Framework for school age care – 'My Time, Our Place'

Framework for school age care – 'My Time, Our Place'

On 19 August 2011, the Hon Peter Garrett AM, MP, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth officially launched the Framework for School Age Care in Australia.

My Time, Our Place—Framework for School Age Care in Australia will form part of the Council of Australian Government’s reform agenda for childhood education and care and will be a key component of the Australian Government’s National Quality Framework for childhood education and care. It will be incorporated in the National Quality Standard in order to ensure delivery of nationally consistent and quality school age care across sectors and jurisdictions.

The Framework will ensure that children in school age care will have opportunities to engage in leisure and play-based experiences which are responsive to the needs, interests, and choices of the children attending the service and contribute fully to their ongoing development.

It will support and provide guidance to educators working with school age children in outside school hours care, long day care, and family day care settings.

The Framework for School Age Care builds on the Early Years Learning Framework and extends the principles, practice and outcomes to accommodate the contexts and age range of the children and young people who attend school age care settings.

Development of the Framework for School Age Care

My Time, Our Place – Framework for School Age Care in Australia has been developed by the Australian and state and territory governments and authored by Dr Jennifer Cartmel of Griffith University. A national consultation process was conducted through forums held in all capital cities and some regional centres from 5November to 3 December 2010. Comment was also provided through feedback sheets available on this site. The development of the Framework for School Age Care has taken into account the feedback received and the Government would like to thank participants for their valuable comments.

Implementation

Following the launch of the Framework on 19 August 2011, the Australian Government is providing copies of My Time, Our Place - Framework for School Age Care in Australia and the Families’ Guide to school age care services across Australia.

It is expected that, following a period of familiarisation, each school age care service will develop their own strategy to implement the Framework, taking their own unique context into consideration. Services are encouraged to do this as soon as they receive the documents as they will be required to demonstrate their use of the Framework in the design and delivery of their programs from 1 January 2012, when the National Quality Framework comes into effect.

The Framework for School Age Care and the Families’ Guide are now available for download.

Support

The consultation process highlighted the need for materials so educators in school age care services could talk to staff, parents and school leaders about the Framework. The Australian Government is providing funding for the development of three support mechanisms to assist school age care services with implementation of the Framework.

My Time, Our Place Web-based Support Package

A package is being developed as a source of ongoing professional support and development for school age care services as they engage with the National Quality Framework implementation process.
The package will include:

  • an interactive online forum that will be a place for educators working in school age care to ask questions and to chat about their experiences. Highly-experienced and qualified school age care professionals will be linked to the site and respond to enquiries and comments.
  • A series of e-newsletters and online fact sheets will give practical support to services in implementing the Framework.
  • Slide presentations will be available to provide information about the Framework to key partners in the sector including families, school leaders and staff working in school age care settings.
  • A series of videos will also be available with presentations from international and local experts on childhood, play and school age care.

Educators’ Guide to the Framework for School Age Care

The Educators’ Guide will allow school age care educators to examine current practice through a self-paced professional development approach. It will cover the Framework’s principles, practice and outcomes for children and promote reflective practice and inquiry, build knowledge and incorporate examples of quality practice.

Best Practice Guidelines for Collaborative Partnerships Between School Age Care Services and Schools

This guide is being developed to assist services in communicating the Framework to school leaders, and to promote collaborative relationships and partnerships between school age care services and schools, as many services are co-located with schools.

These materials will be made available on this website for download as soon as they are released.

Key Documents

  • My Time, Our Place - Framework for School Age Care in Australia ( PDF 681KB | RTF 698KB)
  • My Time, Our Place – Framework for School Age Care in Australia – Information for Families
    Please note, the Information for Families brochure will be made available in a range of languages shortly
    ( PDF 183KB | RTF 79KB)
  • Literature Review for the development of the Framework for School Age Care
    ( PDF 382KB | RTF 358KB)
  • My Time, Our Place – Framework for School Age Care in Australia – Information for Families are available in the following languages:

*Due to the complexities of the format and characters of the translated brochure, there is no alternative format available. Conversion to an alternate format is available upon request by calling the National Quality Framework hotline on 1800 181 088.

**If you are experiencing difficulties accessing the translated My Time, Our Place—Framework for School Age Care in Australia, please call the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) on 131 450.

Development of the Framework for School Age Care

This Framework has been developed by the Australian and state and territory governments and authored by Dr Jennifer Cartmel of Griffith University. A national consultation process was conducted through forums held in all capital cities and some regional centres from 5 November to 3 December 2010. Comment has also been provided through feedback sheets available on this site. The development of the Framework for School Age Care has taken into account the feedback received and the Government would like to thank participants for their valuable comments.

The following documents form part of the work undertaken for the consultation phase.