KU Lance Children’s Centre awarded Excellent rating

Date Awarded: 21 March 2018
Valid until: 20 March 2021

KU Lance Children’s Centre has been awarded the Excellent rating by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), the highest rating a service can achieve under the National Quality Framework.

From 1 February 2018, services in all states and territories (except for Western Australia) must be rated Exceeding National Quality Standard in all seven quality areas to be eligible to apply for the Excellent rating. The Excellent rating is awarded for three years. After this time, services have the option to re-apply.

The Sydney-based service was recognised for its collaborative partnerships with professional, community or research organisations, its practice and environments that enhance children’s learning and growth, and its sustained commitment to professional development and support of educators.

Examples of exceptional practice at the service include:

The service has relationships with Aboriginal Elder Auntie Julie Jones as an artist in residence, and with Uncle Laurie and the Barangaroo Aboriginal Education Team who regularly visit to share their knowledge, culture, art and language.
The service has a relationship with the Barangaroo Authority. The authority provided information, learning resources and facilitated visits to the Barangaroo construction site. The connection enabled the service to be fully informed of the construction and use this for its learning potential for children. The service believes that the opportunity to discuss and understand the changes in the environment empowered children to deal with questions, fears and misunderstandings, and to explore learning topics with specialists in the field.
The environment has the embedded approach to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. For example, the ‘nursery’ children have a daily sensory-based connection ritual with the land. Educators light a fragranced oil burner with lemon myrtle, eucalyptus and others to provide additional sensory input. The children practice deep breathing and touch the ground as a simple Acknowledgement to Country is delivered.
The children have engaged in a project to share ‘a little love’ with the wider community by making and sharing ‘travelling hearts’. These small gifts are designed to bring a smile to the recipient’s face without any expectation of a reciprocal gift. The children collaboratively decided to paint their hearts on rocks and agreed the local community centre was the best place to share them. A basket of travelling hearts are left at the community centre and regularly replenished for people to take if they wish.
In 2017, action research was undertaken to explore ‘A pedagogy of place’ with a closer focus on the ‘nursery’ to explore ‘A Pedagogy of Relationships’. The research project involved educators, families and children and extended on various professional learning opportunities, including from Ann Pelo, the Reggio Emilia approach, the Respectful Infant Educare (RIE) Approach, and ongoing learnings of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

As a leader in the sector, KU Lance Children’s Centre shares its knowledge and practice with others. Educators are part of Professional Learning Communities, both in and outside the approved provider’s organisation. The service also showcases its action research outcomes at conferences and meetings.

About the Excellent rating

More information is available on the ACECQA website.