Your responsibilities as a Flying Start partner
As part of the South Australian Government’s early childhood reform package, Office for Early Childhood Development (OECD) is working with long day care services across the state to roll-out 3-year-old preschool. By 2032, all South Australian children can benefit from taking part in 2 years of quality preschool before school.
We help our Flying Start partners and their dedicated teams make the biggest possible positive difference to children’s lives.
Our service delivery priorities
Based on the research and sector expertise, we know that a service needs to prioritise 3 things to make this positive difference.
Services should be:
| Warm and welcoming | A place that families, caregivers and children from all backgrounds want to be in and can be in – actively inclusive, trustworthy, and Culturally responsive.
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| Committed to Quality | A place that provides a quality service under the Education and Care Services National Law (South Australia) (National Law) and National Quality Standards (NQS), including warm and responsive relationships and intentional play-based practice.
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| Acting early, with others | A place that reliably spots and actively addresses children’s specific developmental vulnerabilities, working with other professionals (e.g. allied health) and parents/carers.
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Your partnership obligations
Flying Start partners receive funding from the state government to support the delivery of 3-year-old preschool. Partners also gain access to several different funding streams to provide additional support to children and families.
We work with you to roll-out the 3-year-old preschool program and integrate our 3 service delivery priorities into your everyday work with children, families and staff. In turn, there is an expectation that you will use this support to strengthen practice and outcomes over time.
As a Flying Start partner, you are required to:
- meet funding and program reporting requirements, including where you need to notify the OECD
- complete annual funding acquittals
- ensure parent / carer consent for information sharing
- maintain appropriate documentation
- adhere to transparency requirements, including funding and program information to families.
See more about your requirements as a Flying Start partner in the Policy and Funding Guide.
Key documents for partners
Read the Policy and Funding Guide
The Policy and Funding Guide is the key guidance document for all Flying Start partners. It outlines your responsibilities, details the funding streams available and the associated spending rules.
You can view the full guide on our website or download a printable PDF version.
Flying Start Partnership Plan
For some of the funding outlined in the Policy and Funding Guide, you will need to complete a Flying Start Partnership Plan.
The Flying Start Partnership Plan is a single, integrated tool for your service to plan for the year ahead and help you make data-informed decisions about your funding.