Goodstart secure Queensland Child Protection Week award for second year running

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) provider Goodstart Early Learning has secured a Queensland Child Protection Week Child Safe Organisation Award for the second consecutive year.

In 2023 the provider was recognised for its Safeguarding Children: Responsibilities for Nominated Supervisors program, which addressed issues caused by increased staff turnover following COVID-19 which then led to inconsistency in understanding what it meant to be child safe, something Goodstart addressed by implementing a program aimed at improving centre leaders’ knowledge and ability to lead their teams in this vital space.

In 2024, Goodstart Early Learning in collaboration with Thinka, has been recognised for its innovative mandatory training.

Goodstart CEO Dr Ros Baxter reiterated the provider’s deep commitment to being a child safe organisation. 

“We are honoured to be recognised during Child Protection Week with a Child Safe Organisation award for the second year in a row,” she said. 

“Goodstart’s top priority is to ensure that children are protected, safe, happy, and well. This award recognises that continued commitment to child safety and wellbeing”.

With the new initiative Goodstart is taking a fresh approach to safeguarding children through foundational learning, introducing a storybook and five online ‘micro-modules’, a capability self-assessment, and an individualised learning plan which addresses needs identified in the assessment phase.

The core of this program, called Safeguarding Children: Together we prevent, identify, and respond to child abuse, neglect and harm, begins with a 36-page illustrated storybook designed for adult learners, featuring 25 characters who explored various scenarios related to safeguarding children from abuse, neglect and harm.

This storybook sets the stage for the five interactive micro eLearning modules, covering the recognition and response to child safety concerns.

These modules included interview-style videos, interactive elements, and periodic quizzes to engage users and reinforce learning, on the topics of:

• being a child safe organisation,
• empowerment, participation, and cultural safety
• implementing safeguarding children requirements
• recognising indicators of child abuse, neglect harm.
• responding to child abuse, neglect and harm and supporting those who disclose harm.

The modules are supported by a dedicated resource library to support further learning, which includes various downloadable resources such as posters, learning journals, and team meeting packs, which incorporate facilitator guides and printable tools, to support the application of learned concepts in practical settings.

The blended learning solution, Goodstart’s National Lead for Safeguarding Children Sara Evans explained, is designed to address the critical topic of child safety, aligning with the national principles for child safe organisations and state-based child safe standards.

The primary goal was to enhance the mandatory training framework, engaging over 15,000 employees, or “Goodstarters” across various locations in understanding and embracing their roles in safeguarding children from abuse, neglect, and harm.

Rolled out across the Goodstart network in late 2023, through the organisation’s Learning Management System, the new initiative allowed Goodstarters to share their feedback, with 4.9 out of 5 employees rating the program highly after six weeks and nearly 4,000 responses, reflecting its effectiveness and the engaging blend of delivery methods.

This feedback, Ms Evans said, underscores the program’s success in addressing a sensitive and vital topic, demonstrating the provider’s deep commitment to child safety and setting a new benchmark for educational training programs.

It was this demonstrated commitment to child safety that drew the attention of the judges, who applauded the ongoing journey of creating a child focused culture to keep children safe and well.

The Awards will be formally presented on Thursday, 29 August ahead of Queensland Child Protection Week which begins on Father’s Day – Sunday, 1 September and runs until Saturday, 7 September.

During Child Protection Week, Goodstart also plans to generously share its Feel safe, Be safe: Protective strategies kit, with the broader ECEC community. 

Learn more about Goodstart’s protective strategies programs here. 

Queensland Child Protection Week is proudly supported by the Queensland government.