Indooroopilly Montessori Children’s House (IMCH) re-awarded the Excellent rating

Date Re-awarded: 24 March 2021

Valid until: 23 March 2024

Indooroopilly Montessori Children’s House (IMCH) has been re-awarded the Excellent rating for the second time by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA). The Excellent rating is the highest rating a service can achieve under the National Quality Framework.

The Brisbane based service was recognised for its:

• collaborative partnerships with professional, community or research organisations
• positive workplace culture and organisational values, sustained commitment to professional development and support of educators
• practice and environments that enhance children’s learning and growth.

Examples of exceptional practice at the service include:

• Developing The Creative Explorers program, a multi-arts program that aims to allow both children and educators to explore the benefits of creative arts. A specialist multi-arts educator creates programs that link to key learning and developmental areas of identity, connectedness, wellbeing, active understanding and communication. These learning and developmental areas are explored through visual arts, drama, technology, music and movement. 
   
• Creating an Inclusion Support Coordinator (ISC) advisory role. The ISC is an initial point of contact for educators who may have concerns regarding how a child’s development is progressing. The key duties of the ISC include:
  • training, coaching and modelling best practice alongside educators and liaising with other staff
  • coordinating meetings with parents, nominated supervisor and external professionals and therapists
  • attending professional learning workshops and informing all staff of best practice strategies
  • creating inclusive learning environments and resources.

• Continuing to fund a qualified early childhood educator to work part-time with the children of young mothers attending a local co-educational learning community centre. This initiative also included:
  • fundraising to replace the outdated and worn out lounge in the family room of the centre to ensure that young mothers would feel a sense of pride in their learning community
  • improving the community centre’s outdoor play space for the children and mothers through fundraising. At the end of each year, IMCH children, families and staff donate food items and Christmas gift hampers to the young mothers and their children.

• Partnering with SolarBuddy, a registered Australian charity dedicated to educating and empowering the next generation of global citizens. This STEM-based partnership involves:
  • the children assembling small solar-powered lights, donated by families and shipped to preschool children in Timor-Leste, Africa or Papua New Guinea
  • the children practising and improving their fine motor, problem-solving and cooperation skills as they build the solar lights
  • the children writing letters to their overseas solar buddies, which are sent with the solar light. 

• IMCH is the first of its children’s education and care service its approved provider, a school organisation, opened. The service continues to advocate for the importance of early childhood education and care, highlighting the differences between early childhood education and care and school settings. As a result of IMCH’s leadership and influence, its approved provider is now focused on developing and embedding a seamless transition for every child from the early years to Year 12 at a number of school sites across Australia.

Indooroopilly Montessori Children’s House is an important advocate in promoting the education and care sector, not only in Australia but globally, ensuring their positive impact reaches beyond the children and families who access their service. 

About the Excellent rating

Services that receive ‘Exceeding National Quality Standard’ in all seven quality areas can apply to ACECQA for the Excellent rating. The Excellent rating is awarded for three years. After this time services have the option to re-apply.