Victorian educators: new advice available for supporting children in out-of-home-care

The Victorian Department of Education and Training has issued new advice for early childhood educators about developing individual learning plans for children who have been placed in out-of-home care (OoHC). 

Education and care services offer a point of stability and comfort for children who have been placed in OoHC. Individual Learning Plans, the Department said, are a critical component of ensuring children are engaged and supported while they work through the range of different circumstances and time spans for which children can be in OoHC.

Advice on setting up effective plans can be found on the Individual learning plans for children in out-of-home care web page, with a range of resources available to help teachers and educators ensure children in OoHC participate and remain engaged in kindergarten, and carers are able to engage with early childhood education and care services.

While the advice and resources have been contextualised to meet the outcomes of the Victorian Early Years Learning Framework (VEYLF), a number of resources in the suite, including Looking After Children, which provides the practice framework for considering how each child’s needs will be met while they are in OoHC, would be transferable to other States.

The framework looks at health, emotional and behavioural development, education, family and social relationships, identity, social presentation and self-care skills.

More information about individual learning plans is available here, alongside the early childhood agreement for children in out-of-home care.