Pelican Waters Golden Beach Preschool Kindergarten and Child Care has been awarded an Excellent Rating

Date first awarded: 21 October 2015

Date re-awarded: 6 December 2018

Valid until: 5 December 2021

Pelican Waters Golden Beach Preschool Kindergarten and Child Care 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. This is the second time that Pelican Waters Golden Beach Preschool Kindergarten and Child Care has achieved the Excellent rating award.  

The Golden Beach based service was recognised for its collaborative partnerships with professional, community or research organisations, inclusive partnerships with children and families and practice and environments that enhance children’s learning and growth.

Examples of exceptional practice at the service include:

• The service appointed a Noonuccal woman as an educator in the specialised role of cultural educator, acknowledging her knowledge and wisdom of local land and culture. She is also the ‘Bush and Beach Kindy Educator’, responsible for providing place-based care that naturally intertwines Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and ways of being.
• The cultural educator worked with local Elders to identify opportunities and needs at the service to further impart Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander wisdom in a way that is culturally respectful and useful to educators. Yarning and collaboration with local Elders in the community lead to the development of the document ‘Guide to Australian and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Protocols at Pelican Waters Golden Beach Kindergarten’. The service uses the guide as an important document to ensure practice is culturally sensitive.
• Children and families played a significant role in leading and supporting learning through a child initiated conservation project. 
• The service initiated a statewide action research project, titled ‘Standing Up for a Natural Childhood action (NCA) research project’. The service worked in collaboration with seventeen education and care services across Queensland over eight months. The research group was facilitated by the service educational leader mentored by the service cultural educator. The group met for six sessions over eight months. During the sessions, the group discussed the importance of a natural childhood and how they could draw on the wisdom of traditional custodians of the land. Together the group explored the value of deepening respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of doing and being. The service states to ‘tackle the big ideas’ discussed, each participant was encouraged to develop their own action research question amongst educators in their service. The service states that the approach allowed educators to take the time to explore, look more closely at the current perspectives and practices, and gain opinions from their communities that would further inform their thinking. The research project concluded with each participant presenting their research findings, and the installation of an interactive art piece at the State-Wide Workforce Council conference.
• A Fishing Program occurs in the later months of the year. Educators and children know that the program is ready to take place when the sea eagle is present, as that is a sign mullet is running through the area.  Children walk to the shop to purchase bait. At times children make their own fishing gear, other times a hand reel is used. Families participate to support the fishing program.
• Working in collaboration with a local school to support children and families transition to school. For example:
  • discussions were held with the school to identify effective and purposeful transition statements. The school identified that photographs of children engaging in their favourite learning experiences at the service would effectively support teachers to establish secure relationships with children
  • the school enables families to ask for the teacher best suited to their child’s learning style for the prep year. In 2018, the educational leader and deputy principal visited each kindergarten class, to observe practice, teaching styles and the philosophical views of each of the kindergarten teachers. Following the visit, the educational leader worked with families to ensure the most suitable teacher was chosen for the child
  • the school head of learning visits the service to observe children and get to know them
  • the educational leader, deputy principal and head of learning meet to discuss information from family meetings and share observations of educators and children to ensure teachers chosen are most suitable.
• As a leader in the sector, Pelican Waters Golden Beach Preschool Kindergarten and Child Care has founded networking groups, developed and facilitated information sessions, produced articles and resources and openly shared its practices to ensure 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 7 quality areas can apply for the Excellent rating. The Excellent rating is awarded for three years. After this time services have the option to re-apply.