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Overview:
Overview:
As part of the expansion of Early Learning and Childcare (EL&C) and to ensure all children experience high quality provision, the Scottish Government has introduced the National Standard which all settings who wish to deliver the funded entitlement must meet.
At the heart of the National Standard are a clear and consistent set of 10 quality criteria. This ensures that all settings who are offering the funded entitlement are delivering the highest quality EL&CC experience for children.
The criteria in the National Standard focus on what children and their families should expect from their EL&CC experience, regardless of where they access their child’s funded hours.
The 10 criteria of the National Standard
The 10 criteria of the National Standard
CRITERIA 1 (p. 12-20) – Staffing, leadership and management
CRITERIA 2 (p. 20-22) – Development of children’s cognitive skills, health and wellbeing
CRITERIA 3 (p. 23-24) – Physical Environment
CRITERIA 4 (p.25- 27) – Self – Evaluation and Improvement
CRITERIA 5 (p. 28-30) – Parent and carer engagement and involvement in the life of the setting
CRITERIA 6 (p.31-33)– Inclusion
CRITERIA 7 (p. 34-35) – Business Sustainability
CRITERIA 8 (p.36-39) – Fair Work Practices, including Payment of the Living Wage
CRITERIA 9 (p. 40-41)– Payment Processes
CRITERIA 10 (p. 42-43) – Food
Monitoring compliance against the National Standard
Monitoring compliance against the National Standard
As guarantors of quality for the National Standard, East Lothian Council has a statutory duty to ensure each child is receiving a high quality EL&CC experience during their funded hours.
The EL&CC service work with settings throughout the year on a programme of validated self-evaluation and quality assurance.
Support and guidance to meet the National Standard
Support and guidance to meet the National Standard
The East Lothian Council Early Learning and Childcare Quality Assurance Guidance document has been developed to support both an understanding of the expectations and the self-evaluation of the National Standard criteria.
This document is an overview of the national guidance documentation that underpins the National Standard including How Good is Our Early Learning and Childcare?, The Health and Social Care Standards, Realising the Ambition - Being Me and the Care Inspectorate Quality Framework (Draft).
This document does not replace the other national guidance and scrutiny documentation but will support settings in their own self-evaluation.
The EL&CC services annual visit to each setting will be based on the statements within the guidance document along with your self evaluation against these in your RAG Matrix.
This document should be used to support you when developing an action plan for improvement with your setting.
Settings can use this document to support their standard and quality reports and improvement planning.
If a setting is not meeting one or more of the criteria from the National Standard, they could be subject to a period of 'Service Improvement Protocols' in which the EL&CC service would work closely with your setting.
Always refer to the online version of the A BLUEPRINT FOR 2020: THE EXPANSION OF EARLY LEARNING AND CHILDCARE IN SCOTLAND FUNDING FOLLOWS THE CHILD AND THE NATIONAL STANDARD FOR EARLY LEARNING AND CHILDCARE PROVIDERS: OPERATING GUIDANCE where possible to ensure you are accessing the most up to date information.
Always refer to the online version of the A BLUEPRINT FOR 2020: THE EXPANSION OF EARLY LEARNING AND CHILDCARE IN SCOTLAND FUNDING FOLLOWS THE CHILD AND THE NATIONAL STANDARD FOR EARLY LEARNING AND CHILDCARE PROVIDERS: OPERATING GUIDANCE where possible to ensure you are accessing the most up to date information.
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