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Outside School Hours Care
Quality
Warrawee Care Centre celebrates Excellent rating
Freya Lucas
Nov 24, 2023
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Warrawee Care Centre, an outside school hours care (OSHC) service in New South Wales, has been awarded the Excellent rating by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), the highest rating a service can achieve under the National Quality Framework.
The service was recognised for its inclusive partnerships with children and families, its positive workplace culture, sustained commitment to professional development and its practice and environments that enhance children’s learning and growth.Kid Committee
One of the highlights noted by the Authorised Officer was the establishment of a Kids Committee, in which students in their final years of Primary School actively participate in service decisions and event planning.
The Committee meets weekly, capturing their discussions in a Floorbook, and is also involved in hiring new educators, and evaluating candidates based on their interactions with older children during sports sessions.
The Kid Committee is also proactive in fundraising for causes which are important to the children and the school community including koala preservation.
Outdoor focus
The service modified its Forest Play Program to recognise the importance of children connecting to nature in a post COVID-19 world, with mindfulness now an important part of the program, helping to ease children into a calm state, enabling them to immerse in the natural learning experiences. Additionally, Night Forest Play was also introduced and extended the learning into the evening, incorporating fire experiences and enhancing peer collaboration and curiosity-driven learning.
The service’s leadership and advocacy for outside school hours care at local, state and national levels, including their leadership in play-based outdoor education. The nominated supervisor actively provides leadership and training experiences to external education and care teachers and educators, emphasising the significance of children engaging with nature through nature pedagogy.
Healthy eating
Warrawee Care Centre created a vegetable exposure program by including a simple vegetable plate into the buffet-style afternoon teas. The educators initially trialled the program on themselves, before introducing it to the children.
While observing children’s reactions, educators allow them to explore vegetables at their own pace, fostering gradual acceptance. Each afternoon, a specific vegetable is a feature, and educators are encouraged to sit and eat the vegetables with the children. This approach, coupled with fresh dips, based on family feedback, has led to positive responses and the integration of vegetables into the daily routine.
To learn more about Warrawee Care Centre see here. Information about the Excellent rating is available here.
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