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Home » Resources » NCAC Policy Development Guide for Services
NCAC Policy Development Guide for Services
Page contents:
Introduction to the NCAC Policy Development Guide for Services
Effective policies are the foundation for consistent quality practice in children's services. Comprehensive policies ensure that all stakeholders have the same understanding and expectations about what happens in the service and provide a record of accountability for certain decisions made by staff, carers and management.
Working in partnership with staff, carers, families, children and the local community will ensure that a service's policies will reflect the individual needs of the children in care and their families.
The purpose of the NCAC Policy Development Guide for Services is to:
- Assist services to develop policies and procedures that relate to:
- The needs of the individual service
- The service's Continuing Improvement Plans
- Child Care Quality Assurance (CCQA)
- Federal and State Government legislative requirements
- Assist services, families and children to form partnerships to continually improve care of children.
NCAC recognises and promotes the importance of individualised, service specific policies. Each service provides care and support to children and communities with differing needs, therefore, one service's policies and procedures will be different to another's.
The NCAC Policy Development Guide for Services will help services to develop, source and write policies, assist in establishing a collaborative approach with stakeholders, and help clarify the importance of reviewing policies on a regular basis.
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The Importance of Policies
In children's services effective policies are essential to ensuring that all stakeholders have the same understanding and expectations about what happens in the service. Effective policies inform and guide daily practice, so they need to be current, clearly written and easily accessible to all service stakeholders.
Policies need to include information that explains which procedures must occur and why, as well as clear guidelines about how the policy requirements can be translated into daily practice.
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Policy Development Definitions
Defines the terms 'goal', 'rationale', 'policy' and 'procedure' to assist services undertaking policy development and review.
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Using Reflective Questions in Policy Development and Review
Reflecting upon service practice can occur in many ways, and it is important to ensure that all stakeholders have a variety of genuine opportunities to contribute to this process.
Asking questions about practice can assist services to identify and critically reflect on the effectiveness of their current daily and professional practice.
By considering reflective questions a service can consider how current practices might need to be changed, further developed or improved. This assists services to identify where policies may need to be reviewed or developed to support current practices and plans to improve.
Using reflective questions may prompt stakeholders to consider aspects of practice. For example:
- Why is the practice in place?
- Is the practice fair and equitable?
- Is the current practice effective?
- Is the practice relevant to the service as a whole and to individual staff, carers and management?
- How does the practice affect children, families or other stakeholders?
- Have any concerns or issues been raised about the practice?
- Is the information sourced for the practice still current/relevant?
- Is there recent research, trends or legislation that needs to be added to the policy regarding the practice?
NCAC has produced Quality Practices Guide Supplementary Resources which outline reflective questions that can assist self-evaulation in relation to each CCQA Principle.
Services are encouraged to use the Quality Practices Guide Supplementary Resources in conjunction with the CCQA Quality Practices Guides.
Quality Practices Guide Supplementary Resources are available from the NCAC Online Store or by completing a Publications Order Form and returning it to NCAC, with payment by cheque, money order or credit card.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Policy Development
Common questions asked by services participating in CCQA regarding policy development and evaluation. Includes resources for further reading.
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Additional Resources
Services may wish to use the following Developing a Policy Checklist and sample policy template to assist them to develop and evaluate their own policies.
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NCAC Policy Templates
The NCAC Policy Templates reflect the principles outlined in the NCAC Policy Development Guide and the recommendations from several recognised authorities.
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Required Policies
The Required Policies page outlines the policies for each Child Care Quality Assurance system that services are required to have.
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Support and Assistance
Services seeking advice about policy development can contact a NCAC Child Care Adviser on 1300 136 554 or by e-mail to qualitycare@ncac.gov.au.
The Australian Government funds Professional Support Coordinators to assist services participating in CCQA. These agencies provide a range of services including telephone support, training courses, bookshops and lending resources. Contact details for Professional Support Coordinators are available from the link below or by telephoning NCAC.
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