.2
•
How do we currently document and plan for children’s learning?
•
How can we improve the quality of information we provide to families about their children’s learning, development and participation in the program?
•
How are educators demonstrating intention in their teaching practice and how does this reflect on outcomes for children?
•
What do we do to critically reflect on and evaluate the program, how is this documented and how are our evaluations used to make informed curriculum decisions to
improve outcomes for children?
Observe
1.2.1
Educators:
•
Observing & recording children’s
learning & behaviour to inform their
educational planning
•
Using their knowledge of the
children’s current learning &
development to evaluate & reflect on
programming
Sight
Discuss
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Evidence that information gathered
in children’s documentation
demonstrates the children’s learning
& development in the service
Evidence of the cycle of planning,
documenting & evaluating
Evidence that children’s ideas,
interests & points of view are heard
& respected in planning for &
assessing learning experiences
Examples of children’s representation
of their learning & work that is
documented & displayed in sensitive
& respectful ways
Information about planned
experiences that is recorded in a way
that children & families can
appreciate & understand & that is
displayed for them to view
Opportunities for families & children
to comment on or provide feedback
about the program
Evidence that written programming
•
Reflections
The effectiveness of the processes
used to capture & record information
about children’s strengths, interests,
relationships & learning over a period
of time
How educators analyse the
information that is gathered about
individuals & groups of children to
make judgements about each child’s
progress towards specific learning
outcomes
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& evaluation is ongoing, appropriate
& inclusive of each child
School Aged Children
•
•
Observe
1.2.2
Educators:
•
Intentionally scaffolding children’s
understanding & learning
•
Making use of spontaneous
‘teachable moments’ to extend
children’s learning
•
Responding to children's displays of
learning dispositions by commenting
on them & providing encouragement
& additional ideas
•
Further extending critical thinking
skills through provocations
•
Valuating signs of children applying
their learning in new ways & talking
about this with them in ways that
build their understanding
•
Modelling mathematical & scientific
language & concepts
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Relevant records about each child’s
participation in the program in a
format that can be shared with
families & that is appropriate to the
age of the child
Documented assessment &
evaluation by educators, which
includes what children know, say &
can do, & evidence that shows how
this assessment / evaluation leads to
future curriculum decision making
that extends children’s learning
Sight
Discuss
Reflections
How educators:
•
Recognise & value children’s
involvement in learning
•
Provide learning environments that
are flexible & openminded
• Plan learning environments with
appropriate levels of challenge,
where children are encouraged to
explore, experiment & take
appropriate risks in their learning
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•
•
Modelling language associated with
the arts
Joining in children's play & coconstructing materials, such as signs
that extend the play & enhance
literacy learning
Children:
•
Being curious & enthusiastic
participants in their learning
•
Using their own ideas to develop
their play
Observe
1.2.3
Educators:
•
Working with children to document &
reflect on their experiences &
learning
•
Using a variety of methods, such as
diary jottings, children’s comments &
conversations, photographs &
examples of children’s work, to assist
their reflection on children’s
experiences, thinking & learning
Sight
Discuss
•
•
•
Documentation that shows evidence
of critical reflection that clearly
identifies:
 Children's learning & their
developing ideas & skills
 Examples of children’s
spontaneous play
 The effectiveness of teaching
strategies
 Changes that may be needed in
the environment
Documentation such as photographs,
samples of children's work & their
words being used, to create records
that are meaningful for children &
can be shared with their families
•
•
•
•
•
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Reflections
How critical reflection, assessment &
evaluation are ongoing processes in
the service
The opportunities available for
educators to reflect on the events of
each day, including thinking about
what happened & why
The opportunities available for
educators to reflect on the program’s
successes & what can be extended
or changed
How children’s comments about their
experiences of the program are
recorded & considered as part of the
evaluation process
Whether information gathered
provides insights about curriculum
decision making that supports &
extends children's learning,
development & wellbeing
How educators consider ways in
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•
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which children’s interests & ideas can
be scaffolded to enhance their
learning & development
How educators promote a culture of
professional enquiry, where practices
& outcomes are reviewed & new
ideas are generated
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