Media Release: MA's Shell Cove childcare centre achieves highest possible accreditation

Mission Australia’s Shell Cove Early Learning Service (ELS) childcare centre has received a ‘high quality’ accreditation ranking – the highest possible – by the National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC).

The accreditation is the national standard that defines the quality of child care.

The centre was tested in 33 principle areas within seven quality categories. They included: staff relationships with children and peers, partnerships with families, programming and evaluation, children’s experiences and learning, protective care and safety, health, nutrition and wellbeing and managing to support quality.

Mission Australia’s Shell Cove ELS achieved ‘high quality’ in every category.

Shell Cove Centre Director Carissa Roberts says: “Mission Australia’s ELS has worked hard to enhance the quality and care provided for children in our Shell Cove long day care centre since taking over from ABC Learning in mid-2009.

“Achieving the ‘high quality’ ranking reflects the work we have put in to ensuring that we are offering not only the best possible care for the children at our centre, but also the best possible environment in which they can develop and learn.
“We are very proud of this achievement.”

Ms Roberts says that, on top of the high quality ranking, there are other exciting developments in store for the centre.

"Over the coming months there will be even more enhancements at our Shell Cove ELS, one of which will be the renovation of our outdoor learning area – made possible by a generous donation from the Abbott Foundation.

“We are currently collecting input from families and the community regarding the renovation before the upgrade takes place over the coming months.

“In addition, after receiving a $400 grant from NSW Health as part of its ‘Munch and Move’ program, we are about to improve and increase our vegetable patch. Expanding our vegetable patch will extend this already popular component of our centre.

“The children just love the hands-on involvement in nurturing and cultivating the produce – which is then used in the daily preparation of the children’s meals.”

Mission Australia’s Shell Cove ELS has an enrolment of 360 children per week and its occupancy rate is 76 per cent. For more information about Mission Australia Early Learning Service, visit: www.missionaustralia.com.au/early-learning-services.

Media contact: Sally Popplestone, mob: 0415 547 626

MA Early Learning Centres celebrate Australia Day

Children and staff at Mission Australia’s Early Learning Services (MAELS) centres have been celebrating Australia Day through song, flag-inspired clothes, Dreamtime stories and traditional tucker.

In Melbourne, our Cranbourne East and Eumemmerring centres explored Aboriginal culture and heritage through stories and “hand painting”. Children also dressed in green and gold and played Aussie games. At our Doveton centre, children enjoyed a special Australia Day afternoon tea with their families and staff.

Our three MAELS centres in Adelaide joined in the fun the day before Australia Day. At Redwood Park children made powder paint hand prints and Aussie T-shirts with fabric paint. The menu took on an Aussie flavour, with damper, a sausage sizzle and lamingtons.

Children at our Elizabeth Vale centre came dressed in the colours of the Australian and Aboriginal flags and later made their own flags for outdoor display. Lunch was a picnic of Vegemite sandwiches and pavlova.

At our Osborne centre, children make lamingtons and Vegemite sandwiches for afternoon tea, and teamed up to create a large Australian flag from newspaper and natural beach materials. Preschoolers learned Australian songs and painted bark; toddlers watched a short DVD about a corroboree, while the nursery children helped staff decorate their room with Australian and Aboriginal flags.

Children and staff at our Mannering Park centre, on the southern shores of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, donned yellow, green and “Aussie-themed” clothes as part of their Australia Day activities and also enjoyed painting flags and bark.

Further down the NSW coast, our MAELS Shell Cove centre community last week hosted an Australia Day bake stall to raise funds for people affected by the Queensland floods. Children, who were dressed in red, white and blue, participated in Australian music craft and story activities and enjoyed lamingtons for afternoon tea.

These celebrations demonstrate Mission Australia’s Early Learning Services’ inclusive and family-focused approach to childcare, and highlight our belief that children and families play a unique role in Australian communities.

Shell Cove MAELS staff help out western families at Christmas

Staff and families at Mission Australia’s Early Learning Service (MAELS) centre at Shell Cove, NSW, have opened their hearts to children in the state’s central west by contributing presents to a giving tree.

Centre Director Carissa Roberts said she was overwhelmed by the generous response to the “giving tree” Christmas Appeal, which will help families who access our Cootamundra OOSH (Out of School Hours) program.

For the past six years this program has catered for local families who have to travel up to an hour away to work as the result of the region’s long-lasting drought. In the past 12 months alone the Cootamundra OOSH program has worked with 202 families.

The Shell Cove MAELS team set up its “giving tree” in the centre’s foyer. In recent weeks generous staff and local families have taken gift tags from the tree marked with the names of boys or girls and bought appropriate presents to place under it.

On Monday these gifts were passed on to Bill Dibley, Southern NSW/ACT Community Services Operations Manager, and Cheryl O’Donnell, the OOSH Service Manager, to give to families who access the Cootamundra after-school care program.

Makeovers for our Early Learning Services forts

Play equipment at the 13 Mission Australia Early Learning Services (MAELS) throughout New South Wales have been creatively spruced up as part of a statewide fort makeover competition.

The idea was to turn a plain piece of standard play equipment into something that would inspire creative play.

Mannering Park ELS, in the Lake Macquarie area, won the competition thanks to the five dedicated staff members who came in over the weekend to paint the existing fort. They also added a variety of materials that would engage a child’s senses, such as glittering crystals, coloured sun-catchers in the shape of butterflies, beaded bamboo curtains, fluttering materials, tinkling wind chimes and noisy pots and pans.

The children played their part by creating bark paintings that were attached to the fort, as well as adding craft made from natural materials. MAELS centres are in the process of replacing artificial features with more naturalistic materials, including recycled materials.

MAELS centres in Cooranbong, also in Lake Macquarie, and Kurri Kurri in the nearby Hunter, should also be congratulated for their outstanding efforts.

The other MAELS centres in New South Wales include Beresfield, Stockton, Tanilba Bay and Mount Hutton in the Hunter; Bateau Bay, Woodbury Park, Cooranbong and Tumbi Umbi on the Central Coast; Horningsea Park in Sydney, and Corrimal and Shell Cove in the Illawarra region.

Mission Australia Early Learning opens it's doors in Shell Cove

Mission Australia threw open it doors to local families at its Shell Cove Early Learning Service on Sunday to celebrate the launch of the new centre.

Families enjoyed a BBQ and children’s entertainment including storytelling, face-painting and pony rides.

New enrolments taken on the day have gone into the draw for a free skydive by Sky Dive on the Beach (Wollongong) in October.

Mission Australia’s spokesperson, Ben Williams, said Mission Australia had a long and successful history caring for children and providing not-for-profit early learning.

“We plan on making a significant contribution to early learning in the Wollongong and Shellharbour areas having taken on the former ABC Learning centre in Shell Cove,” said Ben.

“Currently we assist hundreds of children and their families through early childhood support services. We’ll be drawing on all of that experience and knowledge at Shell Cove."

As a not-for-profit provider, Mission Australia's early learning services have a very different structure and approach to the previous owner, ABC Learning, noted Mr Williams.

“Because we’re a not-for-profit organisation, any surpluses generated from Mission Australia’s centres are returned straight back into the services to deliver better outcomes for children.

“The bottom line for us is we’re here to provide high quality early learning and care and to make a long-term difference. We run our services for the benefit of children, families and the community – not shareholders.

“The local Shell Cove community has really embraced the notion of a not-for-profit like Mission Australia taking over the management of this centre and we’re looking to repay their faith by providing a fantastic service to support children and families,” said Ben.

Tiger Putt Putt, Country Kitchen Café, Photo House Kiama, Play Days, Tangs Restaurant Shellharbour Village, Bakers Delight Wollongong, Play Maze and Donut King all made prize donations for the open day.

Advantage U Tennis Coaching also conducted tennis demonstrations for the children.

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More information for parents:

• Parents interested in enrolling their children in Mission Australia Early Learning at Shell Cove can contact the centre on 02 4297 6922, or visit the site webpage for more information - click here.
  
• To download the Parent's Handbook, click here.
• For more information please visit Mission Australia Early Learning Services online - click here.