Glen Edithvale Kindergarten - Exceeding the National Quality Standards

Glen Edithvale Kindergarten receives an EXCEEDING result for high-quality education and care.  

Congratulations and thank-you to everyone at Glen Education that has worked hard to make this result a reality – educators, leaders/managers, children, and families.

While we are only at the beginning of our partnership with Glen Edithvale Kindergarten, we have already achieved so much as a dynamic team.  We look forward to strengthening the work we do to make a difference in the lives of those within our community.

Here are a few highlights from the report to be proud of.

Children and Families:  Children’s agency was supported through a learning environment that was structured to provide children with opportunities to make choices as to how they wished to participate in the program. Children were able to independently access resources from open shelving, initiate play and express ideas when interacting with others.  Practices demonstrated by educators consistently aligned with the philosophy that all children are capable and resourceful learners who are active contributors to their own learning.  The service's approach to building and maintaining respectful and equitable relationships with each child reflected the voices, priorities, and strengths of families at the service. Meaningful relationships with families resulted in educators modifying interactions with each child according to their context and needs. Strong relationships had been developed with families, which were underpinned by the genuine recognition of families as co-contributors to children’s learning and development.

Educational Team: The staffing team worked collaboratively in the shared environments to embed a culture of reflective practice that supported and welcomed all educators to share their opinions and perspectives. Educators engaged in robust discussions during regular team meetings that informed the implementation of the curriculum.  The atmosphere between the leadership team and educators was supportive and respectful. Educators were observed sharing information with each other in relation to the children and their own movements. Educators worked as a team and shared tasks, offered assistance and responded promptly to support each other throughout the day. The educators spoke of the relationship between management and educators being supportive, respectful, and positive.

Learning Environment:  The leadership team had critically reflected on the design of the physical environments to enhance the environments to provide children with safe, clean, and engaging spaces. Consideration was given to the children attending the service and their ages to ensure that the spaces were inclusive and strengthened opportunities for all children to participate, learn and develop at their own pace. Embedded routines allowed time for children to engage in relaxed, unhurried interactions where they were able to direct their own play and learning together. Educators supported children to regulate their own behaviour and minimal conflicts were observed throughout the day, as children were engaged and required minimal guidance.

Leadership:  The provision of strong, operational leadership, with well-established governance arrangements and administrative processes, created a positive organisational culture that valued contribution from the whole team.  Across all levels of the service, a commitment to on-going quality improvement was evident, demonstrated by the drive for continuous improvement.  The leadership team supported a culture of ongoing robust discussions amongst the staffing team of new and old team members and welcomed debates. The educational leader encouraged the team of educators to continually engage in reflection on their practice, to promote a culture in which educators were respected, valued, and strove for high quality practice.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Time to pause to celebrate our collective achievements before we regroup and continue with our plan to build an even stronger community.