Member in the Spotlight: Everton Park Child Care & Development Centre

Receiving the accolade of ACECQA rating ‘Excellent’ is a laudable triumph, and the passionate team at Everton Park Child Care & Development Centre are one of only four services Australia-wide to achieve this three times in a row!

Two humble and insightful men, Owner Con Clifford, and Centre Director Jon Webb, lead an engaged and cohesive team of educators. Opening their service on Saturday 19 November 2022, ECEC colleagues were invited to visit the service, play in the space, experience the setting, and be engrossed in the service philosophy. The morning was spent absorbing the learning spaces, indoors and out. The Educators shared their stories of children’s participation in the program, of family engagement, and how embedding critical reflection was engrained holistically across the centre.

platforms high in the tree. A perfect lookout for a pirate, or a lazy spot to lay in the sun when the world below was too consuming. Jon took the time to discuss the benefits, expectations and parameters of risky play offered at Everton Park Child Care & Development Centre. He was purposeful in outlining the shared journey that educators and children go on throughout a year, where children are afforded opportunities to assess risk for themselves. The children experiment in safe space, understanding the boundaries both for themselves and others.

Meanwhile, a group of educators inside the kindergarten class observed a beautiful document aligning the QKLG, EYLF and indigenous ways of learning. Con explained that Natalie (Educator for Indigenous Learning) had developed it. He shared then how the children and Natalie had painted the outdoor dining table collaboratively. Jon added that the story told in the indigenous painting was about the children coming together in groups, learning, and growing, and then leaving with that knowledge. Poignant as those little artists graduate Kindy and head off to school!

any particular tree in the garden was planted and the names of the children who helped. As an owner Con facilitates a space where a culture of learning through play evolves intrinsically not just for children, but the adults too. This isn’t just a job, it’s not just what they ‘do’, but it truly is who they are!

ACECQA got it right! This centre is Excellent, and what makes it Excellent are the practices that occur every day, naturally and deeply embedded in the educators, parents, children, environment, and philosophy.

Congratulations Everton Park Child Care & Development Centre on your very deserved accolades and thank you for sharing the experiences of your service with the sector.

The wonderment could be seen in the eyes of the visiting ECEC educators as they wandered through the chook pen, past the vegie garden, to the tall jacaranda where pallets and ropes created

The setting cares for 80 children daily, in four classrooms of children aged 15 month and older. It feels like home, a sentiment shared by the families enrolled at the service. Most profound, and to their credit, was not the incredible outdoors, or the homely indoor facilities, but the passion. Every educator on the team has a sense of autonomy and ownership over the space, and Jon can tell you stories of the day