Affinity Education Group (Affinity) has promoted Tracey Ling to the newly created position of National Quality Manager as the company confirms 92% of centres within its current portfolio meeting or exceeding the National Quality Standards and two centres celebrating recent ‘Exceeding’ ratings achieved in August and September 2023.
Tracey Ling’s promotion follows more than five years with Affinity, after she stepped up from centre-based management roles to join Affinity’s national Centre Support Office (CSO) back in 2018.
Her most recent role has been National Assessment and Rating Manager, responsible for overseeing the support of Affinity’s 230+ centres and coordinating the work of a national team of Quality Advisors.
“I’ve been absolutely thrilled with the career growth and roles Affinity has offered me in such a short time, which have ranged across Quality and Business Performance, and to be offered the role of National Quality Manager is a really exciting new challenge,” said Tracey.
“Our Quality results as a national community continue to go from strength to strength each year, with 2023 already proving to be a milestone year,” she said.
During 2023, Affinity’s Quality Team have overseen achievements including:
- Centre support for 54 Assessment and Rating visits
- 7 services moved from Working Towards in a previous assessment, to Meeting in their 2023 assessment
- 2 services rating Exceeding in their 2023 assessment
- 92% of current portfolio rated as Meeting or Exceeding, with a national goal of 98%
Tracey’s new role will focus on leadership and operational direction to teams who report on quality, compliance, processes and business management in services owned and operated by Affinity.
Chief People Officer Linda Carroll congratulated Tracey on her appointment, stating: “Tracey’s strong long-term relationships with our centres, reputation for clear and calm leadership, effective coaching and comprehensive knowledge of relevant legislation and organisational requirements made her a clear stand out for this newly created position.”
Celebrating Exceeding
Two services within Affinity’s portfolio were recently rated ‘Exceeding’ the National Quality Standards – Milestones Early Learning Tarneit, and Milestones Early Learning Greensborough.
Centre Manager Roshni Shetty at Milestones Early Learning Tarneit said the service had gone from strength to strength since joining Affinity back in 2021 from another provider.
"Our Exceeding rating followed two years of close work with Affinity’s Quality Team. In those reviews we self-assessed our service against the National Quality Standards,” explained Roshni.
“We had done so much work on our Quality Improvement plan, and once the official A&R process commenced we felt extremely confident. It was the ultimate reward to receive an Exceeding rating.”
Quality Team expansion
In addition to the promotion of Tracey Ling, Affinity has recently promoted Melanie Nour, Chrisy Sinclair and Angie Owens to new roles within the national Quality Team. Melanie Nour has taken on the role of Compliance & Quality Manager NSW, Chrisy Sinclair has stepped up to NSW Quality Team Leader, and Angie Owens has taken on the role of CSO Quality Advisor.
The company has also welcomed three new Quality Advisors – Brianna Worker in Victoria, Fallon Davies on the NSW Central Coast, and Joanne Jardine acting in ACT and NSW.
Jessica Metzger has accepted the position of Assessment and Rating Manager formerly held by Tracey Ling.
“We’re proud of our commitment to Quality at Affinity, and I’m looking forward to supporting our services even more fully,” Tracey said.
