Thank you for watching this video. I'm here to provide you with an important update about a new centralised system for collecting data, reporting and administering programme funding for early childhood education and care or ECEC providers in New South Wales.

The Digital Hub will be rolled out in 2025 and will introduce several improvements, including upgrades to the way attendance and enrollment data is collected, support for funding delivery, and a more user-friendly programme funding and grant application processes.

The key benefits include improved access to funding and reporting of funding outcomes. Time saved by allowing ECEC providers and the department to connect swiftly. It will help support the department in meeting its reporting requirements under the National Preschool Reform Agreement and other initiatives to support 600 hours of preschool education in the year before school. And because data will be collected centrally, services won't need to enter data manually into multiple systems making administration and reporting such as the annual Preschool Census much easier.

To prepare for the rollout of the Digital Hub services currently using paper-based attendance and enrollment tracking systems are encouraged to adopt childcare management software, also known as CCMS. This will make data management easier for services by simplifying data transfer to the department via the Digital Hub, reducing the burden of manual reporting to the department and minimising the need to enter data into multiple systems.

In 2023, several preschools adopted a CCMS and spoke to the department about their experience. Carly Jones is the director of Warialda Preschool in the states far North West. Ms. Jones told us that most families were really impressed by how easy it was to adapt to the changes they experienced after implementing a CCMS. She said, "They just love seeing their documentation at their fingertips, lying in bed, scrolling through, and seeing what their child did that day."

Meanwhile, for Tom Devlin, CEO of Inverell Group of Preschools, implementing a CCMS translated to better relationships with his families and better communication. He told us it was about being able to have more live, easily accessible and relevant data about our services and who is in attendance at any time, particularly off the back of recent natural disasters and events like that.

Other benefits of implementing a CCMS include saving time by eliminating manual handling tasks and sharing important details with our families, like their child's meal and medication times. In 2024, the department is working closely with the ECEC services and CCMS system providers to develop, test, and trial the system to ensure it is user-friendly and meets the needs of services and the department.

Once we've completed testing, providers will be invited to join the Digital Hub in stages from 2025. To get ready for the Digital Hub, some ECEC services will need to review their enrollment and attendance tracking systems. This includes adopting a childcare management software CCMS system for the first time, or reviewing existing CCMS systems. Over time, the Digital Hub will replace the Early Childhood Contract Management system or ECCMS as it's known. Which has been used to manage funding and contracting arrangements between the department and ECEC providers for over a decade.

Thank you for watching. To find out more about the Digital Hub or for one-on-one help selecting the right childcare management software or hardware for your service, contact the Digital Hub team via email at digitalhub@det.nsw.edu.au. Or via the Digital Hub Technology helpline on 1300 412 367.

Thank you for watching. I'm here to tell you about the Attendance and Enrolment Technology Grant for Community Preschools.

This grant allows eligible community preschools to apply for up to $5,000 excluding GST, to purchase technology to record the attendance and enrolments of children more effectively. The programme is open to New South Wales-based, not-for-profit community preschools, both centre-based and mobile, operating in the 2011 ARIA+ remoteness classifications of Inner Regional, Outer Regional, Remote, and Very Remote New South Wales. This approach aligns with funding arrangements for regional loading in the 2024 Start Strong for Community Preschools programme guidelines.

The grant will assist eligible community preschools to purchase technology to easily record attendance and enrolment data, help overcome barriers to technology adoption, including physical access to resources, reduced internet coverage, and increasing software and hardware requirements in these regions, reduce administrative and manual processing, improve data consistency, quality control, transparency, and assurance.

The grant can be used for the first time purchase of a cloud-hosted childcare management software system, often referred to as a CCMS, that can support both attendance and enrolment management. It is essential that the CCMS software is cloud-hosted. The grant can also be used for the first-time purchase of information technology hardware to enable the cloud-hosted CCMS system to capture attendance and enrolment, or for internet access or internet improvement measures to allow your service to use the CCMS system. For further details on what to consider when selecting technology, please refer to the section of the guidelines titled How to select software (Childcare Management Software - CCMS) and hardware for attendance and enrolment collection.

A service must meet the following criteria to apply. Be a not-for-profit centre-based or mobile community preschool operating in New South Wales. Be an approved ECEC service under the Education and Care Services National Law Act of 2010 and Education and Care Services National Regulations. Deliver an early childhood education programme in accordance with the Early Years Learning Framework. Be registered with the department's Early Childhood Contract Management System, or ECCMS. Accept the Early Childhood Outcomes Programme Funding Agreement terms and conditions for 2024. Not already be using cloud-hosted technology to capture both attendance and enrolment data and be operating in a 2011 ARIA+ remoteness classification of Inner Regional, Outer Regional, Remote, or Very Remote New South Wales according to the services addressed for funding under the Start Strong for Community Preschools or Mobile Preschool funding programmes. A list of services in the eligible remoteness classification of New South Wales can be found in the programme guidelines. Centre-based community preschool services can only apply once for the Attendance and Enrolment Technology Grant for Community Preschools per service approval. Mobile preschools can only apply once under their parents' service approval, but not under individual mobile venues.

To apply for the grant, you should read the Attendance and Enrolment Technology Grant for Community Preschools programme guidelines, including the section titled How to select software (Childcare Management Software - CCMS) and hardware for attendance and enrolment collection. You should also call the Digital Hub Technology Helpline on 1300 412 367 if you need help selecting a CCMS or overcoming technology barriers. You should also complete the grant application in SmartyGrants by the 28th of March 2024. A link to the SmartyGrants application can be found in the programme guidelines. Thank you for watching.

For more information about the grant, please read the detailed grant guidelines. If you have further questions, email the ECEC funding team on ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au or call 1800 619 113. For one-on-one help selecting the right childcare management software or hardware for your service, contact the Digital Hub team via email at digitalhub@det.nsw.edu.au or via the Digital Hub Technology Helpline on 1300 412 367.

Thank you for watching this video. Choosing the right childcare management software and hardware for your service will help your service prepare for the rollout of the Digital Hub in 2025. To ensure you make the right choice, it's important that you read the How to Select Childcare Management Software and Hardware for Attendance and Enrollment Collection section of the Attendance and Enrollment Technology Grant for Community Preschools guidelines. This will guide you through the decision-making process so you know what to look for when selecting attendance and enrollment software or hardware.

Each service is unique, so there is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to deciding what to buy. However, it is essential that your software can capture child and parent or carer details, enrollment and attendance information, service details, fee and subsidy information. It's also essential to consider what the security features are like. Is it a cloud-based system hosted in Australia? Does the software have secure logins and authentications for users? Are there data access restrictions based on role type so you can secure personal data? Is data backed up and encryption available as an additional safeguard?

The How to Select Childcare Management Software and Hardware for Attendance and Enrollment Collection section of the Grant Guidelines will help you to consider some optional features and benefits that your service might like to have. If you are concerned about your internet connection or wifi, the guidelines also include some tips for how to improve your internet reliability. For one-on-one help selecting the right childcare management software or hardware for your service, you can contact the Digital Hub team via email at digitalhub@det.nsw.edu.au, or via the Digital Hub Technology Helpline on 1300 412 367. Thank you for watching.