Kingston on top at national early learning awards

Published on 17 December 2024

The development of a training package to support the safety and autonomy of children has seen Kingston pick up the Early Learning Association of Australia’s Organisation Innovation Award.

The national recognition is a testament to the vision, passion and professionalism of Charlotte Hood and Gina Courtney from our Edithvale Family Children’s Centre, who created the package, which provides practical tools and training sessions for educators and is now being shared across the sector to help other services build similar approaches.

It was introduced to complement existing child safety standards and body safety programs. To strengthen the foundation of the package, the team partnered with the Institute of Child Protection Studies (ICPS) at Australian Catholic University. This collaboration helped refine the resources and training to align with current research.

Kingston Mayor Georgina Oxley congratulated Charlotte, Gina, and their team for their vision and hard work.

“Protecting, supporting and empowering our children and young people is so important and something we pride ourselves on in Kingston and this package is now set to make a real difference in early childhood settings across the country,” Cr Oxley said.

“This is a brilliant example of delivering meaningful outcomes in a caring and thoughtful way.”

Charlotte and Gina are now set to present next year at the Child Australia Early Childhood Learning and Development Conference in Perth.

To read more about the awards visit elaa.org.au/early-childhood-awards-2024.

Kingston has a great range of education, care, and play-based childcare to suit children from birth to five years of age. To find out more head to kingston.vic.gov.au/services/families-and-children/childcare-and-early-learning.