King's College Early Learning Centre
Quality Improvement Plan
QIP FAQs
What are the 7 Quality Areas?
What is a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP)?
The Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) is a strategic document that outlines our continuous improvement efforts in delivering high-quality early childhood education. It reflects our commitment to ongoing reflection, evaluation, and enhancement of our programs and practices to benefit the children in our care.
How does the QIP benefit the children?
The QIP directly benefits the children by promoting a culture of continuous improvement and excellence. It ensures that our programs align with best practices, developmental theories, and regulatory standards, ultimately enriching the learning experiences and outcomes for every child.
How can families contribute to the QIP?
Families play a vital role in our improvement journey. They can contribute by sharing feedback, answering specific prompts, sharing their goals, dreams and visions for our kinder, and collaborating with educators to ensure that the QIP reflects the diverse needs and perspectives of our community.
The QIP undergoes regular evaluations and updates based on ongoing critical reflections, feedback and conversations between staff, families, and our wider community, and a self-assessment process.
How is the QIP evaluated and updated?
Your input
We welcome families, educators, and community members to collaborate with us and be part of our continuous improvement journey in early childhood education. Your contributions and insights are invaluable in shaping the future of our programs.
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Please feel very welcome to share any feedback, thoughts or suggestions via email:
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kinder@kings.vic.edu.au (Kinder Admin)
bbennett@kings.vic.edu.au (Kinder Director)
Acknowledgement of Country
and commitment to cultural safety
In 2023 our Possum Group worked with Aunty Tracy Roache from Eastern Maar to create an acknowledgement of country. Aunty Tracy blessed us with a beautiful etching which tells a story of her and our Possum children creating our acknowledgment of country.
Our goal for 2025 is to create a RAP that is specific to our kinder. We are currently using the school's RAP.
This year our educators plan to use professional learning resources from the Narragunnawali website, including the cultural competence continuum, as part of our ongoing commitment to cultural safety.
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2025 - Beth has been working with the school on their child safe risk assessment and policies, including cultural safety. As part of that we have plans to update the school's RAP and to create a RAP for kinder over Terms 3 and 4 of 2025. We have also used our SRF to plan for a Cultural Awareness Training Program with Worn Gundidj. This program works through four pillars :1. knowledge 2. experience 3. action 4. reflection.
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Every Aboriginal person, every Aboriginal child, needs to feel that their sense of self and their identity is "valued in some way by the people and environments that surround them". 6 (VACCA, 2010).
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Related links:
Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation
Cultural Safety for Aboriginal Children
Understanding cultural safety for Aboriginal children and young people
Service Details
We consulted families and children to develop our philosophy. Words in bold were contributed by families, phrases in italics were contributed by children. Each educator thought about and shared their own “why”. These were used to pinpoint the areas that were of greatest importance to educators, families, and children, and make sure all voices were represented.
Link to the website for our School and Kinder, newsletters can be found here.
Quality Area 1
Educational Program and Practice:
Strengths and Exceeding Themes
Summary of strengths in practice where there is evidence of Exceeding NQS themes.
Click the link below:
Related links:
A 2025 Prep student's thoughts about learning at Kinder
Prompts we use for individual planning
How our planning has changed over 14 years
(A reflection on the different planning formats we have used over the years. We need to continue reflecting to ensure our planning is meeting the needs of the children in our care)
I have a question: Stretching thinking through the art of questioning
Some educators identified wanting to further their own knowledge with regards to extending children's learning. This article has been helpful in shaping our practice. We are continuing to look into PD opportunities in this area.
This Package was used by Steph Kosh while she worked in the NT, and has influenced her teaching practice as she applies her experience to our Bush Kinder program.
Quality Area 2
Children's Health and Safety:
Self-Assessment for
Quality Area 2
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More staff contributed this time, it was constructive going through all of these areas together at a staff meeting and suggesting ideas for improvement as well.
Ideas suggested: 1. Improve communication with the school for our emergency evacuations. The school currently calls our mobile phones as they cannot always get through to us. They are working on updating the PA system. 2. An extra adult toilet needed as we need our electronic change table for the Barker room in that space, it won't fit elsewhere. This is also in process, with a govt grant for an extension to kinder sought, and plans developed. 2025 - New PA system has been updated and we have updated our evacuation process, with new checklists to complete after each one which encourage further reflection. As a result of this reflection we have added further resources to our evacuation bags - headphones, fidget/sensory toys for children who need them, social stories about evacuations and lockdowns, implemented exploring the lockdown space 1:1 with individual children, talking with them about what happens.
Strengths and Exceeding Themes
Summary of strengths in practice where there is evidence of Exceeding NQS themes.
Click the link below:
Related links:
Quality Area 3
Physical Environment:
Self-Assessment for
Quality Area 3
We looked at what our philosophy says about QA3 and discussed how we are currently achieving those statements.
"We believe that children learn best:
- When the physical environment offers challenge and variety within the parameters of safe and healthy practices.
- When children are given agency and ownership over their environment.
- When families are able to participate and share ideas and resources.
- When the environment ensures learning is accessible for everyone."
Ideas we discussed were:
Giving children space and monitoring their risky play. Choices wherever possible, and respect how the children might approach and use an experience.
Strengths and Exceeding Themes
Summary of strengths in practice where there is evidence of Exceeding NQS themes.
Click the link below:
Related links:
The environment must allow children to play, learn and develop skills - to do this it must first meet all of their needs, as according to Maslow's hierarchy.​
Risky play is not a category – it’s what children DO
Campfire Cooking with Kinder Children
Bush Kinder: nature, wellbeing and resilience
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Quality Area 4
Staffing Arrangements:
Self-Assessment for
Quality Area 4
We reflected on this area which we consider to be a real strength. We are fortunate to employ inspired, passionate and self-reflective educators, who are always seeking ways to grow and improve. The different life-stages and needs of our educators ensure we have people who want to work different types of hours.
A range of part time and full time staff mean we can usually replace staff with someone who works part time, and if not, we have a small pool of valued casual educators.
Staff working across multiple groups mean children benefit from consistency as they move from 3 to 4 year old kinder.
Our workplace prioritising and allowing extra paid time for staff meetings has meant our collaboration and reflective practice has grown over the last few years. We have also been able to run our sessions above ratio, about 70% of the time. Next year we aim to increase this to 100%.
Strengths and Exceeding Themes
Summary of strengths in practice where there is evidence of Exceeding NQS themes.
Click the link below:
Related links:
Quality Area 5
Relationships with Children:
Self-Assessment for
Quality Area 5
This was an area we found challenging to verbalise. Forming relationships with children and families is a strength for every educator at our service, and something we often receive positive feedback about. It is something we often do without really thinking about it, so taking time to pause and think intentionally about this was good. To help promote discussion, Beth took some photos of educators each engaging in this standard, and presented it at a slide show in a staff meeting.
Strengths and Exceeding Themes
Summary of strengths in practice where there is evidence of Exceeding NQS themes.
Click the link below:
Related links:
Relational Practice Reflection​
Relationships with Children Slideshow
Newsletter - Forming Relationships and Belonging
Newsletter - Relationships with Peers and Community
Newsletter - Positive Relationships with Peers and Family Involvement
Newsletter - 3 year old groups Positive Relationships, Wellbeing and Community
Quality Area 6
Collaborative Partnerships with Families and Communities
Strengths and Exceeding Themes
Summary of strengths in practice where there is evidence of Exceeding NQS themes.
Click the link below:
Related links:
Newsletter entry on our Community Concert
Newsletter entry on our Food Share drive
Newsletter entries on community/family involvement​
Newsletter entry on our Kinder Picnic
Newsletter entries on Bush Kinder and connecting with our Community
Newsletter - Indigenous Art Experience, Adopting a Penguin​
Quality Area 7
Governance and Leadership
Strengths and Exceeding Themes
Summary of strengths in practice where there is evidence of Exceeding NQS themes.
Click the link below:
Related links:
Our Goals and Areas for Improvement
Goal 1: Improve our processes in documenting our staff meetings and reflections, and use these for action.
Quality Areas:
QA1 (1.2.3) Critical Reflection — Embed documentation and follow-up of staff reflections to inform continuous improvement in educational practices.
QA7 (7.2.2) Professional Learning — Strengthen professional learning communities through clear and actionable documentation of team reflections and meetings.
Strategies to achieve the outcome:
1. Implement a consistent and practical system for documenting staff meeting discussions and reflections.
2. Introduce targeted reflection prompts and a dedicated digital platform (e.g., messaging group) to encourage ongoing critical reflection between meetings.
3. Use documented reflections to identify areas for action and improvement, with regular review in staff meetings.
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Success Measures:
Educators will be utilising their knowledge of Play therapy within the kinder classroom. Children will be responding positively to the educators and will be developing emotional literacy in order to name their feelings.
Timeframe:
Trialling over Term 2 and 3, with full implementation of the documentation system and reflection process by the end of Term 4, 2025.
Ongoing review and refinement during staff meetings each term.
Status:
Implemented, ongoing
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Goal 2: Improve our processes in recording our evacuation procedures and use reflections for action.
Quality Areas:
QA2.3.2 – Emergency and evacuation procedures are practiced and documented, ensuring all staff are aware of their roles.
QA7.2.3 – Reflective practice is embedded in service operations to support continuous improvement.
Strategies to achieve the outcome:
1. Implement a consistent, user-friendly system for recording evacuation drills and outcomes, including any incidents or observations.
2. Conduct regular staff debriefs and reflective discussions after evacuation drills to identify areas for improvement.
3. Use reflections and feedback to inform updates to policies, procedures, and training.
Success Measures:
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Evacuation procedure records are complete, clear, and regularly updated.
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Staff demonstrate increased confidence and knowledge in emergency procedures.
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Reflective notes and action plans are documented following evacuation drills.
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Improvements identified through reflection are implemented and monitored.
Timeframe:
Implement new recording system for drills Term 1 2025.
Continue to reflect after every drill in staff meetings.
Discuss creating an emergency management policy specific to kinder with school leadership, by the end of Term 3 2025.
Status:
Completed, ongoing with reflections
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Goal 3: Improve our enrolment process to ensure it is equitable and accessible for families.
Quality Areas:
QA6.1.1 – Respectful and equitable partnerships with families support children’s inclusion and learning.
QA6.2.2 – Families have opportunities to participate in decisions about their child’s enrolment and access to the service.
QA7.1.1 – Service governance supports the operation of a quality, safe, and inclusive service.
Strategies to achieve the outcome:
1. Review and update enrolment policies and procedures to ensure they are clear, accessible, and inclusive for all families, including culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
2. Provide multiple enrolment communication channels (online, in-person, phone, translated materials) to accommodate diverse family needs.
Success Measures:
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Enrolment policy and procedures are updated and available in accessible formats.
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Families report positive experiences of enrolment processes through surveys and feedback.
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Increased enrolment rates from diverse and underrepresented families.
Timeframe:
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New enrolment form to be ready for those enrolling for 2027.
Review and update enrolment policies by end of Term 3, 2025.
Status:
Ongoing, monitoring
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Goal 4: Continue improving in our ability to provide a culturally safe environment by developing our own cultural awareness and through developing an implementing a RAP that is specific to our kinder.
Quality Areas:
QA1 (1.3.2) Critical Reflection through deeply embedding the use of the Narragunnawali Reconciliation Action Plan tool.
QA6 (6.1.2) Parent views are respected – documenting the parents’ cultural expertise, values and beliefs within the RAP format.
QA7 (7.2.1) Continuous Improvement – using the RAP as a tool for continuous improvement.
Strategies to achieve the outcome:
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1. Participate in Narragunnawali professional development sessions
2. All educators will be attending Professional development chosen from the menu items as part of the School readiness Funding. Cultural Awareness Training Program - Worn Gungidj.
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Success Measures:
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The school’s RAP is regularly reviewed and reflected on during staff meetings to inform practice.
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The Kinder RAP is completed, approved, and published on the Reconciliation Australia platform.
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Staff report increased confidence and knowledge in cultural awareness, demonstrated in practice and family engagement.
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The RAP is actively shared and embraced as a point of pride within the community.
Timeframe:
King's College RAP has been approved and published on the Reconciliation Australia Platform through Narragunnawali. Aim to finish Kinder RAP by end of 2025. ​​
Status:
Completed (school RAP) and ongoing.
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