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Children's & Youth Services
OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS CARE
> Qualifications & Pathways • Traineeships • VET In Schools • Peak Bodies & Key Stakeholders • Resources
NSW ContextOOSH in NSW is generally seen as before and after school care and vacation care. The majority of services are located on site of primary schools or close by in community/neighbourhood centres, church halls or in sponsoring organisations such as YMCA, YWCA and PCYC. There are over 900 services in NSW that offer some component of OOSH care. The main philosophy of OOSH care is to offer school age children a safe and stimulating place for the provision of activities that focus on play and recreation. In NSW, the CHC41208 Certificate IV in Children’s Services (Outside school hours care) is recognised as the entry level qualfication for this industry sector. There are a number of varying management styles in OOSH care. Ranging from community based not for profit with a parent management committee, to P&C or school managed, sponsoring organisations such as Councils, YMCA, PCYC etc, and private for-profit businesses. The majority of services in NSW are community based not-for profit. Generally OOSH services offer care to children aged 5-12 years, however older children can be accommodated especially if they have additional needs. Children must be enrolled in primary school to be eligible to commence OOSH care. At present OOSH services are not covered by regulations in NSW. These are currently being drafted by NSW Department of Community Services. National Standards for Outside School Hours Care were developed in 1995 by the Community Services Ministers Conference and are still seen as the benchmark in NSW until the introduction of formal regulations. OOSH is covered by the national Quality Assurance system administered by the National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC). The QA system is linked to CCB/FACSIA funding with every funded service mandated to undergo OSHCQA. All OOSH staff are legally required to be mandatory reporters under the Child Care and Protection Act. As there are no regulations at present, there is no specific requirement as to the type of child protection training staff and coordinators must undergo. Although OSHCQA stipulates that some child protection be attended. For details about Keep Them Safe, procedures and responsibilities of child protection services and mandatory reporters see the Child Protection section of this website.
OOSH services are also part of the Working with Children Check requiring all workers to sign the Prohibited Employment Declaration have their details screened through the Commission for Children and Young People. In the Working With Children Check, paid and unpaid employees have to complete a Prohibited Employment Declaration Form. A Background Check is mandatory for paid employees (including contracted trainees) in child-related employment that involves direct and unsupervised contact with children. The Background Check involves:
Background Checks are conducted by the NSW Commission for Children and Young People and other Approved Screening Agencies. Employers can find the forms for registering with an Approved Screening Agency and getting a background check on a preferred applicant at http://www.kids.nsw.gov.au/kids/check.cfm
Changes to OH&S The Commonwealth and each state and territory government have agreed to harmonise their work health and safety laws, including Regulations and Codes of Practice, so that they are similar in each jurisdiction. The Commonwealth, states and territories are responsible for making and enforcing their own work health and safety laws. Although there are many similarities between the laws there are also some differences that can cause confusion. Australian workers should be entitled to the same work health and safety standards, regardless of the jurisdiction in which they operate. This regulatory inconsistency is being addressed through an intergovernmental agreement(IGA) where, for the first time, governments from each state and territory and the Commonwealth have formally committed to harmonise work health and safety laws by developing and adopting a model Work Health and Safety Act supported by model Regulations and model Codes of Practice. The intention is to deliver the same work health and safety protections to all Australians. For more information click here
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Qualifications and Pathways
CHC41208 Certificate IV in Children’s Services (Outside school hours care)
CHC51008 Diploma of Children’s Services (Outside school hours care)
There are currently two qualifications that are specifically targeted for OOSH workers. A number of other qualifications are also recognised through the National Standards including “A Degree in teaching (primary and/or early childhood), as associated diploma in child care and/or youth or recreation” .
There are a number of pathways available to workers including course-based learning, workplace recognition, and new worker and existing worker traineeships.
Recognition
Recognition of prior learning (RPL) is a significant pathway for candidates to attain a national training package qualification. There has been strong support from Commonwealth and NSW governments for RTOs to find innovative and accessible RPL strategies and approaches.
NSW Department of Education and Training is actively assisting this quest for improved RPL pathways and has worked in partnership across many industry sectors to pilot best practice models of recognition and develop supporting resources. Some of the innovation recognition pathways trialled included group, project and workplace based models.
Resources and further details are available at State Training Services
Traineeships
The Vocational Training Board establishes traineeships in NSW. Through a consultative process between peak industry groups, employers and unions, facilitated by the ITAB, qualifications are identified that meet industry requirements and have appropriate award arrangements. This information is submitted to the Board for the declaration of a vocational training order in accordance with NSW legislation.
As qualifications have a vocational training order established, they are posted on the NSW DET Commissioner’s Bulletin. Further advice is available from NSW DET www.training.nsw.gov.au
Current Out of School Hours Care traineeship in NSW is:
CHC41208 Certificate IV in Children’s Services (Outside school hours care)
This pathway is available as an existing worker or new worker traineeship.
There is currently no requirement for workers to be over 18 years of age before commencing paid employment in OOSH services.
VET in Schools
A pilot program has commenced in one school region in NSW offering the Certificate IV in Out of School Hours Care as a school-based traineeship program. As previously mentioned employees can be aged 16-18 in the OOSH sector and VET in schools is seen as an important step in encouraging workers to the sector.
Students are paid under the State Training Award and are not considered full workers, meaning that they are not included in the ratios of the service and are not to be given sole responsibility in supervising groups of children at services.
The program includes both classroom based learning and the workplace learning.
For more information about VET in Schools in NSW visit: https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/vetinschools/
The NSW Board of Studies is responsible for the inclusion of training package qualifications in the HSC studies. Further information is available at www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au .
Peak Bodies and Key Stakeholders
Network of Community Activities
Network was founded in 1974 and acts as a link up for community activities and for Out of School Hours Care Services run by autonomous community groups and local councils. Network is committed to helping promote quality community based services for school aged children, including children with disabilities.
Contact Inc
Contact Inc is the program for isolated children, families and communities. Contact Inc serves the community by working directly with parents, carers and agencies, which work in, or are related to, children’s services and programs.
Children’s Services Central
Children's Services Central are the providers of professional support and training to children's Services in NSW. They have been funded under the Inclusion and Professional Support Program (IPSP) which is part of the wider Child Care Support Program.
Children’s Services Directorate (DOCS)
In NSW, DOCS licenses, monitors compliance with the legislation and funds services for children from birth until start of formal schooling.
NSW Local Government Shires Assn
The Local Government Association of NSW and the Shires Association of NSW are the peak industry bodies for Local Government in NSW.
Country Children’s Services Association
Country Children’s Services Association of NSW Inc (CCSA) is a not-for-profit, non-government, membership-based organisation that supports the management of high-quality early childhood services in NSW. They provide information, training and advocacy for the children’s services sector.
National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC)
NCAC works in partnership with families, services, government and other key stakeholders to facilitate and support continuous improvement to the quality of child care provided for children in Australia.
Resources
NSW Community Services and Health ITAB and NSW DET resources include:
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Policy@MyPlace This free online short course is for those who need to develop or review policy. It will provide learning to develop the necessary skills to research and consult policy needs, draft policy content, test the draft policy, implement policy and review policy for quality assurance. This learning is designed to assist in the development of policies for NGO workplaces. While it focuses on child protection policy development and incorporates objectives and requirements detailed in the NSW Keep Them Safe initiative the learning may be applied to any area of policy development in community services work.
There is no time limit to this resource so you are able to work through the learning at your own pace and select topics as many times as you like. The resource contains activities that you may complete as an e-portfolio for assessment by a registered training organisation to achieve the national unit of competency CHCPOL504B Develop and implement a policy. Available now at www.workplaceskills.com.au |
Certificate IV in Out of School Hours Care and the Diploma of Out of School Hours Care WorkplaceRecognition Tools
Network of Community Activities have developed both. By using these packages candidates develop an Evidence Portfolio to enable recognition of their existing knowledge and skills. Part of the packages also included documentation for employers, assessors and assessment tasks for the candidate.
The Cert IV resource can be accessed through Network’s website www.netoosh.org.au and the Diploma can be accessed through Network or available from www.skillsonline.net.au
NSW Community Services and Health ITAB resources include:
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Child Protection Vignettes This DVD contains various scenarios that are used as triggers in the training to assist participants to identify the short and long term impact of child abuse and neglect.
Details and order form available at: www.csh-itab.com.au |
Other resources:
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The Keep Them Safe website provides information for mandatory reporters in government agencies and non-government organisations about the new child protection system, including resources, training materials, and an email newsletter. |
Please contact NSW Community Services and Health ITAB regarding training and assessment resource needs for the qualifications or skills sets in this industry sector.
Other resources may be available from industry peaks, Registered Training Organisations and Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council.
