Meeting National Quality Standard (NQS) Pathway
The Meeting NQS Pathway is a free 21-week program that supports services’ ability to meet and/or exceed the NQS and will focus on priority quality areas.
ACECQA will work alongside services to lift quality and support ongoing confidence by embedding quality practices.
This pathway is designed to support services who are rated Working Towards the NQS. Eligible services can express interest to participate in this pathway.
The Meeting NQS Pathway offers:
- 20 hours of remote mentoring support
- online communities of practice
- QSP Tool Kit
- access to the ACECQA resources library and e-learning modules
- 3 live online workshops
- up to 2 face-to-face visits per service.
The Meeting NQS pathway is a great opportunity for educators and services to collaboratively lift quality in their early childhood education and care (ECEC) service, and to learn from experts in the industry. Taking only one hour per week over 21 weeks, this program is designed in a way that allows educators to participate fully without impacting their roles.
Eligibility
The Meeting NQS Pathway is available to services that are currently rated Working Towards the NQS and located in NSW. This includes long day care, family day care, preschools, mobile preschools, occasional care, Multifunctional Aboriginal Children's Services and outside school hours care services including vacation care services.
There are 2 avenues to participation in the Meeting NQS Pathway:
- Direct referral from the NSW Department of Education. Assessment and rating data is used to identify services that will benefit the most from the support offered in the program. Once referred a program facilitator from ACECQA will contact services about participating in the pathway.
- Services may submit an EOI for the Meeting NQS Pathway if they are located in NSW and are currently rated Working Towards the NQS.
Assessment and rating
Following participation in the Quality Support Program Meeting the NQS pathway, services will be scheduled for assessment and rating. This may be a partial or full reassessment.
The NSW Department of Education is the regulatory authority (NSW Regulatory Authority) for the ECEC sector in NSW. The NSW Regulatory Authority will aim to schedule assessment and rating for participating services within 12 months of program completion. Read more about assessment and rating.
Resources to support services in meeting the NQS
ACECQA have a range of resources developed to support services to meet the NQS.
Find out more
To find out if the Meeting NQS Pathway is right for your service and to submit an EOI, please visit the ACECQA website or email ACECQA at qualitysupportprogram@acecqa.gov.au.