In 2024, Melton Montessori Early Learning Centre was awarded the Excellent rating by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority — the highest a service can achieve under the National Quality Framework.
The service was recognised for celebrating culture and diversity, fostering inclusive partnerships and creating a positive environment that supports children’s learning and growth.
Transforming their practice
In 2018, the service was rated Working Towards, facing challenges including low compliance, limited resources and low staff morale.
Leadership changes in 2019 helped shift the focus towards educator wellbeing and quality programming.
A gradual move towards Montessori-inspired practices brought new energy to the service. This led to new projects including Bush Kinder, cultural festivals, daily walks and staff outings. These changes helped to strengthen staff collaboration and family engagement. The service also introduced new community engagement programs, such as a Clothing Exchange Program.
Educators and children co-developed inclusion guidelines and created a music video and other resources to promote the centre’s values.
Fowzia Issa, centre director, said the team faced challenges along the way including resistance to change, COVID-19 pressures and compliance reform.
‘To stay on track, leadership focused on clear communication, shared goals and allowed space for educators to try new ideas,’ she said.
‘This ensured staff felt valued and re-engaged with their roles’.
Sharing their success
The changes at Melton Montessori caught the attention of the Brimbank Melton Early Childhood Improvement Branch, who asked the centre to present on their journey to the wider early childhood sector at the local Early Learning Leaders forum. After this, other local centres started reaching out to learn from their journey. The team welcomed visits from centre leaders and openly shared their strategies and everyday practices.
Fowzia said feedback from these visits has been overwhelmingly positive.
‘Many services described feeling energised and reassured after their visits — seeing firsthand that meaningful improvement is possible with persistence, clear values, and team collaboration,’ she said.
The centre has evolved into a hub for mentoring, particularly through the Bush Kinder program, where educators share insights on nature-based learning.
Looking ahead
The service is preparing for its next big step —the rollout of Pre-Prep for priority cohorts from 2026.
‘The change management practices developed throughout the assessment and rating journey have created a strong, flexible structure to support this growth,’ Fowzia said.
The centre has started planning to expand its capacity while maintaining the quality of care, strengthen transition programs and deepen engagement with families.
Find out more
For more information, refer to Melton Montessori Early Learning Centre.
For more information about the Pre-Prep rollout, refer to the Pre-Prep roll-out schedule.
Updated