Discovery’s three year old and four year old kindergarten programs are led by qualified early childhood teachers, supported by experienced educators. On your tour, ask who leads your child’s room and how the teacher’s time is spread across the day.
Why this is worth asking about
Most parents assume a childcare centre and a kindergarten teacher are the same thing. They are not.
A qualified early childhood teacher holds a university degree in early childhood education. An educator may hold a Certificate III or a Diploma, both of which are genuine qualifications and both of which matter enormously to the quality of a child’s day. The difference is what a teaching degree adds: how to plan a program against a curriculum framework, how to assess where a child actually is, and how to move them forward deliberately rather than by chance.
When you tour a centre, the question worth asking is not “do you have a qualified teacher”. It is “who leads my child’s room, and how often are they there”. It is worth asking every centre you visit the same question.
What a teacher changes about the day
- The program is planned, not improvised. Activities connect to learning outcomes and build on each other week to week.
- Progress is tracked. A teacher can talk you through your child’s progress in language, self regulation and early numeracy, and how the program supports it.
- Concerns are raised early. A teacher who observes and assesses each child can talk with you about language, motor skills or social development, and suggest when it may be worth speaking to your GP or maternal and child health nurse.
- School transition is deliberate. Not just learning letters, but the routines, independence and persistence that make the first year of school manageable.
Consistency matters as much as qualifications
A brilliant teacher who changes every term is worth less to your child than a good one who stays. Young children learn through relationships. A child who trusts the adult in the room will take risks, ask questions and admit when they do not understand.
Keeping our educators is something we work at deliberately, because it is the part of quality that parents feel most and that is hardest to fake on a tour.
Common questions
What is the difference between an educator and a teacher?
An educator typically holds a Certificate III or Diploma in early childhood education and care. A teacher holds a bachelor degree or higher in early childhood education. Both work with your child. The teacher leads the kindergarten program and its assessment.
Is a qualified teacher legally required?
Funded kindergarten programs in Victoria must be planned and delivered by a qualified early childhood teacher, and long day care services must also meet national rules on employing early childhood teachers. What varies between services is how that works in practice, including whether one teacher works across several rooms or each room has its own.
How do I check a centre’s staffing for myself?
Ask directly on your tour: who leads my child’s room, what is their qualification, and how long have they been here. Then check the service’s rating on the ACECQA National Register, which is public and free.
What is Discovery’s NQS rating?
Ratings are assigned to each service, not to a group, so each of our centres holds its own. Ringwood is rated Exceeding the National Quality Standard. Croydon and Boronia are rated Meeting the National Quality Standard. You can check any service’s current rating on the ACECQA National Register.
Does my child get the same teacher all year?
That is our aim, and it is why consistency of educators is something we manage actively. Ask on your tour about the current team in the room your child would join.
Come and meet them
The staffing question is best answered in person. Book a tour and ask to meet the educators who would work with your child, and who leads the kindergarten program at that centre.
Ringwood 30 Bond Street, (03) 9879 8055
Croydon 50 Maroondah Highway, (03) 9722 8933
Boronia 172 Boronia Road, (03) 9762 4888