Ranked: Geelong and Surf Coast’s childcare centres and kindergartens rated out of 10

Geelong’s best childcare centre has been crowned, with the latest ratings data revealing the Belmont facility has also broken into the top 20 centres across the Australia. SEARCH THE LIST

Geelong’s best childcare centre has been crowned, with the latest ratings data revealing the Belmont facility has also broken into the top 20 centres across the Australia.

Play Child Care and Kindergarten in Belmont has been ranked the best centre out of the Geelong and Surf Coast region’s 219 listed facilities by childcare app Kindicare – which bases it’s ratings from official Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) assessments along with online reviews and parent ratings.

The Roslyn Road facility – which is ranked the 18th best in Australia – is one of 17 childcare centres in the region to receive an ‘excellent’ rating, with centre owner Nikki Corbet attributing much of their success to a group of dedicated educators.

“We stay true to our philosophy, where we’ve got a common goal we all work towards, and that is to just create a really high quality early learning environment, and prioritising not only children and families, but also our staff and our educators,” Ms Corbet said.

Play CC&K owner Nikki Corbet and Margarita. Picture: Alison Wynd

“Being able to retain educators is a strength of ours, because they’re valued. And not only valued, but obviously seeing the value of their work which is literally shaping the future.

“The little young children we’re working with, if they get good high quality early childhood education, then their futures are much brighter.”

Ms Corbet said the facility had a focus on a “play based approach” to education, as well as “lots of interaction with the natural environment and the outdoors, and a connection with our community”.

While just five Victorian childcare centres have a current official ‘excellent’ rating from ACECQA – out of just 37 across the country – Ms Corbet said Play CC&K’s rating of ‘Exceeding National Quality Standard’ in all seven quality areas has allowed it to apply for the rating – which is the highest achievable under the National Quality Framework.

Originally published as Ranked: Geelong and Surf Coast’s childcare centres and kindergartens rated out of 10