Clarence Valley childcare centre ratings revealed

The director of a leading childcare centre says a simple philosophy keeps his team at the top of their game. See which centres are exceeding expectations and which ones are not.

Community OOSH Services director David Bourke says his childcare organisation’s secret to success is simple - let kids be kids.

Rated as one of five top facilities in the Clarence Valley, Mr Bourke said meeting education standards could still be achieved with some old-school fun.

“We ensure those standards are met through our programs, but we take things back to basics and take them out on excursions, play in creeks, climb trees and build up their resilience through old-fashioned play,” he said.

Established in Coffs Harbour in 2005 and run by Mr Bourke and fellow director Katrina Adams, Community OOSH Services has since expanded to five centres across the Coffs/Clarence region, running before and after school care, and school holiday programs.

“We’re an adventure-based program so in one holiday period we’ll take the kids everywhere; hikes, treks, carnivals, go to the movies, and have theme days,” he said.

“I’m a 59-year-old and I get to work in bare feet and play all day; I love my world.”

Each childcare centre is assessed by the Department of Education on seven quality areas including educational programs and practices, children’s health and safety, physical environment, staffing arrangements, relationships with children, collaboration with families and the community, and leadership.

The childcare centres are then given one of five ratings by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, which includes from the top-down ‘Excellent’, ‘Exceeding National Quality Standard’, ‘Meeting NQS’, ‘Working towards NQS’ and ‘Significant improvement required’.

The authority is an independent body which helps the government implement the quality framework.

Take a look at how each Clarence Valley childcare facility rated: