What Excellent Early Learning Looks Like
What excellent early learning looks like.
BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE
If an early learning centre can be likened to a sportsperson, then Goodstart Tuggerah is Nadia Comaneci!
Back in 1976, Nadia became the first gymnast in Olympic history to score a perfect 10, and in 2021, Goodstart Tuggerah became the first service in KindiCare history to do the same.
Goodstart Tuggerah won the National KindiCare Excellence Award with its 10 out of 10 KindiCare Rating, topping more than 16,500 services around Australia, and it’s also been awarded an Excellent rating by the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority.
This level of early learning excellence isn’t effortless.
It requires a talented and dedicated team (just like in gymnastics!), and at Goodstart Tuggerah, Tearne Martin leads by example.
Tearne has risen through the ranks to become Centre Director, and brings experience and enthusiasm to the role.
She is a manager, mentor and self-professed ‘people person,’ who genuinely loves making connections with families, educators and the wider community.
Whether she’s meeting and greeting, dotting the Is and crossing the Ts, or doing ‘big picture’ planning, here are four ways that Tearne succeeds as Centre Director:
1. She puts children first
Centre Directors are much more than just pen-pushers, and everything Tearne does at Goodstart Tuggerah comes back to the kids.
She says, ‘They are the heart and soul of what we do and why we do it,” and is genuinely grateful for the chance to play a positive role in each child’s learning journey.
To do her best by little learners, Tearne works closely with parents and care-givers.
She’s an open and friendly contact for families, whether they’re just enquiring or formally enrolled, and always acknowledges that parents are the experts of their child.
It’s also very important to her that everyone feels safe, secure, welcome and genuinely included at Goodstart Tuggerah, and it shows in the happy culture they have.
2. She shares the leadership load
Although Tearne is ultimately responsible for the smooth-running of the service, and oversees important things, like staffing and finances, she doesn’t lead alone.
Goodstart Tuggerah has a ‘distributed leadership style’ which means the Centre Director, Assistant Director and Educational Leader work closely in a Leadership Team, and this has pluses across the board.
The Leadership Team’s overarching aim is to, “Provide an exceptional level of care and education for children and families at the service,” and the trio work with parents and care-givers to, “Ensure high quality programs are developed and implemented.”
Tearne says, “Everyone in the Leadership Team works to the best of their ability, with a shared purpose and direction,” and after years in the role of Assistant Director, it’s been easy for Tearne to transition to the top job.
3. She responds to challenges positively
No day is ever the same in early learning, and challenges, like sudden sickness and staff shortages, can make planning tricky for Centre Directors, but Tearne takes every day in her stride and says, “It’s very exciting to always be learning something new and developing new skills.”
Tearne is proactive wherever possible.
When it comes to staff shortages, Goodstart Tuggerah has partnered with a local TAFE to develop and inspire the next generation of educators, and under Tearne’s leadership, the service has also risen to the challenge of helping those in need.
She says, “We’ve raised money for the koalas after the bush fires, supported families and the wider community through multiple floods, and made connections with our elderly community through our intergenerational activities program.”
The intergenerational program has been hugely beneficial for seniors’ social-emotional health, and it’s great for juniors, too.
Goodstart Tuggerah also ran a successful Big Brother program to give children a positive male role model in their early years.
4. She’s a forward-thinker
The Centre Director role is busy and varied, and it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day running of a service, but Tearne remains focused on creating a childcare community and educational program that, “Enables everyone to get what they need to succeed” – both now and going forward.
She’s keen to strengthen Goodstart Tuggerah's connections with local schools to ease the transition from early learning to big school.
And her service is, “Extremely committed to reconciliation and developing a community that is culturally safe for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, within the local and wider community.”
It has a Reconciliation Action Plan and is strengthening its practices by supporting meaningful partnerships between many different people.
What can we take away from all this?
Well, it’s clear that Tearne’s everyday achievements make an enduring difference to her service, and Goodstart Tuggerah's perfect 10 wasn’t a fluke!
It was the result of hard work and real passion, and is a great reminder to take leadership into account when choosing your own early learning service.
It is important to find a Centre Director you connect with, because an excellent one will set the bar high for the service and help your child achieve their full potential.
