Equal state winner in New South Wales, Goodstart Early Learning Port Macquarie is a regional service delivering consistently great results, with a 2022 KindiCare Rating of 9.9 and an Exceeding Rating from ACECQA.

This impressive service, under the careful leadership of centre director Rebecca Webb is focused on continuous improvement and was rated as exceeding in all 7 quality areas in its assessment in May 2022. Rebecca said her team were thrilled to be part of this year’s Kindicare Awards, and she attributes the centre’s ongoing success to the stability of the team of educators. “Our long-standing team team is focused on, and passionate about, developing secure, connected relationships with children and families. We see this practice as being the foundation of the work that we do at the centre. From the moment a family tours our centre, we develop relationships with the family and the child.” At Goodstart Port Macquarie children are assigned to a ‘key educator’, who is identified during the initial orientation sessions between families and the service. “This educator is particularly attuned and responsive to a small group of children and their family’s needs. This ensures each family has a ‘someone’ that they can connect with, who knows specifically about their child and their child’s experiences in the centre,” said Rebecca. Goodstart Port Macquarie is located in a very culturally diverse part of the Mid North-Coast of NSW and Rebecca says inclusion is a central component of the service’s operating ethos, for staff, children and families. “We are very committed to inclusion within the service. We believe that every child should benefit from high quality education and care, and we work closely with NSW inclusion agency and our Goodstart inclusion team to ensure that the children who attend our service feel a true sense of equity, inclusion and belonging.” “We also have a diverse team of educators who bring varied experiences to our service, with many of our educators being bilingual, they share their culture with the children and the team.” Educational outcomes are also important and 3–5-year-old children are assessed against early education scales known as the ECERS – E and SSTEW to ensure they are reaching their learning goals. “The use of these documents goes above and beyond current standards and is used to complement EYLF and NQS expectations,” said Rebecca. Rebecca and her team receive glowing reviews and she says this is down to the strong relationships the team at Goodstart Port Macquarie build with families. “Our families are our primary partners in their child’s early learning journey and we seek out their input and engagement every step of the way.” “Our families know we are here to support them. We collaborate with our families to seek out the support they require in ways that are meaningful to each family.”