Best practice for early childhood educators

If you're an early childhood educator in the ACT, you need to meet the requirements in the National Quality Framework.

Get to know your role

The Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) has created 4 learning modules to help you better understand your role.

Do the National Quality Framework online learning modules.

There are 2 nationally approved learning frameworks:

• Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework.
• My Time Our Place: Framework for School Age Care in Australia.

ACECQA has created an online learning module to help you understand:

• the learning frameworks
• your role in developing quality programs for children.

Do the approved learning frameworks online learning module.

For information about ethical standards for early childhood professionals read the ECA code of ethics on the Early Childhood Australia website.

Become an educational leader

Education and care services must employ a qualified and experienced educational leader.

The educational leader of a service:

• leads the educational program
• guides, supports and works with educators
• leads improvement.

ACECQA has resources to support educational leaders in their role.

Early childhood degree scholarships

We have scholarship programs to help you complete or upgrade your qualifications.

The Early Childhood Degree Scholarship Program helps more educators to do higher level professional development.

Educators with an early childhood degree have better employment outcomes and career paths.

The 2025 program will offer up to 16 scholarships to educators working at approved education and care services in the ACT.

We also have the:

• Aunty Agnes Shea Early Childhood Scholarship Program
• Early Learning Connection Scholarship Program.

Find out about our scholarships for early childhood qualifications.

Coaching and mentoring

We have a toolkit to help early childhood educators set up peer support, coaching or mentoring in their workplaces.

Find out more about the coaching and mentoring toolkit for early childhood educators.

The ACT Education and Care Capability Framework is voluntary and can be used for coaching and mentoring support, as well as:

• performance and development discussions
• career planning discussions
• goal setting.

Read the ACT Education and Care Capability Framework [PDF 280 KB].

Professional learning

Explore our professional learning and resources to expand your skills.

Read about the meetings we hold with the ACT education and care sector to expand best practice.