Celebrations for Goodstart Clayton, the 3rd Goodstart service to be rated as Excellent

Goodstart Early Learning Clayton has become the 36th service in Australia to be rated as Excellent by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA). 

“Achieving excellence means so much for the Goodstart Clayton team,” Director Kashmira (Kash) Naushad Bhathena said.

“It was a huge achievement for us and the award was the result of hard work and dedication.”

The centre has built a reputation for going above and beyond, supporting children and families in early learning but also demonstrating extraordinary community spirit and “wrapping around” families when times are tough.

Ms Naushad Bhathena said being recognised by ACECQA for their practice has empowered the team and boosted their confidence. 

“The journey does not stop here,” she added. “We will continue to search for growth, learning opportunities to advocate for our children, families, the wider community and our sector to achieve best outcomes for all.” 

Deep cultural connections are a hallmark of practice for the service, which has used its strong and close knit community network to create “an inclusive and passionate family, which has far-reaching benefits”.

The centre was also recognised for the strength-based approach it applies to team members and children.

The expertise of children and educators is “embraced and celebrated” wherever possible, with educators taking on various “champion” roles at the service according to their passion and expertise. 

“This empowerment has led to centre-wide growth and expanded the capabilities and confidence of everyone in the centre beyond what we imagined,” Ms Naushad Bhathena said. 

Goodstart Early Learning CEO Julia Davison said she was incredibly proud of the team, describing the announcement as “a wonderful recognition of Goodstart Clayton, the children who attend and the families who are supporting them. They are benefitting from a centre that is not just exceeding in all seven quality areas – but from an extraordinary team.”

In commenting on the Award from a provider perspective, Goodstart acknowledged the ongoing support from the Victorian Government, with initiatives such as school readiness funding, Early Start kinder, free kinder, and funding for educational qualifications through which the government is helping to build higher quality in the early learning sector.

Learn more about the Excellent rating here. Information about Goodstart Clayton may be found here.