Australians will have access to the quality preschool system children deserve and families expect thanks to the federal, state and territory governments.
A Preschool Outcomes Measure will be developed and trialled nationally to help meet the ongoing development and education needs of children in the year before school.
Delivered in partnership between the Commonwealth and state and territory governments, the Preschool Outcomes Measure will play a vital role in ensuring children are able to access the transformational benefits of quality early childhood education, no matter where they live.
The Measure will include a new evidence-based teaching tool to help educators and teachers understand a child's strengths and capabilities and plan the next steps in their learning journey.
The trial will focus on two age-appropriate, nationally agreed learning progression domains: executive function, a child's ability to plan and remember instructions, and oral language and literacy, a child's ability to communicate and create through language.
These two domains have been selected as they are foundational skills that support children to thrive.
The new teaching tool will be applied through play-based learning, complementing the everyday practices of educators and teachers when observing children's learning and development.
To be designed in partnership with the sector and stakeholders, the teaching tool will streamline current processes, making life easier for educators and teachers while improving learning outcomes for children.
The voluntary trial will commence in 2025, with jurisdictions that have existing tools able to align their programs with the new national learning progressions, rather than having to adopt the new teaching tool.
This new national approach will help educators and teachers to identify children who may need additional early support, ensuring they don't fall behind.
With a child-centred and play-based focus, the teaching tool will not be a test, and will not be used to benchmark.
The Preschool Outcomes Measure is a key reform under the $2 billion Preschool Reform Agreement being jointly progressed by the Australian and state and territory governments.
