From the Chief Executive
As 2022 draws to a close I wish to acknowledge the efforts of every leader, educator and staff member working in the sector over the past year. It has been a year of significant challenge and change. I thank everyone who has contributed to improving educational and development outcomes and to ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of children and young people during the past year.
The Education Standards Board has begun to prepare for the upcoming legislative and policy reforms, including how we will provide guidance to the sector to enable you to adapt service provision to align with these changes.
The reforms in early childhood education and care include implementation of the 2019 NQF Review, updates to the Approved Learning Frameworks and the national assessment and rating reforms. Ensuring the quality of children’s education and care is our mutual responsibility as we adapt our work practices to meet the new requirements.
We are committed to continuously improving our practice by engaging in evidence-based reflection to improve regulatory outcomes. Reflecting on our performance has identified an opportunity to improve how we proactively approach risk-based regulation.
To provide better clarity, we are publishing our Regulatory Practice Statement that clearly articulates what we do and how we do it. It establishes clear roles and responsibilities and, in line with our transparency principle, outlines how we will be accountable for our performance. I encourage you to read this statement to prepare for our engagement in the coming year.
Throughout 2023, providers of early childhood education and care services can expect increased engagement from the Education Standards Board through channels including newsletters, factsheets, sector forums and webinars. Our regulatory priorities and targets for early childhood education and care providers and services have been released in this December Bulletin, and you can read these on our website.
Initially, our proactive and educative approach will focus on information about national reforms, our regulatory priorities, and the exceeding themes in the National Quality Standard. More information on our first sector forum and how you can engage with the Education Standards Board in 2023 will be released in the new year.
Many schools can expect to undertake a self-review against the Standards for Registration in 2023. For those who have not received a letter notifying you of a school review, you can learn more about the self-review process and the requirements of the Standards on our website.
I look forward to working towards our shared goal to continually improve the quality of education and care available to children and young people across South Australia.
Wishing you all a safe and peaceful festive season
Kerry Leaver
Chief Executive and Registrar