Three Mornington Peninsula childcare centres named as best in region
Three kindergartens in the Mornington Peninsula have ranked as some of the best childcare centres in the state, scoring in the top three per cent of kindies. Find out where your kinder ranks.
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Adventurous learning, holistic childcare and a play-based approach have set three kindergartens on the Mornington Peninsula among the state’s best.
Penbank Early Learning Centre, Toorak College Preschool and Capel Sounds Educational Child Care Centre came in equal first place in the region, ranking with one of the state’s highest ratings for environment, culture and curriculum.
The three centres ranked at 9.7 in the KindiCare Quality Index – placing them in the top 3 per cent in Victoria.
The index rated 17,680 childcare services across Australia and was based on the results of official government inspections, as well as online reviews.
The Toorak College Preschool – located on Williams Rd in Mount Eliza – follows the same learning philosophy as the Mildura Early Learning Centre, which also ranked highly in the index.
Inspired by 19th century Italy, both centres use the Reggio Emilia learning philosophy, giving children agency in their learning.
In this philosophy, teachers are considered collaborators, rather than just instructors.
The philosophy — which can be traced back to 1860 in Reggio Emilia in Northern Italy — also coined the term “100 languages of children”, recognising that students have many ways of engaging with their environment and obstacles.
Toorak College Preschool also offers specialist classes in creative arts, STEM, health and wellbeing, language and cultural appreciation and performing arts, run by specialist teachers every week.
The top three kindergartens were one of 11 in the region to be given “outstanding” status.
Mornington Peninsula’s highest rated kindergartens
Penbank Early Learning Centre — 9.7
Toorak College Preschool — 9.7
Capel Sounds Education Child Care Centre — 9.7
Bentons Square Kindergarten — 9.6
Balnarring Preschool — 9.5
Wallaroo Community Centre — 9.5
Leslie Moorhead Preschool Centre — 9.5
The Peninsula School Kindergarten — 9.5
Mount Martha Kindergarten — 9.5
Sparrow Early Learning Somerville — 9.5
