The Yellow Cottage, Scone Grammar School, receives Excellent Rating from ACECQA

Freya Lucas

Nov 27, 2020

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The Yellow Cottage, Scone Grammar School (SGS) Preschool, has been awarded an Excellent Rating by ACECQA (Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority) – one of only 43 services across Australia which hold this Excellent Rating.

One highlight of the service is the work Director Kirsty Hails undertook with Professor Lea Waters to create the Strength Stars Framework – a model for Early Childhood Educators in the Upper Hunter Community, throughout Australia, and possibly beyond.

The model shows educators how to work with children to learn about character strengths, understanding their own top strengths and those of people around them.

“This commitment to building well-being from an early age contributes significantly to learning in childhood and throughout life,” the school said.

“We are grateful to Where There’s A Will for providing and inspiring well-being training opportunities and to ACECQA for their commitment to recognizing this standard of work throughout Early Childhood Education,” SGS principal Paul Smart added.

Ms Hails “leads a dynamic team of educators who each have a passion for early childhood education. More than that though, they nurture each child in their care, engaging them in meaningful learning from this early age. They do this in so many ways.”

Connection to service in the wider community, part of the Christian ethos of the school, is an additional dimension of the work undertaken by Ms Hails and her team, which may have contributed to the Excellence rating.

“It is wonderful to see this recognition of the hard and innovative work, the passion and the commitment that Kirsty and her team have given to The Yellow Cottage Preschool’s education of the young people in our community,” Mr Smart said in closing.

For more information about The Yellow Cottage at SGS, please see here.

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