Glen Brady Rd Kindergarten - Exceeding the National Quality Standards  

Glen Brady Rd Kindergarten receives an exceeding result for high-quality education and care.

We are thrilled to announce we have received a rating of EXCEEDING the National Standard for Education and Care at Glen Brady Rd Kindergarten! We have consistently achieved this result for 11 years, demonstrating that high quality practices are genuinely embedded in all that we do. Congratulations to the Glen Brady Team (Educators and Leaders) on achieving a rating of EXCEEDING the National Standard for education and care, in 7 of the 7 areas!  

The assessment involved the review of documentation, observation of interactions and an extensive discussion regarding practice. The assessor highlighted our commitment to high quality practices and meaningful relationships with children and families. Below are the highlights of the report. 

Here’s an extract of the report, from the assessor (Department of Education): 

What an outstanding result – a reflection of your commitment and dedication to high quality programs and services. 

The learning environment: The service provided welcoming, inclusive, and adaptable learning environments that fostered children’s autonomy. Pedagogy, practices, and teaching decisions were all shaped by these guiding principles, which were seamlessly integrated into the delivery of the program, with the intention of improving children's learning. By purposely observing children, educators sought to influence the learning environments and experiences, thereby achieving an important balance between intentional teaching and spontaneous concept acquisition. To promote sustained engagement throughout multiple kindergarten sessions, a project-based approach was adopted, which encouraged participants to collaborate during the initial phases of planning and further develop and expand upon each other's concepts in a collaborative manner to accomplish shared objectives – look at this comment and acknowledgement of our innovative approach to team teaching across a week, rather than sessions; so proud of us! 

Educational Team: Educators were able to support children’s engagement and provide respectful interactions over sustained periods of time.  Educators continually found ways of empowering children to care for and learn from the land by embedding sustainability into daily routines and practices. Educators encouraged children to engage in sustainable practices and to develop their own ideas around sustainability – there was a profound commitment to sustainability and the preservation of the environment (wow, what a comment!). The service viewed themselves as a community of learners that shared expertise and knowledge in an ongoing capacity within the service and the approved provider's network of services. Annual performance appraisals served as opportunities for educators to reflect on their professional growth and set goals for the upcoming year, contributing to a positive learning culture.  The organisation exhibited proficient succession planning through the provision of mentoring educators to build on their skills.

Leadership:  A demonstrated strong leadership model, [embedding practice in] service philosophy, to guide decision making, pedagogy and practices. The approved provider, including the General Manager of Operations, Education and Pedagogy/educational leader, the Leadership/Inclusion team, played a vital role in facilitating service operations. In addition, the administrative support team was responsive in assuming administrative functions to assist the service's needs, which contributed to efficient operations.  The educational leader provided pedagogical guidance to educators and demonstrated how it could be applied in practice. The educational leader utilised and shared the professional knowledge that had been developed while also supporting the approved provider’s other early childhood centres, thereby enhancing educator capacity. The approved provider, educational leader and leadership team fostered an embedded leadership culture that promoted an openness to diverse perspectives, acknowledgement of individual capabilities, and ethical resolution of potential disputes.

Children, Families, and the Community:  The service highly value cultural diversity, actively encouraging families to share their traditions throughout the program. Celebrations and significant cultural events played a crucial role in the curriculum [and] celebrated in unique ways.  Educators and the leadership team drew on the voices of families and their local community to develop an approach to the organisation to promote a culture of inclusiveness and a sense of belonging.  The service supported children and families to build and maintain strong, responsive relationships, while considering their individual priorities and strengths. Working in partnership with families and caregivers, provided the service with opportunities to be actively involved in meeting the individual needs of each child. Based on the strong relationships and level of trust established, the service had engaged in ongoing reflection with families, that identified family’s interest in wanting to be involved in the kindergarten. The service actively supported families to engage with support services including allied health to strengthen child, parenting and family outcomes.

We could not be prouder of the dedicated team of educators at Glen Brady and the magnificent leaders we have guiding and supporting our people.  Congratulations – a repeated exceeding rating is a very significant achievement and one the whole community can say they helped to make happen.  Congratulations!