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The planning process

You will receive your Flying Start Partnership Plan via email from your OECD Local Team. The plan will be pre-populated with information specific to your service.

Your Local Team will:

  • help develop your Partnership Plan, including through scheduled in-person or online meetings
  • support you to use your Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) and local data
  • shape your goals and create outcome-focused Partnership Plan
  • work alongside you to review, submit and approve your finalised Partnership Plan.

Before you start looking at data or thinking about funding choices:

  • Start with big-picture thinking
  • Think about who in your team should be included in the planning meetings with your OECD Local Team (this could be your assistant director, educational leader, room team leaders and early childhood teachers (ECTs))
  • Keep your Partnership Plan on hand for reference. If you had a Preschool Boost plan last year, have that handy too.

Supporting materials

Use AEDC data and other local data and community insights to guide your Partnership Plan. This will help you to align your goals with the OECD’s 3 key priorities and then target your spending to improve outcomes for children.

Work with your OECD Local Team to explore:

Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) data: this provides insights across 5 key developmental areas, showing where early support can have the most impact.

Enrolment trends and attendance patterns: to identify cohorts of children that may need support to maximise the benefits of preschool.

Other data sources: to build a more complete picture of local needs, such as:

  • community insights (parent surveys, community consultation, individual learning or behaviour support plans, family feedback)
  • assessment tools and population data (literacy trackers, developmental screeners, ABS data)

Reflect on the following questions:

  • Which AEDC developmental domains have higher levels of vulnerability?
  • are there particular trends that require attention?
  • Do these findings reflect what educators are observing in children's learning and development?
  • Are there groups of children who require additional support?
  • Are attendance and enrolment patterns impacting children's outcomes?

Supporting materials

Use your Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) to explore:

1 – Educational Program and Practice

  • How your educational program responds to children's identified needs?
  • Are educators intentionally planning experiences that target priority developmental areas?
  • What improvements have been identified within your QIP?

5 – Relationships with Children

  • How are secure, respectful and responsive relationships supporting children's development?
  • Are there opportunities to strengthen children's sense of belonging, wellbeing and engagement?

7 – Governance and Leadership

  • Does your leadership support continuous improvement?
  • Are systems in place to monitor progress against identified priorities?
  • How are professional learning and educator capability supporting improvement?

Gather insights from other sources:

  • service planning documents (like Reconciliation Action Plans, Educator Professional Development Plans)
  • Assessment ratings
  • Educator observations

Supporting materials

Your goals should:

  • respond to an identified need
  • be informed by data
  • align to the relevant priority area
  • be achievable within the planning period
  • describe the improvement you want to see.

Developing clear goals helps make sure your Partnership Plan leads to meaningful improvements in practice and outcomes for children.

When setting goals, consider using the SMART framework to create goals that are well-defined, achievable and measurable.

Once you have set your goals, the next step is to identify the actions that will help achieve them.

Actions should clearly describe what your service will do, who will be responsible and - where relevant - how initiatives, funding streams and providers will contribute.

Look through the detail about each funded program to make sure you understand the expectations and funding requirements:

You will need to think about how you will implement your actions by identifying responsibilities, timeframes, required resources, and how progress will be monitored.

There may be other activities or actions you will need to undertake to support this improvement and embed into everyday practice.

This section of the Partnership Plan should describe the broader change you expect to see as a result.

You should explain how the combined actions will improve practice, strengthen outcomes for children and families and support progress against the priority area. It should capture the intended difference the plan will make.

You will need to submit your Partnership Plan to your OECD Local Team. It must be approved by your OECD Local Team before any funds are used.

If your service is part of a larger Provider, make sure to allow at least 3 weeks for your own internal approvals before submitting to your OECD Local Team.

Partnership Plans can be submitted for endorsement and approval any time before 1 November 2026.

Updating your plan

You can revise your plan throughout the year if needed, but it should reflect stable, intentional planning. Speak with your OECD Local Team if you need to make an update to your approved plan.