Leylands Learning Centre, based in the Sydney suburb of Belmore, is an early childhood education service that is committed to continuous quality improvement, and in 2020 took part in Quality Support Program (QSP)

The service focused on the National Quality Standard areas 1- Educational Program and practice, 3 - physical environment and 7 – governance and leadership for improvement during the program.

Centre Director and Educational Leader Christine Al-Otaibi said participation in the program allowed their educators to build their reflection skills, NQS Element 1.3.2, to deliver improvements and achieve their Meeting the National Quality Standard (NQS) rating in May 2021.

“Using ongoing critical reflection was the biggest lesson for us from the program, as it encouraged our educators to really become involved in the process,” Christine said.

“We wanted to inspire our educators to actively talk and think about what quality improvement would look like at our centre.”

“Before QSP, our educators weren’t using ongoing critical reflection however, going through the program and receiving the external support is now a key focus within our routine.”

“Within our staff meetings we now regularly use critical reflection as a tool to discuss improving our policies and procedures, using the information and resources gained during QSP.”

“We reflected on our current practices, analysed ACECQA’s advice and looked at best practice examples from other services, and we were able to decide the initial steps that were achievable for our service,” Christine said.

Navigating the program during the COVID lockdown period QSP was a highly valuable experience for Leylands Learning Centre, Christine says.

“We took part in virtual meetings with our Quality Support Facilitator to explore various aspects of our service practice, which provided valuable information and resources to share with our staff.”

The positive change within the staff has seen the team receive positive feedback from their families and even seen increased enrolments.

“The tools we were provided through the QSP highlighted the need for ongoing reflective practice, which we really took on board. We have begun the process of viewing all feedback and complaints from families as a means of support for continuous improvement.”

“Our team now highly values parental involvement in our service, openly welcoming families into the Leylands family as partners in the education and care journey – we're constantly seeking ways that we can improve our service for families.”

The Quality Support Program is funded by the NSW Department of Education in partnership with ACECQA.

You can now register to attend our free Quality Support Program roadshow session to be held on 16 May, 10am – 11am.