Partnerships between Education and Care providers and DECYP

Education and Care services comprise:

• Long Day Care (LDC)
• Outside School Hours Care (OSHC), including Before and After School Care and Vacation Care
• Family Day Care (FDC)
• Occasional Care services.

The Australian ECEC sector has experienced a period of significant growth and development in the last decade. In 2009 (and updated in 2022) Being, Becoming and Belonging: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) (PDF, 24.9MB) was introduced for all early childhood settings.

The National Quality Framework (NQF) | acecqa, introduced in 2012, is designed to ensure a uniform and integrated approach to the regulation and quality assessment of education and care services across Australia.  A national body, Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), guides and monitors the implementation of the NQF to promote consistency across all states and territories. In Tasmania, the NQF is administered and monitored by the Department for Education, Children and Young People (DECYP) Education and Care Unit (ECU).

What is Co-location?

Co-location is where Education and Care (EC) services run on Department for Education, Children and Young People (DECYP) sites. Sites such as schools or Child and Family Learning Centres (CFLCs).

Two examples of co-location are:

• A Long Day Care (LDC) centre in a building leased on a school site.
• Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) using shared facilities, like a school hall.

Partnership is the key to successful co-location relationships between DECYP and EC providers in Tasmania. The Co-located Partnership Policy (PDF, 5.9MB) and Co-located Partnership Procedure (PDF, 637KB), along with the Partnerships Framework (PDF, 148KB), help support and guide these relationships, encouraging strong and effective connections built on mutual commitment and collaboration.

Required meetings between DECYP and the EC provider

The Co-located Partnership Procedure (PDF, 637KB), requires DECYP to meet with co-located EC providers. These meetings must be between decision makers from both sectors. DECYP Principals or School Business Managers and EC Leaders must attend. These meetings are opportunities to organise shared activities and discuss challenges. They also assist in the planning of transitions for children between the EC service and DECYP settings.

The required meeting cycle is:

• Minimum meetings three times per year with Outside School Hours Care, Family Day Care, Occasional Care
• Minimum meetings two times per year with Long Day Care services.

The Co-located Partnership Procedure (PDF, 637KB) outlines meeting requirements where DECYP and EC providers are encouraged to meet informally and communicate regularly, as suitable to the individual context.

Communication is a critical tool for achieving strong partnerships. In this context, it involves:

• keeping the best interests of children at the centre
• being open and respectful
• listening to understand differing perspectives
• communicating messages clearly and concisely
• using nonverbal visual cues to convey respect
• selecting the right form of communication

It is an expectation under the Co-located Partnership Policy (PDF, 5.9MB) and Co-located Partnership Procedure (PDF, 637KB) that co-located services communicate frequently, openly and respectfully.

Department for Education, Children and Young People (DECYP) schools and services, and Education and Care (EC) services are regulated and guided by a range of different legislation, policies and processes. Sometimes they are the same; sometimes they differ. It is important to understand the context of each other’s operating environment to ensure we can work together effectively to improve the education and wellbeing of our children.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (PDF, 1189KB), has important overarching information for DECYP school and service and EC service staff.

Working in partnership is an active and ongoing process. DECYP schools and services, and EC services need to build strong and collaborative relationships to achieve positive outcomes for children. The Co-located Partnership Policy (PDF, 5.9MB) and Co-located Partnership Procedure (PDF, 637KB) guide co-location of EC and DECYP services and frames this by providing clear and consistent guidance.

Frameworks

• Partnership Framework
• Safe. Secure. Support. Our Safeguarding Framework
• Early Years Learning Framework
• National Quality Framework
• My Time, Our Place – Framework for School Age Care in Australia
• National Quality Standards

Templates

• Review of existing arrangements template
• Check-in meeting Agenda template
• Our Ways of Working in Partnership template
• Check-in meeting Minutes and Actions template
• Registration of interest for OSHC
• Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement
• DECYP Consent to Share Information
• Self-assessment tool
• Effective Collaboration Self-reflection tool
• EOI checklist for DECYP schools and services

Guides

• General guidance on preparing an EOI application for EC providers
• General guidance on assessing EOI applications for Evaluation Panel
• Co-location Roles and Responsibilities
• Effective Collaboration Domains and Key Principles
• Resource Information Guide
• DECYP and EC Providers co-located flowchart
• Guide for check-in meetings