Aiming Higher Quality Improvement

Aiming Higher is 4Children’s Quality Improvement Framework (QIF) for all childcare settings and integrated centres for young people within the 0-19 age range.

Members receive a £25 discount on their Aiming Higher handbook.

Aiming Higher can be used as a comprehensive QIF by a wide range of settings, including children’s centres, nurseries, playgroups, out of school clubs, holiday activity schemes and youth groups. Aiming Higher provides a smooth, simple and rapid route to quality accreditation for all childcare and youth settings.

The Aiming Higher Framework 0-19 offers national and local organisations:

• A comprehensive quality framework for all childcare and youth settings, including nurseries, playgroups, out of school clubs, holiday schemes and youth groups
• Induction/guidance on its delivery within the 0-19 age range
• Support to develop an administration system to support the scheme
• Training of assessors and mentors for the application process
• Training for the quality kitemark and self-certification
• Auditing to ensure standards and quality are maintained

This is available to be delivered at a number of levels, from stand-alone, or with personalised mentoring and support.

Individual settings/clusters can also be catered for subject to agreeing a programme with Aiming Higher. All applications will adhere to the National Quality Improvement Network (NQIN) Quality Improvement Principles.

History
Aiming Higher was originally established in 1994 as Aiming High, to set clear quality standards for all aspects of out of school settings for children and young people aged 4-14. The framework was redeveloped in 2004 to include the 0-4 age group, in partnership with the Buffer Bear Nurseries chain (acquired by The Co-operative Childcare in January 2011). Aiming High and the QuILT (Quality Improvement in Teaching and Learning) framework adopted by Buffer Bear were brought together as Aiming Higher.

Aiming Higher has been consistently improved over time in direct response to the needs of childcare and youth practitioners and local authority early years and youth teams – including extending the QIF to assess 12 quality areas in childcare settings for babies, children and young people aged 0-19.

Costs
You will need to order an Aiming Higher handbook to begin your QIF application. This handbook will give detailed information what you will be assessed on, what evidence your setting will need to provide to demonstrate it meets the standards, and how to carry out peer observation/self-assessment for your setting. 

This pack is £125 for non-members and £100 for members.

The Aiming Higher assessments costs £440, and mentoring is available on request.


For more information please download our Aiming Higher leaflet, or contact our information line on 0207 512 2100 / info@4Children.org.uk.

To purchase a copy of Aiming Higher for your setting please order one from our publications area here.