First Connections Edmondson Park Proudly Meets NQS
We’re proud to share that First Connections Edmondson Park has been formally assessed and rated as Meeting the National Quality Standard (NQS), Australia’s national benchmark for early childhood education and care.
It’s a result we’re genuinely proud of, and we wanted to take a moment to share what it means and why it matters for your family.
What is the NQS?
The National Quality Standard is a framework developed by the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) that sets the benchmark for quality across all approved childcare services in Australia. Every service is assessed and rated against the NQS and a rating of Meeting the NQS means a service has demonstrated quality across every one of its seven key areas, which is no small achievement.
Those seven areas are:
- Educational programs and practice
- Children’s health and safety
- Physical environment
- Staffing arrangements
- Relationships with children
- Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
- Governance and leadership
Assessors visit the service, observe practice, speak with educators and leaders, and review documentation, so the rating reflects real, day-to-day quality, not just what’s written in a policy document.
“Achieving an NQS rating isn’t a one-time tick-box exercise. It reflects how a service operates every single day.”
What this means for your family
For families choosing a childcare service, the NQS rating offers something valuable: an independent, objective view of how a service is actually performing. Rather than relying solely on a brochure or a first impression, it gives you confidence that the care and education your child receives has been independently verified.
It also means your child is in a place where health, safety, and wellbeing are genuinely prioritised, and where the learning that happens each day is intentional and meaningful. Research consistently shows that high-quality early childhood education has a lasting positive impact on children’s development, and the NQS helps ensure that’s what families can expect.
NQS ratings are published on the ACECQA website at www.acecqa.gov.au and must be displayed at the service, so families always have access to this information.
Our commitment to quality
This result represents the dedication of our entire team, our Centre Director, educators, our room leaders, and the families who partner with us every day. We don’t take it lightly.
At First Connections Schofields, while we await our first formal assessment, we are committed to the very same standard of care and education – building the foundations that we know will speak for themselves when the time comes.
Across both of our services, our commitment is the same: to provide every child with a safe, nurturing, and enriching environment where they can truly thrive.