Uniting Frederick Street Preschool Rockdale achieves Excellence

Date Awarded: 22 March 2018
Valid until: 21 March 2021

Uniting Frederick Street Preschool Rockdale 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 Rockdale-based service was recognised for its collaborative partnerships with professional, community or research organisations, its inclusive partnerships with children and families, and its positive workplace culture and organisational values.

Examples of exceptional practice at the service include:

Educators work extensively with families to ensure their voices are heard and acted upon. ‘Give and Take’ markets were developed in response to families expressing financial hardship. Families are encouraged to vote on any changes, ideas or suggestions raised by families, educators and children. In addition, ‘Family Workshops’ were established in response to families showing interest in the service’s kinaesthetic learning environments. Family suggestions inform the content of the workshops.
Strategic and thoughtful initiatives are in place to acknowledge, share and celebrate the work of its employees. ‘Strength boards’ are used to record educators’ skills, professional development and interest. Pre-made ‘thank you’ cards are available for families and employees to acknowledge educators for their efforts. Staff meetings provide opportunities for educators to ‘buddy up’ with their colleagues to share knowledge and skills. The service has also implemented a ‘team inspiration project book’ for employees to provide positive feedback to each other.
There is a strong commitment to the inclusion of families, ensuring all are informed, empowered and active contributors to service operations, practices and programs. Information and documentation regarding children’s learning, service operations, and community services are translated into various languages to support the inclusion of families. Translators are present during meetings, orientation evenings, playgroups and information afternoons. In addition, educators work collaboratively with children and families to ensure their cultural and linguistically diverse backgrounds are represented throughout the service’s practices and environments.
Children are empowered to not only contribute to, but control decisions about how and when they will address their individual needs, as well as make informed decisions about their learning. Children are supported to develop their own learning cycles through documenting their own learning and establish ‘next steps’ in their individual learning cycle or project. A ‘Children’s Citizenship’ book has been created to highlight the different ways that the service empowers children, including their involvement in service safety audits and checks. The service has developed a reflection tool to ensure educators are effectively documenting and enacting children’s voice and citizenship within the service.
A strong commitment to supporting the wellbeing of its educators through the implementation of a ‘Chill Zone’, mindfulness practices, clinical supervision and additional resources with information courses and strategies to support them to achieve optimum physical and mental health.

As a leader in the sector, Uniting Frederick Street Preschool Rockdale shares its knowledge and inclusive practices with a particular focus on supporting children and families of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The service’s leadership practices ensure their positive impact reaches beyond the children and families who access the service.

About the Excellent rating

More information is available on the ACECQA website.