Excellence Awards - aged care 2025
Meet the outstanding achievers in aged care recognised by the 2025 HESTA Excellence Awards.
Advancing Pedagogy & Practice
Individual Leadership
- Megan Dodds KU Children’s Services
- Larissa Hayes Monash Vale Early Learning Centre
Outstanding Service
- Barrack Heights Community Preschool - Big Fat Smile
- Gilgandra Preschool Incorporated
- Gowrie Docklands Kindergarten
Read the media release
Advancing Pedagogy & Practice
C&K Ascot Community Kindergarten
Ascot, QLD
C&K Ascot is recognised for its "Proud to Be Me" initiative, which fosters inclusivity by empowering children aged 3-5 to express their authentic selves, build emotional awareness, and respect diversity.
Their inclusive approach integrates identity affirmation, emotional literacy, and community building, supported by a collaborative team valuing diverse perspectives.
Initiatives like the "Proud to Be Me" wall and inclusive play materials encourage critical thinking and agency. The kindergarten’s commitment to inclusivity extends to children, families, and staff, creating a nurturing environment where every voice is valued.
Families report stronger connections, and educators model authenticity, fostering teachable moments.
Through partnerships with Equal Space and reflective practices, C&K Ascot promotes sustainable inclusivity, reshaping early education with a focus on belonging, self-expression, and thriving in an empowered, connected community.
East West Childcare Association
Fitzroy, VIC
The team at East West Childcare Association (EW) is recognised for their innovative Out-and-About Kinder program, launched in 2017 to expand learning into the local community.
Capturing EW’s commitment to authentic relationships and a multi-age model, this program immerses children in urban environments as active citizens, fostering independence, curiosity, and connection to place.
Drawing on Reggio Emilia principles, Indigenous ways of learning with Country, and bush and beach kindergarten practices, Out-and-About reimagines kindergarten by transforming the city into a dynamic learning landscape.
Children engage deeply with their community, spending whole days exploring local landmarks and developing inquiry-based skills.
Out-and-About Kinder builds upon EW's multi-age model, reframing early years education not just as preparation for school, but as a democratic, connected, and place-responsive ecosystem in which children are seen, heard, and valued as active participants in the world around them.
Salamander Early Education
Salamander Bay, NSW
Salamander Early Education is recognised for its innovative Kindness Curriculum, embedding the mantra “kind thoughts, kind words and kind actions” across all age groups, educators, families, and the community.
The curriculum fosters lifelong dispositions like empathy, resilience, and gratitude while addressing social-emotional challenges and educator wellbeing.
Inspired and supported by the centre’s ongoing partnership with trauma-informed psychologist Phil Bird, it provides a unifying, inclusive framework supporting all children, including those with trauma-related needs.
Initiatives like the Community Kindness Squad, environmental projects, and intergenerational programs promote sustainability, community connections, and active citizenship.
Educators benefit from structural supports, reflective tools, and bi-monthly joy-building events, enhancing their creativity and purpose.
The curriculum has transformed pedagogy, fostering confident, compassionate learners and empowered educators, with measurable impacts extending into schools and the broader community.
Individual Leadership
Megan Dodds
KU Children’s Services, East Corrimal, NSW
Megan is recognised for her visionary leadership in early childhood education, blending attachment theory, contemporary pedagogies, and community collaboration to transform practice.
With over 30 years of experience, she integrates frameworks like Circle of Security® (CoS) and Marte Meo® to foster emotionally attuned, inclusive learning environments.
Megan empowers educators to embrace behavioural challenges as opportunities for connection, equipping them with tools to support children’s self-regulation and emotional resilience.
She introduced the initiative Playspaces®, a concept built on CoS principles to ensure emotionally secure transitions to primary school, resulting in a significant positive culture shift in the primary classroom environment.
As a mentor and innovator, she builds cohesive teams, prioritises reflective practice, and drives meaningful change, creating a lasting influence within her service and the broader early childhood education community.
Larissa Hayes
Monash Vale Early Learning Centre, Clayton, VIC
Larissa is recognised for her exceptional leadership in early childhood education, particularly in embedding First Nations perspectives into teaching practices.
As 4-Year-Old Kindergarten teacher, Cultural Inclusion Coordinator and Child Safe Champion, she has built strong relationships with the Boonwurrung community, collaborating with cultural leaders like Aunty Faye Stewart-Muir OAM and Jaeden Williams.
Larissa’s initiatives include co-developing the Yulendj curriculum framework, leading the creation of a children’s book with Biik Bundjil, and guiding the development of a Reconciliation Action Plan.
She has transformed her team’s understanding of cultural safety through workshops, community engagement, and resource-building. Her efforts have resulted in measurable impacts, such as increased child engagement and educator confidence.
Larissa’s innovative, community-led approach serves as a model for embedding culturally inclusive practices in early education services.
Outstanding Service
Barrack Heights Community Preschool - Big Fat Smile
Barrack Heights, NSW
Barrack Heights Community Preschool is recognised for its approach to early childhood education, prioritising trauma-informed care, secure relationships, and providing tailored support for vulnerable children and families.
Part of Big Fat Smile, the preschool fosters emotional safety, social growth, and family connection for children aged from birth to six years.
Recognising the importance of nutrition for a child's brain, cognitive development, and behaviour, the team enhanced meal offerings with larger, more nourishing portions. They also introduced a dedicated dining room to foster a sense of community, safety, and belonging. Additionally, a chicken coop provides children with daily opportunities to practice responsibility and empathy.
The preschool's success is shown through better staff retention and improved child outcomes. By training educators in trauma-informed care, they created a stable, consistent environment to support vulnerable families and share their effective practices locally and nationally.
Gilgandra Preschool Incorporated
Gilgandra, NSW
Gilgandra Preschool Incorporated is recognised for its innovative, inclusive approach to early childhood education in rural NSW.
Providing fully subsidised fees, transport initiatives, early intervention, cultural responsiveness, and onsite therapy, the preschool ensures equitable access for children aged 3 to school age. It prioritises support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, those with disabilities or learning difficulties, and children from disadvantaged or remote communities.
The service employs qualified staff and partners with specialists like Occupational Therapists and Speech Pathologists to oversee program development and refinement.
Initiatives like Bush Preschool promote resilience and emotional wellbeing, while the daily use of the Wiradjuri language and relationships with involvement of Elders ensures cultural connection and pride, particularly for Aboriginal children.
The preschool’s holistic model has led to measurable improvements in developmental, social-emotional, and cognitive outcomes.
Gilgandra Preschool’s innovative approach ensures children from rural and remote areas thrive, with strong pathways to health, learning, and lifelong wellbeing.
Gowrie Docklands Kindergarten
Docklands, VIC
Co-located within Docklands Primary School, Gowrie Docklands Kindergarten (GDK) is recognised for its inclusive programs supporting migrant children and families new to Australia.
Educating 150 children weekly, 95% from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) background families, GDK fosters belonging through home language integration, cultural celebrations, and initiatives like Chai Club, where families are invited to connect over a chai after morning drop off.
The kindergarten addresses barriers to support services by hosting onsite Maternal Child Health checks and finding alternative support pathways for families needing help accessing NDIS and other Allied Health supports.
Community initiatives such as a clothes swap and free book program further support families. GDK creates a nurturing environment where children thrive in their early learning journey while helping families build a sense of community and access essential services.
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