Professional Development to empower Victorian early childhood Educational Leaders
Expressions of interest are now open for Term 2 2025.
Through the $14 billion Best Start, Best Life (BSBL) reform, the Victorian Government is providing Educational Leaders with an opportunity to develop their pedagogical leadership and change management skills.
The Victorian Department of Education has contracted Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in consortium with the Early Learning and Care Council of Australia to deliver the Victorian Educational Leadership Program (VELP).
This program comprises 2 micro-credentials available to Educational Leaders in Victorian Government-funded kindergarten programs:
1. VELP Foundations is designed for new Educational Leaders with 1-2 years’ experience.
It focuses on the fundamentals of how to be an Educational Leader, including leadership skills, change management theory, facilitating team teaching, and observation and assessment.
2. VELP Advanced is designed for experienced Educational Leaders with 2+ years’ experience.
It focuses on advanced leadership models, fostering effective team teaching, and driving reflective practice in teams.
The micro-credentials will support Educational Leaders to:
- Understand, identify, drive and implement quality practice
- Utilise data and evidence to support practice change
- Understand and implement strategies to support children’s continuity of early learning
Each micro-credential aligns with the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework and the National Quality Standard.
The program will run again in Term 3 2025 and registrations for that intake will open in March 2025.
Program summary
Delivery
Term 2 – 21 April to 25 June 2025
- Foundations – Mondays 4.00pm-5.30pm
- Advanced – Wednesdays 4.00pm-5.30pm
An orientation session is held in the last week of Term 1 2025.
Duration
The course requires a time commitment of 50 hours over a 10-week period in Term 2 2025 comprising:
- 1.5 hours of synchronous contact learning per week (15 hours total)
- 3.5 hours of independent learning per week (35 hours total)
Cost
FREE and the Victorian Government also provides 2-days of backfill contribution (valued $766 excluding GST) to Approved Providers to support the release of their Educational Leaders to complete the program.
How to apply
- Speak to your manager and Approved Provider about the program. You need your Approved Provider’s support to complete the course.
- Ask your Approved Provider to complete the Letter of Support. Follow the link to download a template. You will need a copy of the signed Letter of Support to submit your Express of Interest.
- Complete the online Expression of Interest Form.
Quick links
- Term 2 Application Dates
- Eligibility and Prioritisation Criteria
- Course Design and Content
- Course Delivery
- Certificate of Completion: Micro credential
- Alumni and Champions Program
- VELP facilitators
- Stakeholder Promotional Toolkit
Term 2 Application Dates
- Expressions of interest opens – 6 November 2024
- Expressions of interest closes – 17 January 2025
- 1st round offers sent out – 3 February 2025
- Cut-off to accept 1st round offer – 14 February 2025
- 2nd round offers sent out – 19 February 2025
- Cut off to accept 2nd round offer – 5 March 2025
- Orientation session – 31 March/2 April 2025
- Course commences – 23 April 2025
- Course concludes – 25 June 2025
Eligibility and Prioritisation Criteria
To be eligible for VELP, applicants must:
- be employed as an Educational Leader in a Victorian Government funded kindergarten
- have the support of their Approved Provider noting the course will take 50 hours to complete during Term 2 2025
- complete a 250 to 500 word response to the question in the online Expression of Interest Form “Please outline your reasons for undertaking the course, the expected contributions your involvement will bring to your service, and how this aligns to your career aspirations.”
There are only 100 places available – 50 places in VELP Foundations and 50 places in VELP Advanced. If the program is oversubscribed, priority will be given to Educational Leaders that meet the following prioritisation criteria:
- Up to 5% of available places will be prioritised for Educational Leaders who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
- Priority will then be given for Educational Leaders who work in an early childhood service that is next in line to roll out the Best Start, Best Life reform.
- Priority will then be given for Educational Leaders that work in services in areas of high disadvantage and vulnerability.
- Priority will then be given for Educational Leaders that work in services with low overall ratings against the National Quality Standard who are not participating in the Kindergarten Quality Improvement Program.
- Priority will then be given to support a fair distribution of Educational Leaders that:
- work in a service located in a rural, regional and metro location
- hold a Certificate III or Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care, or a university-level teaching degree
- work in for profit and not-for-profit service
- identify as being culturally and linguistically diverse
Course Design and Content
Both courses, VELP Foundations and VELP Advanced follow the same model. There are four learning modules per course, each with carefully calibrated content, teaching, and learning approaches. The modules include:
- Educational Leadership
- Leading learning through play and integrated teaching and learning approaches
- Leading teams in observation and assessment
- Leading reflective practice
Each course is informed by cutting-edge academic research, made meaningful through the use of practical examples, including vignettes of practice case studies. The courses are inclusive of Educational Leaders working across a diverse range of early childhood service types and locations.
Course Delivery & Dates
The course is delivered completely online via Zoom.
Each course has two core learning approaches:
- Lecture style seminars are held for 1.5 hours each fortnight with all 50 Educational Leaders online.
- Workshops are held for 1.5 hours each alternate fortnight in small tutorial style groups of 16-18 Educational Leaders. These sessions enable rich and deep exploration of seminar content and support with action research projects.
There is also independent guided learning (readings, online discussion forum, workbook). Participants will undertake 50 hours of learning in total across the course.
VELP includes the following:
- Action Research Project – Action research is a core component of each course, with participants identifying a project and research question for inquiry that has relevance and meaning for their role as Educational Leader.
- Showcase event – An end of program showcase event will see participants present their action research project to peers. This forms part of your final assessment.
- Paired learning – Action research project completed in pairs, with fellow course participant.
Class Dates:
Certificate of Completion: Micro credential
At the completion of the course, and on submission of the two assessment tasks, you will receive a Certificate of Completion from QUT. VELP Foundations and VELP Advanced are accredited by QUT as micro-credentials, in accordance with the National Micro Credential Framework.
Alumni and Champions program
VELP course graduates will belong to an Alumni program, sustaining engagement and learning. Course graduates will be invited to join one formal online network gathering meeting 6 months post course completion. In addition, graduates will be invited ‘back’ to be part of future course showcase events.
VELP facilitators
VELP Project Lead – Associate Professor Megan Gibson
Megan Gibson is a highly experienced early childhood educator who is passionate about providing the highest quality education and care programs for young children, and their families.
Megan is committed to strong connections with the profession through ongoing ‘real world’ work, including applied research. A focus central to her research is preparing, growing and sustaining the early years workforce – so they can, in turn, provide programs that are optimally beneficial for children.
VELP Program Partner, Elizabeth Death, CEO, Early Learning & Care Council of Australia (ELACCA)
Elizabeth has extensive national experience in social policy and service delivery coupled with a solid track record of achievement at senior levels within Government, community services, early learning and care, Ministerial offices and tertiary institutions.
In her current role as CEO and Executive Director of the Early Learning and Care Council of Australia, Elizabeth represents the nation’s largest providers of early learning and care services who delivery over 25 percent of services across metropolitan, regional, rural and remote locations across Australia.
VELP Facilitator, Dr Marie White
Marie White teaches and researches in early childhood education and has recent experience as the Director of a community kindergarten in Queensland. Leveraging this experience, Marie teaches in the professional experience units within our initial teacher education programs. Her PhD and continuing research focus on effective leadership in ECEC and development of the ECEC workforce.
Marie has just been appointed to the leadership role of Course Coordinator for QUT’s Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood).
VELP Facilitator, Associate Professor Maryanne Theobald
Maryanne Theobald is Associate Professor and leader of the Centre for Child and Family Studies at QUT. With over thirty years’ experience in early childhood education, Maryanne teaches and researches in professional experience and learning, participatory action research, children’s rights and friendships, and children’s experiences with digital technologies.
VELP Facilitator, Dr Francis Bobongie-Harris
Francis Bobongie-Harris teaches and researches on Indigenous Education in Australia and the Pacific and Australian South Sea Islander Policy, History and Cultural studies. She specialises in qualitative, ethnographic, narrative, community – led and participatory research methodologies.
As an Indigenous scholar Francis has over 20 years’ experience teaching in Australia and New Zealand.
VELP Facilitator, Dr Julia Mascadri
Julia Mascadri is a lecturer in the School of Early Childhood and Inclusive Education within the Faculty of Education. Her research interests include pedagogical practice in early childhood education, intercultural education, epistemic beliefs, and inclusive education. Julia’s PhD thesis explored early childhood educators’ intercultural competence through the lens of self-authorship.
In 2017, she received the Faculty of Education Outstanding Thesis Award, Queensland University of Technology.
VELP Facilitator (ELACCA) & Program Manager and Support (QUT), Jessamine Giese
Jessamine Giese brings extensive leadership experience and recency of practice guiding and mentoring teams of educators in early childhood settings. Jessamine has engaged in substantial academic learning, most recently through her PhD studies, where she is currently researching how teams of educators make curricular and pedagogical decisions in long day care centres. In her current role as Student Support Officer at Early Learning and Care Council of Australia (ELACCA), Jessamine works with educators to support them in their journey to achieve an early childhood teaching degree qualification.
Jessamine performs a dual role in VELP. As VELP Facilitator (ELACCA), you might see Jessamine assisting in seminars and leading workshops. You may also connect with her via email through the enrolment process as Program Manager & Support (QUT).
VELP Facilitator, Kim Crisp
Kim Crisp is an early childhood teacher, with extensive experience spanning over 30 years in the early childhood sector. Throughout her career, Kim has held various roles including teaching children, leading educators, managing services, and has been involved in a number of research projects on the early childhood workforce.
In her current role as Professional Learning Manager at Early Learning and Care Council of Australia, Kim works with universities and students to codesign professional learning and to support studying early childhood educators.
Stakeholder Promotional Toolkit
Program supported by: