Preparing for External Evaluations

CHCIC501A
Manage children’s services workplace practice to address regulations and quality assurance

Topic 5 - Managing external evaluations

Preparing for external evaluations

Creating ‘to-do’ lists

Documentation

Physical environment

Educators and Staff

Making changes

Preparing for external evaluations

Perhaps the part that creates the most anxiety whilst working through any of these processes is when it comes time for the external evaluations – the assessor visit. If you have worked your way through the process in an honest and dedicated manner, assessing current practices and taking steps to rectify any problem areas, the hard part is done. The only thing left to do is your job. Having spent so much time and energy on making sure everything is ‘just right’; this is a time that many education and care professionals anticipate as a time to receive external confirmation that they are in fact providing a high quality service. However the external evaluations can still be stressful.

Creating ‘to-do’ lists

Everyone has their own preferred strategy for remembering important ‘things’. A detailed ‘to do’ list is a useful tool for this. If you have already established another method and feel more comfortable with it, it is best to stick with it. The to-do list should be detailed so that absolutely nothing can be inadvertently forgotten or misunderstood by someone else performing the task. Items on the list should be ticked off as they are completed. It is also preferable to allocate the name of the person responsible against the list item. Ensure the lists are created well in advance and contain sufficient detail to ensure the task will be completed to the required standard. There are many computer programs and apps for other devices available that focus on organisation of information – consider using your favourite one to keep track of all that needs to be done or maintained in relation to your quality practices.

Documentation

The best way to ensure documentation is in readiness for external evaluations is to prepare a checklist of everything that will be needed in advance. This should be in advance because if stress levels build up in anticipation of the visit it is quite likely that something will be forgotten. We have already looked at the regulation pertaining to documents and records required as well as supporting evidence and by now you have hopefully put together that checklist. By working through your checklist you can collect all required documentation and then as much as possible, place it together in an easily accessible place. If available, a lockable cabinet with a shelf dedicated to temporarily storing these documents is perfect. In this way everything is accessible, together and still respecting the confidentiality of the material by being locked away. Of course confidential educator personnel files and child records such as enrolment forms will already be in a locked filing cabinet and probably already together so there is no benefit in relocating them. For any evidence that it is not practical to place with your huge pile of documents, it can be a good idea to make a list to have with the documents telling the assessor where to locate the evidence. In this way nothing will be forgotten to be ‘ticked off’ by the assessor. Your list could include items like this:

Location of supporting records and evidence

Menus – entry foyer on the kitchen door
Programs – in each classroom next to the main viewing window
Evacuation plans & procedures – inside every doorway throughout the centre
Children’s current ‘sign-in’ book – on the bench next to the fees box in each room
Displayed photographs of family functions –
Teddy bear picnic photos – under main window in 2 yr old room
‘Reptile man’ visit photos – under the children’s bathroom viewing window in the 3 – 4 yr old room

Physical environment

After working through the various processes, the physical environment should now at least be compliant, so what else can you do? Below are some ideas, that while they may seem quite obvious, can be forgotten about when there is so much else to do.

Ensure that everything is sparkling clean, including windows, curtains/blinds and walls. Don’t forget to remove the dust from the ceiling fans and clean out the fridge.
Make sure grass areas, hard surfaces, soft fall and gardens are maintained and looking their best.
Tidy up the storerooms and outside storage so that everything can be located quickly and easily.
Look around the room at displays and posters on the walls. Could they use refreshing or changing? Are posters starting to look a little ‘used’? Do you still have photos up of an event that occurred two years ago, or artwork from a child who is now in Year 3 at school?
Check and refresh your noticeboards – particularly if you have a ‘community’ style noticeboard.

Generally speaking, this is the time to wander around and look at everything with fresh eyes. It is human nature for most people to not notice things that occur or deteriorate gradually. The problem is that some things happen so gradually that we don’t notice, until we look at things from a perspective of ‘first impressions’.

Educators and Staff

While you are busy focusing on the ‘physical’ aspects of preparation, don’t forget to think about your educators and staff (this can be a very stressful time for your cook, too!). External evaluations can be stressful, and can affect everyone. Ensure you check with educators and staff individually and regularly to monitor their reaction to the process and provide ongoing support as required. Each educator and staff member may respond differently to the demands of the process and may require different levels of support.

Activity 1

At the end of the assessment day/s it is highly beneficial to have a ‘debrief’ time for all involved educators and staff. This would usually be an informal chat where everyone is able to ‘compare notes’ and relate some of the day’s experiences to the others. Regardless of the outcome, discussing the day’s events will help everyone to come down off the adrenalin induced high they’ve been on all day.

Making changes

Unless a ‘change’ has been noted in a QIP (and in this case it would generally mean a gradual change to be implemented in a series of steps), it is not a good idea to decide to implement sudden or radically different changes on the day of an external assessment visit.

Children will notice changes, both physical and/or changes to routines, and will usually in their most innocent but loudest voices ask why. Children have asked things such as “How come we can’t watch Play School today?” or “How come we’re listening to that music today?” “Why are all the teachers wearing hats today?” While some ‘changes’ are obviously in an attempt to be compliant on the day (such as the hats), some things should not be occurring anyway. However even legitimate changes in order to make improvements on what was already satisfactory or compliant behaviour should definitely be left for another day to introduce. If you get caught out in a lie, it will definitely prompt an assessor to wonder what other practices have been modified especially for the day. It is always best to be honest and keep in mind what this is all about – the children we care for and educate on a daily basis!

CHCIC501A - Manage children's services workplace practice to address regulations and quality assurance

Topic 5 | Managing external evaluations1