Enhancing Quality in Family Day Care

QualFDC objectives were to identify and explore effective approaches to developing competent multi-level systems in FDC governance and quality management, enabling professionalisation and workforc...

QualFDC objectives were to identify and explore effective approaches to developing competent multi-level systems in FDC governance and quality management, enabling professionalisation and workforce development, and generating FDC recruitment and retention strategies, to strengthen FDC; share the learning with target groups and stakeholders responsible for multi-level policymaking and VET infrastructures, to influence policy objectives and actions; increase the capacity of partner organisations to advocate for effective policies and practices that enable high-quality FDC systems and services, and explore further partnerships opportunities and ways to engage family day carers in EU cooperation and learning activities. QualFDC aimed to add value to the European Commission’s 2021 publication, Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC): How to Recruit, Train and Motivate Well-Qualified Staff because the project complements and extends the Commission’s report, providing findings and interesting practices, building the capacity of the partner organisations to engage in cross-border cooperation and networking.

(1)Project management & implementation-ECI finalised partnership agreements; drafted and implemented a: Project Management & Implementation Plan, Risk Management Plan, Quality Assurance Plan, Monitoring & Evaluation Strategy, Gantt Charts of activities/meetings and Team Charter, & related tools and templates (2)Developed 3 country FDC fact sheets, Country Reports and Glossary, led by VBJK, in English, Dutch and Danish, disseminated to LTTA participants in advance (3)Project kick-off meeting (21/10/2022) hosted online by ECI. Each partner received an information pack from ECI before the meeting containing drafts detailed in (1). The meeting achieved a clear collective understanding of roles, prepare for implementation, agree the project timeline and drafts of the strategies and plans (4,5,6) Learning, Teaching and Training Activities in Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, organised by the relevant partner. They were interactive and included presentations by partners, targets and stakeholders, service visits and opportunities for reflection and sharing of knowledge and experiences (7) Development & translation of final learning report and video in 3 languages, led by VBJK (8)Dissemination of a final learning report and video, led by ECI.

a. 3 FDC Country Fact Sheets, Country Reports & Glossaries in English, Dutch & Danish, for a flipped classroom approach to preparing LTTA participants with a basic understanding of the FDC system in the three countries and the the EU countries/regions, providing information and a common language for service visits, discussion and reflection. These project assets on the QualFDC webpage will be used by partners to deliver ongoing impact. b. 3 successful LTTAs provided high-quality, effective learning opportunities for each partner and participating targets. Each LTTA lead prepared a post-event Reflection Report for partners capturing partners' reflections and learning during and after the LTTA on effective policy options and instruments for improving the FDC system, workforce development and recruitment and retention. The reports fed into the Final Report & Video. c. 1 Final QualFDC Learning Report and 1 Video in 3 languages d. 1 project webpage, https://projects.au.dk/qualfdc. These outputs relayed clear policy messages for dissemination to targets & stakeholders that preconditions for quality FDC are qualifications, training/pedagogical support, strong political will, low adult-child ratios in services and a competent ECEC system.