Grafton’s best and worst child care centres

Almost half the child care centres in Grafton are not meeting the National Quality Standards. Find out which ones are the best and which ones have a way to go. SPECIAL REPORT

Handing over your child or children to a child care centre for the first time is like handing over your heart in your hands.

Our children are precious so you definitely want to make sure you find the right place for them. But how do we know we have chosen a good centre beyond how we and our littlies feel?

All child care centres and preschools in Australia are benchmarked by the National Quality Standards and are regularly reviewed.

The latest data shows that close to half in the Clarence Valley are not meeting the National Quality Standards.

Those centres include Clarence Family Day Care, Jacaranda Preschool South Grafton, NSOW Early Learning and OOSH Centre, Ohana Early Learning Grafton and Westlawn Pre-school.

There are many centres meeting the standards and some that are overall exceeding them. Others are meeting the standards and exceeding in some areas.

Uniting Preschool Grafton is the only centre in the area that has repeatedly Exceeded the National Quality Standards in two consecutive reviews.

Ranking closely behind them are Goodstart Early Learning Grafton, Arthur Street Children’s Centre and Blinky’s Children Centre.

The top centres reveal what helps them to do so well.

Uniting Preschool Grafton

Jack Connor at Uniting Preschool Grafton rides on a saddle as part of his learning journey.

The centre turned 60 last year and has a strong generational link with the local community. Director Neil Gorring is in his sixth year with staff continuity reaching up to 15 years for one staff member, and three others exceeding ten years with the centre.

There is a strong focus on visibility within the community which provides an optimal transition to primary school.

The central location creates easy access for excursions such as to the markets, supermarkets and Whiddon aged care where pre-Covid, the students visited the residents monthly to sing songs, present stories and sit and talk.

“Our points of difference are that we I can see quality practice and see how we can adopt that,” Mr Gorring said.

“We always think about how to create real opportunities and experiences for the children.”

That includes investing a lot in connection to Bundjalung culture and the Ninganah language program to build cultural competence and awareness.

Mia and Mikayla Anderson feeding the worms in the Uniting Preschool Grafton worm farm.

Blinky’s Children’s Centre

Director Danielle Sharman has been with the centre for the last nine years and runs it with her sister Dee Sharman. The long service of staff is an important factor in their success and they have one staff member that has been with them for over 15 years. .

“Our children know our educators, our rosters don’t change so they know who is going to greet them in the morning and say goodbye in the afternoon,” Danielle Sharman said.

“Happy children, happy staff, happy families is all that matters.”

Early childhood educator Dee Sharman and Blinky's Children's Centre Director and sister Danielle Sharman attribute staff retention and routine to their success.

Ms Sharman said apart from being run by sisters and loyal staff, community focus is a large part of the program.

They participate in National Dye Hair for Drought Day, are currently doing a book collection for Lismore library and they participate in Grafton Show every year and recently won the art display category.

Connor Rowles getting real life experience at Blinky's childcare, one of Grafton's top performing centres.

Nurture One Arthur Street Children’s Centre

Another top performer in Grafton is Nurture One. Centre Manager Sarah Tobin places a strong focus on partnerships with families.

“We truly value the importance of strong partnerships in meeting each individual child’s needs and respecting each family as unique,” Ms Tobin said.

“Our unique spaces allow children to explore with large rooms and separate areas for age appropriate learning, and we pride ourselves on developing strong connections where each family is respected as unique.”

The centre’s focus means that families can trust the service delivery. She added the centre is committed to ongoing improvement with a focus on staff training and development as well as applying contemporary learning and practices.