Affinity broadens investment in quality with new senior leader and team appointments

Affinity Education Group (AEG) has appointed Jodie McClelland as the new Head of Quality and also expanded its national quality team to fifteen members as it steps up its commitment to support its network’s continuous improvement and assessment and rating needs. 

 

Ms McClelland was promoted from her current role of Quality Manager with the group. 

 

“We are thrilled to see our Quality Team expand with this latest round of hires and promotions,” Linda Carroll, AEG Chief People Officer, said.

 

“At a time when the sector faces a number of strains – from workforce recruitment and retention, to standards, training and professionalisation – it is critical that quality remains a focus.”

 

“Affinity’s continued investment and prioritisation of the quality of our team, our centres and our programs is testament to the important role it plays in the future success of our sector.”

 

The Group, which owns and operates a network of around 190 centres, currently has 88 per cent of its services rated as Meeting or Exceeding the National Quality Standard.

 

While AEG is ahead of the national average of long day care (LDC) for profit providers in terms of quality ratings, which presently sits at around 85 per cent, the Group lags behind the not for profit and Government segment who average in excess of 90 per cent according to the latest ACECQA NQF snapshot. 

 

“Through the ongoing efforts of our Quality and Centre Teams we are proud to have more centres achieving a ‘Meeting’ or ‘Exceeding’ NQS rating than ever before,” Ms McClelland said.

 

“It’s a big achievement and highlights our long-standing commitment to nurturing a culture of excellence, and empowering each and every one of our team members to go above and beyond.” 

 

“There’s always room for improvement, and we have some ambitious goals for the rest of the year. We’re targeting a 98 per cent ‘Meeting’ or ‘Exceeding’ rating in 2022. This latest round of promotions and hires bolsters our ability to get there.” 

 

The national quality team includes a range of regionally based quality advisors, an assessment and rating manager and an integration quality manager all of which report up to Ms McClelland as Head of Quality. 

 

Learn more about AEG here.