Assessment 58: Lead and develop others

Learning Resources

• Weebly Cluster 8

• Cengage Learning. The Business of childcare. Chapter 5 Managing teams for quality outcomes. Page 153

• Cengage Learning. The Business of childcare. Chapter 6 Skills for leadership. Page 201

Step 1

Imagine that you have been employed as the new coordinator of a privately owned, 38 placed long day care centre in Perth. Read the following case studies:

1. Louise is the owner of the service. She has purchased the service six months ago from the previous owner who had built and operated the service for ten years. Louise used to work for an accounting firm and has little knowledge or understanding of children’s services. Louise has been a little anxious about the Quality Improvement Plan as she has little knowledge of the National Quality Framework.

2. Sally is an Early Childhood Educator who has been employed since the service was built. Sally has excellent care giving skills, and is a great mentor for other educators. She has an old Mother craft Nursing qualification and has expressed to you that she would very much like to update her skills and knowledge, especially on curriculum planning and documentation. She is a hard worker with a tendency of taking on too much, when she should be delegating some of her responsibilities to other educators.

3. David the new Qualified Educator employed by the service. This is his first job in children’s services after gaining his qualification at a local registered training provider. David has the knowledge of the latest curriculum and planning approaches and the Early Years Learning Framework and is very capable of applying them in planning and implementing stimulating experiences for the children. However, he tends to be very shy with parents, and is not confident at addressing their concerns and needs.

4. Lucy is a seventeen year old who has just started work as a full time Educator a few days ago. She has never worked in child care before, but has shown good motivation and a keen desire to learn. Meanwhile, she has not been made aware of the service’s policies and procedures, and nearly administered medication to a child. She also appears to have great difficulties in guiding behaviors of concern in the Kindy Room. She was not given an induction when she started working at the service.

5. Anita is an Educator who has been employed at the centre for a few years. She has never shown much interest in training for a qualification, saying that it’s all too hard for her. Lately, she has not been pulling her weight and often criticizes other Educators behind their back. One day she snapped angrily at Lucy for coming back a few minutes late from her lunch break, sending her to tears.

Document Name:?Assessment Workbook – Cluster 8?Revision:?1.2?Revision Date:?24-11-2017

Review Date:?24-11-2018?Document Location:?NovaCore CMS\DMS\RTO\Children’s Services\CHC50113 – Diploma of ECEC\Assessments – TRAINEESHIP/PIT/FFS\

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6. Marisa is the service’s food coordinator. She has been employed at the service for one month. Marisa has been preparing delicious meals for the children however you have noticed that she has never completed any formal training in menu planning or food handling and storage. You are a little concerned about her hand washing procedures. There have been complaints from other Educators that the kitchen is not cleaned properly after the meals are prepared.

7. Katie has been employed at the service for three years but lately you have noticed that she is becoming stressed easily and not being as patient with staff and children. Her motivation levels have been very low and she is sitting down rather than interacting with the children. Katie has also started coming into work late which is affecting the staffing ratios and staff are becoming very frustrated.

As the service coordinator and team leader, you have a few challenges to overcome. Respond to the following questions:

1. How can you access training on the National Quality Framework processes for Louise, the owner and other Educators? What networking opportunities are available for owners of child care centers?

2. What training would you recommend for Sally? How would you help Sally to delegate her responsibilities to other Educators? In what way is she an asset to the centre?

3. How would you help David to become more confident with parents? In what way would you utilize his skills to develop the team?

4. What are the training needs for Lucy, the new Educator? What training opportunities would you recommend for her? How would you support her in guiding behaviors of concern?

5. How would you address Anita’s inappropriate behavior? How would you guide her to understand the importance of working as a team? How would you address Anita not having completed a formal qualification with regards to the Education and Care Services National Regulations?

6. What training can be undertaken by Marisa the food coordinator and how would you help her to improve her hygiene practices?

7. What strategies could you use to sustain staff morale and ongoing health?

8. What is a good leader? What do you think is most important about leading a team of educators in a child care centre? (Write a page)

9. What facilitation techniques can be used to encourage team development and improvement?

10. Identify the career paths, competency standards and qualifications required relevant to the Early Childhood Education and Care sector.

11. Describe the organisational policies, pans and procedures for developing teams.

Step 2

Interview the Owner/Director/Area Manager for your service to establish their procedures for ensuring the service is being managed in line with legislative requirements and the service is financially viable. Complete the following questions:

Question 1

What types of Industrial Relations Legislative Requirements must be adhered to within the service for all employees?

Question 2

What aspects of the service are catered for in the Service Budget? How and with whom is the budget decided upon each year?

Question 3

How is the employment of educators undertaken with due regard to equal employment opportunity?

Question 4

What role does the union play in supporting employees of your service?

Question 5

What is your service’s organisational structure for reporting and managing procedures?

Question 6

How does the code of practice apply to educators of the service and how is it taken into consideration when reviewing practices of self and the service?

Rachana Patel