ELEMENT

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA

Elements define the essential outcomes.

Performance criteria specify the level of performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element.

1. Foster physical development

1.1 Evaluate and monitor children’s physical skills and development

1.2 Plan and provide appropriate experiences and opportunities to foster each child’s fine and gross motor and fundamental movement skills through play

1.3 Plan and provide experiences which challenge the physical skills and abilities of children and promote physical fitness

2. Foster social development

2.1 Evaluate and monitor children’s social skills and development

2.2 Plan and provide opportunities for different forms of social interaction between children during play with respect for each child’s interests, goals and development stage

2.3 Plan and provide opportunities for children to participate in meaningful ways in group discussions and shared decision-making

2.4 Structure experiences in a way that promotes cooperation and conflict resolution

2.5 Promote a sense of community within the service

2.6 Arrange the environment to encourage interactions between children, as well as accommodating a child’s need for privacy, solitude or quiet

2.7 Provide opportunities for children to investigate ethical issues relevant to their lives and their communities

3. Foster emotional development

3.1 Evaluate and monitor children’s emotional development

3.2 Plan and provide opportunities for children to experience individual strengths and successes during play

3.3 Plan and provide opportunities through play that challenge children’s emerging skills and capabilities

3.4 Present opportunities for children to engage independently with tasks

3.5 Create opportunities for children to explore self-image and identity through play

3.6 Provide opportunities for children to release feelings and express emotions through suitable experiences

4. Foster cognitive development

4.1 Evaluate and monitor children’s cognitive skills and development

4.2 Engineer and provide opportunities for children to participate in science, mathematics and technology experiences

4.3 Plan and provide opportunities through play for children to experience the consequences of their choices, actions and ideas

4.4 Create learning environments with appropriate levels of challenge where children are encouraged to explore, experiment and take appropriate risks in their learning

4.5 Provide opportunities for involvement in experiences that support the investigation of ideas, complex concepts and thinking, reasoning and hypothesising

4.6 Facilitate opportunities through play for children to explore concept development

4.7 Provide opportunities for children to both construct and take apart, as a strategy for learning

4.8 Provide children with a wide range of everyday materials that they can use to create patterns and to sort, categorise, order and compare

5. Foster communication development

5.1 Evaluate and monitor children’s language skills and development

5.2 Plan and provide developmentally appropriate experiences and opportunities to foster language and literacy development through play

5.3 Provide opportunities for children to listen and respond to language

5.4 Value the child’s linguistic heritage and encourage the use and acquisition of home languages

5.5 Provide opportunities for children to engage with familiar and unfamiliar culturally constructed text

5.6 Provide a literacy-enriched environment including displaying home languages and Standard Australian English

5.7 Provide resources that encourage children to experiment with images and print

6. Foster an environment for holistic learning and development

6.1 Support and initiate inquiry processes, try new ideas and take on challenges

6.2 Provide resources and materials that offer challenge, intrigue and surprise

6.3 Assist to promote children’s sense of belonging and connectedness

6.4 Engage children in sustained shared conversations to extend their thinking

6.5 Provide the opportunity for scaffolding learning and development

6.6 Assist children to see their mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow

6.7 Facilitate families’ diverse contributions to the learning community

6.8 Share information with colleagues about child development and wellbeing

6.9 Create learning environments where children are able to immerse themselves in self-directed play

6.10 Recognise spontaneous teachable moments as they occur and use them to build on children’s learning

6.11 Provide a balance between child-initiated and educator- supported learning

6.12 Provide learning environments with appropriate levels of challenge where children are encouraged to explore, experiment and take risks in their learning

6.13 Facilitate team collaboration of assessment and evaluation in relation to child development and wellbeing

The candidate must show evidence of the ability to complete tasks outlined in elements and performance criteria of this unit, manage tasks and manage contingencies in the context of the job role. There must be demonstrated evidence that the candidate has completed the following tasks:

planned and provided opportunities for at least three children ranging between the ages of 5 to 12 years, including:

facilitating and supporting emotional and psychological development in children

encouraging self-help and independence of children

planning opportunities to foster children’s positive self-concept and self-esteem

providing a positive and safe environment to encourage children to express thoughts, feelings and ideas

performed the activities outlined in the performance criteria of this unit during a period of at least 240 hours of work in at least one regulated education and care service.

The candidate must be able to demonstrate essential knowledge required to effectively do the task outlined in elements and performance criteria of this unit, manage the task and manage contingencies in the context of the work role. These include knowledge of:

how to access:

the National Quality Framework

the National Quality Standards

the relevant approved learning framework

how to navigate through framework and standards documents to find areas relevant to this unit of competency

relevant aspects of theories of children’s emotional and psychological development as they apply to the educator’s role

the links between social and physical development, and between psychological and cognitive development

an in-depth level of a range of developmental theories for children between 5 and 12 years of age

contextual factors which influence the children’s emotional and psychological development

factors which enhance the development of self-esteem and self-identity

core principles of child development and associated developmental tasks

organisation standards, policies and procedures.

Skills must be demonstrated in a regulated education and care service.

In addition, simulations and scenarios must be used where the full range of contexts and situations cannot be provided in the workplace or may occur only rarely. These are situations relating to emergency or unplanned procedures where assessment in these circumstances would be unsafe or is impractical.

Simulated assessment environments must simulate the real-life working environment where these skills and knowledge would be performed, with all the relevant equipment and resources of that working environment.

Assessment must ensure use of:

National Quality Framework

the relevant approved learning framework under the National Quality Framework

Assessors must satisfy the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) 2015/AQTF mandatory competency requirements for assessors.

The Foundation Skills describe those required skills (language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills) that are essential to performance.

Oral Communication – in order to facilitate collaborative discussions with children, families and other educators.

Reading – in order to access and apply relevant pedagogical principles from an approved learning framework.

The remaining foundation skills essential to performance are explicit in the performance criteria of this unit.