Excellent Rating Notification for Winston Glades Early Education Centre & Preschool

Date Excellent Rating Awarded: 29/05/2024 
Date Excellent Rating Valid until:  28/05/2029

Winston Glades Early Education Centre & Preschool 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.  

The Queensland 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: 

• A mutually beneficial partnership with a playground designer and outdoor educator to design a new outdoor play space for the service in response to Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) data on children's vulnerability. Winston Glades also partnered with a local Elder, children and families in the development of the playground. The consultation process for the design of the playground involved exploration of children's physical activity levels by monitoring children's step count before and after using the new play space. Data collected by the service team revealed that children's step count increased by 39%, with one child experiencing an 115% increase. The service is also currently working with the playground designer to collect data to develop an ecology of play framework, which will be sent to a local university to analyse, with the intent of publishing the research once analysis is completed.  
• An outstanding commitment to bush kindy and nature pedagogy underpinned by strong philosophical considerations and direct response to their context. This includes the service investing extensive time and funds training their staff to understand the complexities and benefits of nature play and bush survival skills to share with children and families. Winston Glades Early Education Centre & Preschool runs a centre-wide bush kindy program, with the preschool children spending two full-days per week and infants spending a minimum of two hours per fortnight, participating outdoors in bush kindy with minimal resources and practices, including dadirri, a First Nations methodology of deep listening in nature. The service further demonstrated their commitment to nature pedagogy by developing a free community bush kindy initiative, which is a weekly one-hour session led by an educator, offering nature play for children and families in the community. 
• In 2019, the service built an outdoor deck for educators to relax and collaborate. The deck was built in response to educator feedback in supporting them to relax and connect with others, with many educators stating that being in nature was calming for them and helped support professional collaboration within their team.  Winston Glades Early Education Centre & Preschool also developed two additional indoor spaces with amenities such as a massage chair and aromatherapy for the staff. The service staff provided extensive feedback on how these changes made them feel valued, aided in their relaxation and supported deeper professional engagement in these calming spaces. 
• As a leader in the sector, Winston Glades Early Education Centre & Preschool has provided mentoring support for educators at other services. The service dedicates one to two full days per fortnight, acting as a field advisor and providing on-site support. This practice demonstrates the service's commitment to genuine practice sharing with the intent of improving educator practice, pedagogy, and professional learning in the wider education and care sector.