Queensland’s best childcare centres revealed

A Brisbane kindergarten has been named as one of the best in the country, after becoming only the ninth Queensland centre to be awarded an excellent rating by the industry’s key authority.

A Brisbane kindergarten has been named as one of the best in the country, after being awarded an excellent rating by the industry’s key authority.

Ashgrove Memorial Kindergarten has been awarded an “excellent” rating by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, making it only the ninth of almost 3000 kindys in Queensland to receive the stamp of approval.

Other top kindys currently named by the ACECQA as “excellent” include Indooroopilly Montessori Children’s House, Bribie Island Community Kindergarten, and Rosie’s Early Learning at Daisy Hill.

The rating is the highest rating an education and care service can achieve.

Ashgrove Memorial Kindergarten director Carol Braunack said she was “delighted” the kindergarten had been recognised as one of just 35 out of more than 16,000 services across the country to achieve the top rating.

“It is a lovely tribute to our practices and the dedication of our team,” she said.

Ms Braunack, who has been in the industry for more than 40 years, said she often had the pleasure of teaching the children of her former kindy students.

“The children and their families love being here because of our focus on strong relationships,” she said.

“We are a very experienced team, and we have generations of families coming through.

“We’re really passionate about teaching young children, and fostering their love of learning through play.”

Thomasine Morris, 4, Walt Loughnane, 5, Frankie Moss, 5, and Henrietta Hacking, 3, at Ashgrove Memorial Kindergarten. Picture: Tara Croser

With early childhood education squarely among the hot topics for parents Ms Braunack said in her experience, the best outcomes depend on the staff’s engagement with the children,

“This is what we do very, very well,” she said, adding the centre has a very low turnover of educators.

“There should absolutely be a lot more focus on early childhood education – the first eight years of a child’s life are the most important.”