Every Gold Coast childcare centre ranked: A Head Start Currumbin Waters ranked best in Queensland

Gold Coast childcare centres have been pitted against each other in a comprehensive new app. SEE HOW YOUR CHILDCARE CENTRE FARED.

A privately-owned childcare centre in Currumbin Waters has been ranked the best in Queensland and third in Australia at the inaugural KindiCare Excellence Awards.

A Head Start Children’s Centre scored a 9.84 out of 10 rating, coming third nationally to two centres in New South Wales and Victoria who scored 10.00 and 9.89, respectively, on the KindiCare app.

SEE EVERY CHILDCARE CENTRE RANKED BELOW

The app’s rating system compared more than 16,400 providers and made its decision based on many factors including government audits and family feedback.

A Head Start Children’s Centre Currumbin Waters director Renee Haig-Greenwood with staff member Chelsea and children they care for. Picture: Glenn Hampson

It’s also been recognised by Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) for exceeding in all seven quality areas of the National Quality Framework.

A Head Start Children’s Centre owner and founder Laurel Scanlan said there were three distinct signs parents and families should look for when assessing a service.

“These all have to do with its people, the physical environment and the processes which are integral to delivering a quality service,” she said.

A Head Start director Renee Haig-Greenwood celebrates the centre’s success with some of the children in her care

“Many of our team members at A Head Start have been at the centre for more than ten years, which is special, considering that the childcare industry is known for a high staff turnover. We are like a family.”

Renee Haig-Greenwood, director of A Head Start in Currumbin Waters, has been a part of the team for 14 years and at the helm for three.

“When educators are happy in their working environment, they love their job, and are passionate about and resourceful in delivering quality education and care to our children,” she said.

“The fact we’re only small, with 100 families and 60 children per day, means we get to know every single family member and have a real sense of community.”

A Head Start director Renee Haig-Greenwood (third from left) with some of her team of early childhood educators who have contributed to the centre’s success: Alison, Natalie, Chelsea, Sabrina and Jay.

Ms Scanlan said the best childcare centres were nurturing, loving and homely, with a strong focus on play-based learning, natural environments and connecting with the community.

“Our outdoor area features plenty of shady areas, a native rainforest, a creek where the children can pump water, swings, a bike track, a covered sandpit with kitchen, and an abundance of natural resources,” he said.

Importantly, Ms Scanlan said A Head Start had developed and used its early learning system, Kindybook, since 2007, helping the centre to exceed in all seven quality areas of ACECQA’s National Quality Standard.

A Head Start Children’s Centre Currumbin Waters has been named best in state by the KindiCare app.

“It saves us so much administration time and helps us to keep our main focus on the children and improving our own service,” Ms Haig-Greenwood said.

Ms Scanlan said in addition to providing early learning services in Currumbin and Burleigh, the business offered nationally recognised Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) training to students across Queensland and specialist childcare recruitment services through.

“We founded Amazing Education and Training for high quality training and Amazing Recruit to service quality staff to the ECEC industry,” she said.

Children who attend A Head Start Children’s Centre in Currumbin Waters.

“We want to enhance outcomes for everyone involved in the industry, from children and educators through to directors.”

The KindiCare app is an online marketplace where users can find and compare more than 16,400 childcare services. This is supported by a unique rating system which combines government audits with families’ feedback.

All top ten centres in Queensland, as rated by KindiCare app, are privately owned and members of the Australian Childcare Alliance, the state’s peak body for the early learning sector.

Children enjoying the bongo drums.

Founder and CEO of KindiCare Benjamin Balk said the app delivered the market a simple to understand numerical rating that makes it easy to research and compare childcare services in their local area, just like they would do if they were researching a hotel.

"The Gold Coast performed really well compared to other regional areas of Australia. One of the reasons is that some of the largest childcare providers and businesses in the childcare sector are located in South East Queensland," he said.

"In the 2021 KindiCare Awards, three of the state finalists were all located in the Gold Coast Region."

$17M INVESTMENT IN COAST'S CHILDCARE SECTOR 

November 22, 2022

HARMONY Early Learning is investing close to $17m to build early learning centres in Broadbeach Waters and Burleigh, both are due to open in 2022.

The $6.93m Broadbeach Waters centre at 9-11 Sunshine Boulevard is due to open in June and will cater for up to 77 children. It will be developed by a related party of Harmony, Broadbeach Childcare Developments Pty Ltd.

The $9.8m Burleigh Heads centre, located at 1858-1860 Gold Coast Highway, is being developed by a Brisbane-based investor. It will offer 111 childcare places and is expected to be open in November.

The new Harmony centre in Burleigh Heads will include: State-of-the-art facilities that are architecturally designed to fit the location and community that they inhabit.

Harmony chief executive Peter Warner said he was excited to offer premium childcare services to the southern end of the Gold Coast, with a centre in Hope Island the only other Gold Coast offering.

“Like all other Harmony centres, the new centres will have sustainable teaching at the forefront by offering active exploration and purposeful play within natural and built spaces, and with the choice of materials and resources,” he said.

There will be a commercial-grade kitchens to prepare meals onsite and outdoor green spaces to “stimulate positive health outcomes, including stress management and improved mental health”.

The new Harmony centre in Burleigh Heads will include: State-of-the-art facilities that are architecturally designed to fit the location and community that they inhabit.

To help ease congestion and facilitate ease of drop-off and pick up, there’ll be on site parking and internal elevators.

Mr Warner said underpinning Harmony’s approach to learning was an evidence-based early learning curriculum, the Active Early Learning study.

“Completed over two years with over $2m invested, the curriculum is proven to provide children with the essential skills needed for their first year of school,” he said.

Harmony has 10 centres across south east Queensland and northern NSW.

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