Leadership & Service Management
The 5 pain points that parents experience when looking for childcare
In our recent research, we asked parents what the challenges were when looking for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) for their little ones. We wanted to know where the pain points were, and how it made them feel.
4 ways to turn negative feedback into a positive experience
Receiving negative feedback about your early childhood service never feels great but it’s important to remember that negative reviews and comments can actually be a good thing.
Making ratings and reviews work for your service
Encouraging the parents in your community to write reviews for your CareforKids.com.au profile is a truly effective way to spread the word about your centre and the service you offer.
Raising the bar on workplace wellbeing
Wellbeing strategies for early educators to prevent burnout over the silly season and beyond.
Building coping skills in early childhood
7 simple ideas for helping children build resilience in a stressful world.
Mentoring powers professional growth
How to develop and implement an effective mentoring program and how it drives a growth culture.
Using reflective practice to banish burnout
Learn how to use reflective practice to overcome your feelings of tiredness and exhaustion.
Raise awareness to protect pregnant staff from CMV
Cytomegalovirus can be easily transmitted in early learning settings, learn how to control CMV to reduce the risk for pregnant women.
Spark joy and learning with interactive read-alouds
Six ideas for educators seeking to maximise the learning opportunities of reading sessions with children.
Managing stressful moments: Breathe deep and create calm
Six strategies to help early educators manage their stress response, which can be practised in the workplace.
Effective communication: Build your skills and confidence
How the Partnering With Parents program can be used as a tool for early childhood educators to facilitate better communication with parents.
Copyright laws in early education settings
How Australia’s copyright laws apply in early education settings and why most services need a Childcare and Early Learning Services license if they want to use the work created by artists.
10 ways to be a more reflective educator
Ten top tips for becoming a more reflective early educator.
Staff retention crisis: 3 things that need to change
Why staff retention is such a challenge in the early education sector and what factors need to change to ensure high quality early educators stay in their jobs for longer.
How your service could benefit from positive psychology
Psychologist Nicole Nossiter, the founder of Growing Strong Minds, explains how early childhood educators can support the wellbeing of young children through positive psychology.
10 ways to run inspiring meetings in 2021
Early childhood expert Adrian Pattra offers 10 ideas for directors wanting to improve their team meetings and use them as a forum to inspire and motivate educators and staff.
Building bridges with families
Early learning services were required to rapidly rethink engagement strategies in light of the COVID-19 lockdown. This article explains how to make the most of the lessons learnt.
Leading educators and managing change
Adrian Pattra from Farran Street Education explains how early childhood managers can better recognise what educators need to successfully navigate through and adapt to change.
Preventing break-ins in your business
After a spate of break-ins in early childhood centres, this article offers suggestions for reviewing and implementing simple and effective crime and vandalism prevention strategies in early childhood settings.
What's all the fuss about reflective practice?
Inspired EC’s Nicole Halton explains how regular reflective practice can motivate and energise early educators and how reflective journals can be a useful tool for achieving this.
Boosting morale is critical in these times of uncertainty
Simple, cost effective strategies early childhood service managers can use to boost team morale and wellbeing during times of change and uncertainty.
Early Childhood Educators’ Day: A time to say ‘thank you’
Early Childhood Educators’ Day is tomorrow Wednesday 2 September. This article offers ideas for marking this special event with the educators, children and families in early childhood services.
Keeping animals in early childhood settings
Interaction with animals offers children a range of developmental opportunities and benefits. Learn about the range of services available to give children this experience without committing to a centre pet.
Would you spend 50 cents per day for healthier kids?
New research from Edith Cowan University, has shown that spending an extra fifty cents per day on healthier food could deliver significant dividends to the health and wellbeing of children.
Be more than a Centre Manager with Guardian
Be more than a Centre Manager with Guardian.
5 priority areas for sustained quality improvement
Five priority areas to support and sustain quality improvement among early childhood services and the important role of service leaders and individual educators.
How to host an amazing tour
Learn how to reboot and revive your enrolment strategy by taking a close look at the effectiveness of your tours, how well you are engaging families and how to convert lookers into bookers.
Building stronger teams
COVID-19 has left many people feeling anxious and uncertain. This article looks at the ways early childhood leaders can support staff and help people feel connected and engaged in their workplace.
New resources to support EC Educators
Two new online resources to support learning and professional development among the early childhood workforce.
You can't ask that!!
Four questions you should never ask during a job interview and tips for running a great interview to ensure you maximise your chances of securing the best candidate for the job.
E-Safety training for early childhood educators
The-safety commissioner has developed a suite of New resources from the e-safety commissioner to support early childhood educators with digital technology, in light of COVID-19.
Shifting the dial up on ‘family engagement’
Tips for services struggling to engage with families post COVID-19 and suggests a rethink of communication strategies to ensure the messaging and delivery is meeting it's intended target.
Techniques and tips to avoid back pain and injury
How educators can work safely and reduce the risk of injuring their neck and back while lifting and playing with children.
Portfolios: Making learning visible and accessible
This article explores the pros and cons of digital early learning portfolios and the more traditional paper portfolio.
Amazing early childhood services – Chapter two!
COVID-19 Amazing early childhood services – Chapter two!
Innovation and compassion driving early childhood services response to lockdown
Innovation and compassion driving early childhood services response to lockdown.
Up skill and exercise your brain with a free online course
Free online professional development courses can be undertaken in an educator’s own time and at their own pace offering invaluable new skills.
Managing difficult conversations with parents
How to manage tricky conversations with parents to ensure great outcomes for children, parents and service providers.
Food for thought: Do parents make better educators?
Early childhood expert Nicole Halton from Inspired EC explains how high quality educators have wide ranging skills and experiences which should not be judged by age or parental status.
What role does automation have in the early childhood sector?
The implications of AI for early childhood services and what roles robots could potentially have in caring and educating for young children.
Leadership and collaboration
Three key strategies to becoming a better early childhood leader and how to bring out the best in your team.
Could your future career be intergenerational care?
The benefits of inter-generational care and how qualifications could grow their numbers.
Work can be stressful - Self care 101
9 simple ways to improve self-care and boost wellbeing in your early childhood service.
CareforKids.com.au Marketing Guide
Our free Marketing Guide for the Early Childhood Sector, outlines a range of simple strategies for boosting the profile of your service.
How & why to boost parent engagement
Research shows that strong partnerships between an early childhood centre and families can reduce social disadvantage, contribute positively to improved child outcomes and increase social inclusion.
Communicating tricky issues
Positive communication helps avoid potential issues before they arise and can assist in favourable referrals, but it's also a key way to maximise the development and wellbeing of children.
Converting lookers to bookers
With many areas experiencing issues of over supply and providers struggling to fill vacancies, it's important to make a great first impression on families and to run a professional and informative tour.
10 awesome interview questions
Tips for running a successful job interview for early childhood directors recruiting staff.
How to manage different personalities among your educators
One of the most challenging, time consuming, and subsequently costly elements of running an early childhood centre is the recruitment, training, and retention of quality staff members.
How to communicate with parents when there is an issue
How to communicate with parents when there is an important or sensitive issue to discuss.
Jae Fraser - Attracting more men to the early childhood workforce
Why is the number of men in early education still so low?
The power of parent reviews - And how to make them work for your service
Encouraging parents to rate and review your service on your CareforKids.com.au profile is an way to spread the word about your centre and the service you offer for children and families.
How to convert leads to enrolments and keep your centre full
How to convert customer queries into a successful enrolment.
Are you a great teacher?
What makes a great teacher and how teachers add value to the developmental experience of children.
How to recruit great employees when you're on a budget
In early education high turnover of staff can be a real problem for providers so it's important to try and attract the right people for your service without breaking the bank.
Choosing between two stellar recruits
Staff recruitment strategies for early education managers and directors.
5 reasons why families leave a service
Here are five reasons why a family may choose to leave your service.
How to build a motivated workforce
How to build a more motivated workforce, to reduce absenteeism, boost productivity, improve reputation, increase profit and improve staff morale.
Interesting ways to expand your service offering
Increased competition among services has been great for families, learn how to expand your offering and make it more appealing to parents.
Offering professional development is a win-win
While the battle for a pay increase for the early childhood sector continues, many centre managers, directors and owners face daily concerns about attracting and retaining their staff.
Offering constructive feedback - how and why
How providing employee feedback, both formally and informally, can drive constant improvement in your early learning service.
Best practice guidelines for using social media
Using social media to boost engagement within your parent community as well as extend your market reach.
5 Questions you should ask yourself when choosing a digital platform
5 important factors to consider if you are considering an app or digital platform for your early learning service.
Recruitment - Easing the first day nerves
Easing first day nerves for new early education team members, and why you should.
Writing better marketing copy is as easy as ABC
Writing better marketing copy to showcase your best qualities and effectively reach parents.
Sell yourself - Developing a marketing plan
Developing a marketing plan to attract new families to your services, and why this is important.
What does a good resume look like?
Simple ideas for recruiting and retaining high quality staff for your early learning service.
Resources to support fair pay for fair work
Legal obligations for early education employers when it comes to paying staff what they are owed.
7 time saving tricks for Centre Managers
Timesaving tools to significantly improve communication with educators/teachers and families.
Reducing staff turnover in the early childhood sector – Practical strategies
Strategies for reducing staff turnover and maintining the staff you have.
5 ideas to boost staff motivation
Educators go above and beyond their job description to ensure children are nurtured, encouraged and given the support they need to grow and develop to the best of their ability.
Strategies for addressing & embracing the digitally empowered parent
Strategies for addressing & embracing the digitally empowered parent.
6 steps to a healthier business
6 steps to a healthier business.
Getting it right in the first 1000 days
Getting it right in the first 1000 days.
Congrats to KU 2017 Employer of Choice
Congrats to KU 2017 Employer of Choice.
Staff evaluations: Why to and how to
Staff evaluations: Why to and how to.
Turning negative reviews into positive outcomes
Turning negative reviews into positive outcomes.
STEM is boring …or is it?
STEM is boring …or is it?
8 awesome early childhood blogs that will make your life easier
8 awesome early childhood blogs that will make your life easier.
Employment and Workforce Participation 2017 Survey results
Employment and Workforce Participation 2017 Survey results.
New resources and guidance for FDC providers
New resources and guidance for FDC providers.
Registration requirements for early childhood teachers
Registration requirements for early childhood teachers.
Child Care in the Spotlight Results of our 2017 Child Care & Workforce Participation Survey are in
Child Care in the Spotlight Results of our 2017 Child Care & Workforce Participation Survey are in.
Changes to the NQS Less red tape & fewer elements
Changes to the National Quality Framework following a review of the National Partnership Agreement on the National Quality Agenda for Early Childhood Education and Care that began in 2014.
Nominate an amazing educator
Nominations for the 2017 Australian Family Early Education and Care Awards are open.
Opening a new child care service?
ACECQA’s guide for people interested in opening an early childhood education and care business including premises, quality standards and more.