ACA/ChildHR Partnership

The Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) has partnered with ChildHR to ensure that ACA members have the right tools for a compliant and sector consistent approach to managing HR.

Through this partnership, ACA members are offered an exclusive deal which provides cost savings and the flexibility to choose the software features and documentation that best suit your services needs.

ChildHR drives compliance and efficiency for Acorn Child Care Centre.

Acorn Child Care Centre is a multi-site provider in Bundaberg, Queensland. It started operating as a single centre in 2014, but due to rapid growth, a second location was started two years later. As a result, staffing numbers doubled and the HR requirements grew exponentially. Acorn realised they needed help from ChildHR to navigate their way through the complex HR processes and improve centre performance and professionalism.

Administration and compliance created errors, duplication and ineffective management

In 2016, Acorn Child Care Centre found itself with large and growing educator numbers. This was good for business, but it meant that HR processes were slipping, and many staff were failing to meet compliance requirements. Inadequate HR tools and policies made it difficult to track team compliance, which put significant pressure on centre management and made it increasingly difficult to keep the multi-site centre operating smoothly and efficiently.

Acorn Director, Rachel Lynch, was finding it challenging to maintain HR policies and instill professional development in her staff, who are the “backbone of her business”. She also needed urgent help with employee onboarding, performance appraisals and performance management.

In particular, Rachel was finding it extremely challenging keeping track of her 70-plus staff members, some of whom needed ongoing performance management. “Employees were not complying with policy,” she says, “and at times we needed to let people go ‘correctly’. I remember thinking, ‘We’re doing it wrong, we need help’.”

 ChildHR’s tailored technology streamlined HR processes, addressed compliance and staff performance

ChildHR was called in to help Acorn streamline its HR processes and address the management of staff performance. As Australia’s only HR platform tailored to the early learning sector, ChildHR combines its expertise in the sector with technology to drive productivity and cost savings by streamlining administration and compliance.

“I came across ChildHR at the ACA conference and fell in love with it,” says Rachel.

“I showed it to our Executive and said: ‘I need help, you need help.’ So we gave ChildHR a go, and have never looked back.”

Rachel is impressed with the depth of ChildHR’s toolkit. “ChildHR’s staff performance management system shows me clearly who I’ve spoken to and when. I have all employee conversations in one place, and it’s all private and confidential. Every time I have to give a written warning, I have all the details at my fingertips,” she says.

“Performance reviews are not done on paper any more, so we can’t lose any

history. ChildHR also lets me review both employee and manager comments

beforehand, which makes the performance review process much quicker.”

She adds that ChildHR helps her stay on top of the early learning sector’s stringent QA4 and QA7 regulations, which come with heavy penalties for non-compliance:

“With ChildHR’s onboarding I can give an employee their requirements to review and can verify they’ve done them. The onboarding system requires employees to study policies, then answer questions to prove they’ve read them.”

ChildHR saves management and employee time through its easy-to-use, intuitive and user-friendly system. “Each employee has their own login, giving them access to all the documentation required for their role. They can also update any personal details online, saving us from spending hours doing paperwork.”

ChildHR delivered productivity and cost savings by streamlining HR admin and compliance

There is a raft of certifications and qualifications that apply to the Australian early learning sector and sanctions for failing to meet requirements are harsh. ChildHR has significantly reduced these risks for Acorn by removing human error and providing a clear process for staff onboarding and management, including confirmation of educators’ qualifications.

Rachel is now confident with her responsibility of making sure Acorn Child Care Centre follows the National Quality Standards QA4 and QA7 and passes regular audits by the ACECQA. “The best thing about ChildHR is that if the department comes in and says they want to see staff schedules, I can go in and show them everyone’s compliance, with evidence, at the click of a button. And I don’t have to chase staff anymore.”

ChildHR helps her maintain legally compliant HR documents that are automatically updated to reflect legislative changes. This includes role-specific employment contracts, policies, letters, position descriptions and any disciplinary documentation-all written by sector experts.

It also saves Rachel and her team time by streamlining HR processes and maintaining a system that attracts, maintains and motivates her staff. The simple and easy-to-use performance appraisal system meets professional development requirements, helps her staff feel valued and allows them to get on with the important business of caring for their children.

ChildHR includes a best practice process for managing under performing employees so she knows exactly what to do and has evidence the correct procedures have been followed.

Acorn is extremely happy with the on-call support via email, phone, video and guidebooks. “The Customer support team has been helpful,” says Rachel. They answer all of my questions and talk me through issues”.

Find out more about Australia’s only childcare-specific HR system

Streamline your HR practices, make sure you’re complaint and free up your team to focus on the child care within your business. Talk to us today about how you can enjoy a supportive system that makes HR compliance a breeze – just like Acorn Child Care Centre did.

Get in touch to find out more information.

sales@childhr.org.au or visit www.childhr.org.au/ACA

Do the regulations say evacuation diagrams must be professionally made?

Evacuation diagrams have been a constant topic of discussion amongst Australian Childcare Alliance NSW members. The Education and Care Services National Regulations have limited mention of evacuation diagrams. This appears to be a source of confusion and the question has been asked by many people.

In short the Education and Care Services National Regulations do not say that evacuation diagrams and floor plans must be created by external companies. However you must be able to show that you have developed the diagram in “consultation with relevant authorities”.

The Education and Care Services National Regulations mentions that you need to have an emergency and evacuation floor plan and it is to be displayed (r97) as well as have policies and procedures on management of emergencies and evacuations (r168(e)). The only other mention is under Schedule National Quality Standard Element 2.2.2—Incident and emergency management
Plans to effectively manage incidents and emergencies are developed in consultation with relevant authorities, practised and implemented.

Many services have been reviewing the regulations around this for assessment and rating purposes or to achieve a higher quality of care within their service.

External companies can create these diagrams/plans for you and ensure that you meet all expected National Standards, in addition to the Education and Care Services National Regulations. If chose not to use an external company and do create the evacuation diagram yourself, you must include all criteria set out in the Australian Standards pertaining to this and ensure you are consulting with relevant authorities, as well as ensuring you are implementing and practicing all that is required under the Education and Care Services National Regulations.

The Australian Standard 3745-2010 list what all diagrams should contain for evacuation purposes. While Australian Standards aren’t enforceable, they are the expectation.

Evacuation diagrams are intended to provide emergency and evacuation information for occupants and visitors. They should contain concise, clear and appropriate detail to inform occupants and visitors in an emergency.

The following are the key requirements for evacuation diagrams but not limited to:

• • Location (Clause 3.5.2)

Evacuation diagrams shall be displayed where occupants and visitors are able to view them.

• • Position (Clause 3.5.3)

The evacuation diagram should be positioned at a height not less than 1200 mm and not more than 1600 mm above the floor.

• • Orientation (Clause 3.5.4)

Each evacuation diagram shall have the correct orientation with regard to the way out clearly defined and its location to the ‘YOU ARE HERE’ point.

Where an assembly area diagram is included, it shall have the same orientation to the rest of the diagram.

What is Winter Solstice?

The winter solstice is the time when the sun has the biggest distance to the equator. After this, the sun is going to move to back in the direction of the equator. The Earth revolves around the Sun. The sunlight reaches the Earth at an angle.

When is Winter Solstice?

Wednesday, 21 June 

Activities: 

• Indoor campout - For children to use events within their life to construct a story and present it in the group setting. They  will also experience a “campout”, feel. The shorter hours in the day will make this a great afternoon activity where the room can become marginally darker.
  • Resources: Sticks, battery operated fairy lights, torch (optional)
  • Activity Instructions: 1. Use sticks to create a “teepee” shape with the sticks, around the fairy lights. 2 Sit children in a circle and go around the circle telling stories. These can be stories from what is happening in the child’s life, an imaginative/fictional story, perhaps a spooky story. The could even tell a story with their friends. 3. Optional, use a torch to hold under the child’s chin as they tell their story.
• DIY Lava Lamp - To repurpose recyclable materials and create individual lava lamps to light up the darkest days of the year.
  • Resources: Plastic bottles (Voss water bottles work well but are breakable as they are glass), Vegetable Oil, Food Colouring, Alka Seltzer
  • Activity Instructions: 1. Empty and clean the bottles. 2 .Fill bottles just over half way with oil. 3. Fill the rest of bottle with water. 4. Add food colouring (10-15 drops)  5. Breaks alka seltzer in half (to fit through bottle top), place the alka seltzer in the bottle one at a time. Add each subsequent piece of alka seltzer when bubbles have settled down.

As a boutique architectural firm, our team of architects have specialised expertise in the childcare sector - delivering childcare centres of all sizes since 2002.

• ArtMade delivers modern designs that maximise functional space.
  
• We understand and master the critical balance between design and construction cost.
  
  
• We combine our cumulative experience in architecture and building to match your
  allocated budget resulting in a design that looks exceptional, gives you the largest
  useable area and maximises yield.
  
  
• We understand the economic and regulatory constraints clients may face.
  
  
• ArtMade design buildings to be fully compliant and matched to your budget, so there
  are no unexpected surprises during construction.
  
  
• We can assist from concept design right through to the construction phase
  and on to practical completion
• ArtMade always find a way to control Councils’ resistance to yield maximisation.
• ArtMade have a proven track record with Land and Environment Court proceedings,
  representing clients in over  20 court cases with a 100% success rate to date.

Childcare Centres are not ordinary commercial buildings. They need to be fun, smart, functional and affordable!

ArtMade creates designs that activate the imagination, engage the senses, and inspire the potential in young lives.

Your first step with ArtMade Architects is an initial consultation where we will share our professional opinion based on our extensive industry experience.

www.artmade.com.au

We’ve been helping childcare centres build and expand since 2002 and will support you through every step of the journey.

Contact Bronwyn our Studio Manager on 02 8760 9300 | hello@artmade.com.au

  DIRECTOR: Sherif Saad
            

                                                            
83 Place Childcare Centre | Bronte NSW 2024

                                                            

  136 Place Childcare Centre | Dural NSW 2158

49 Place Childcare Centre | Artarmon NSW 2064

What drew you towards working in early childhood education?

Of course, initially it was the children. To be able to choose a career in which you can get paid AND play with lego? Seemed like a no brainer to me. Once I’d taken that first step and enrolled into TAFE for my Cert III, it was my amazing tutors who really cemented my decision. Their passion and energy still influence me today (about 11 years after I graduated). After my first prac of my cert III I realized just how much there is to love about working in early childhood. I learned that if you put in the work and build those all-important relationships, you can foster the development of not only the children in your care, but your families, your co-educators and the wider community. I can’t think of many other careers offering the same opportunity for doing things for other people.

What is your fondest story that makes you proud to be in your chosen vocation?

I often find myself being proud of the educators I work with. One particular scenario which hit me in a very unexpected way was when I was helping support a room leader while they conducted an orientation for a new – very nervous about care – family. When the mum got quite emotional this particular room leader put his arm around her and consoled her in the most beautiful way. Seeing my team flourish in their environments will never get old, and will always be a highlight of my day. I just remember feeling very affirmed that we’d done the right thing having made the decision to have that amazing educator in that room. Made me remember how seemingly little decisions have profound effects on the families and children we have in our care.

What is the biggest challenge you face as a Nominated Supervisor/ Room Leader/ Educator?

My biggest challenge as nominated supervisor is probably the same as every other position in the world of early childhood education… Time. There’s not enough of it, and when I have it what should I do with it first? Should I check in with my staff? Tackle the pile of paperwork? Can I finally relax? I remember once telling my ops manager in passing that I’d spent my free time doing the things I’d otherwise feel guilty for doing in work hours. The little things like rearranging my office, printing off photos for my desk. She reminded me that sometimes those things can be just as important as the seemingly pressing issues. Knowing what to do with my time is definitely a skill, and saving time for ‘the little things’ will always be a challenge. All too often I’ll get to the end of the day and wondered where my time has gone, highlighting how important is to reflect at the end of each day. If I feel myself wondering what I did I’ll make myself sit down and think; mentally ticking off all those accomplishments which might not have been on my “to do” list, and remind myself people before paperwork, and that it’s all part of our (amazing) job.

What do you (really) think of your approved provider? Or what makes you stay on with your approved provider?

Initially I was apprehensive about working with approved providers who have no history in early childhood education. It turned out to be for the best though, as while they don’t have an understanding of early childhood, they do understand the importance of high quality care, and take obvious pride in their centre. They’ve hired industry professionals to lead and mentor us and have built a great support network to help build our centre to the amazing place it is today, and I think knowing and understanding their own limitations shows a great deal of respect for us and our sector. The level of trust they place in the management team to make the right decisions for the centre is great, and while it would have been easy for them to fade into the background, I still communicate with them regularly which I like. 

If you could change anything in the early childhood education and care sector that would bring enormous benefits for children and their parents, what would that be?

The media’s perception of us. Or if not their perception then their involvement entirely. It seems as though every 2 months there’ll be a big whirlwind over some latest hot topic, be it the rising cost of childcare or our low rate of pay. One channel thought the best way to discuss that was by comparing what we earn to that of a carpenter. How’s that going to help?! What should be a professional, critical discussion about pay parity and traditional gender bias had devolved into an argument over ‘who works harder? Carpenters or electricians’. The media always puts us early childhood educators on the back foot, meaning we’re always having to defend ourselves. I would change their divisive tactics and give more mainstream opportunity to our sector to do what we do best; teach and educate in a meaningful way based on the audience. The comment section on a commercial television news report is not the ideal place for that.