Headstart Knoxfield celebrates Exceeding achievement

G8 Education operated early childhood service Headstart Knoxfield has recently been named as Exceeding the National Quality Standard during a recent assessment and rating visit. 

The service is particularly proud of now being the only long day care service in the area east of Melbourne at the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges to secure the Exceeding classification. 

“This is an incredible achievement and a testament to our wonderful, longstanding team here at Knoxfield,’’ said Centre Manager Shaira Bardien.

The latest assessment found Knoxfield exceeded national standards in the key quality areas of educational program and practice, staffing arrangements, relationships with children and collaborative partnerships with families and communities.

“We have some teachers and educators who have worked at the service for 15-30 years and to be able to highlight their practices in such a significant way has been wonderful,’’ Ms Bardien said.

“Our families and the extended community in Knoxfield have supported us and helped shape us into the service we have grown into, and we will continue to work with them.’’

Catering for families in the Knoxfield, Scoresby, Wantima South and Ferntree Gully regions of Victoria, the service aims to “provide children with an educational experience that would give them a solid grounding for their primary school education and future life through its focus on language, literacy, numeracy, and social skills,” Ms Bardien noted.

Indoor spaces are designed with the child’s age and development stage in mind. Nursery spaces pay close attention to sensory exploration with various textures using elements such as water, sand, non-toxic shaving cream and glitter. 

The toddler spaces are designed to promote child-led learning, and to build on the interests of the children in the space, while the pre-kinder room focuses on self-help skills and social/emotional development and interactions. 

In the Kinder room an early childhood teacher supports the children to access a variety of school readiness activities in a detached building, which is also home to the resident kinder pet, Snowdrop, a black bunny with a white nose who goes home with a different family each weekend.

The expansive outdoor spaces feature fruit trees which provide not only produce for the service, but also share for the children while they play. 

Junior areas provide for gardening, a slide, and a climbing frame. Soft fall areas and artificial grass throughout enable children to enjoy play in a safe and regulated environment.

Three separate outdoor play spaces for nursery, junior and senior children, allow for plenty of opportunity for uninterrupted play with age-appropriate resources.

Learn more about Headstart Knoxfield here.