Tag: music and wellbeing

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Bonkers Beat Goes Global!

Recently Galina and Bonkers have traveled the world, sharing their music and passion for early childhood education across the UK, France, Belgium and Russia.

 

Educators and childcare organisations in multiple countries have learned about the Bonkers Beat approach and wanted more! We are so proud to represent Australia with our award-winning early childhood education programs best of all there are many early years educational services over the world who want to join us, which is very exciting! Watch this space!

 

Supporting and collaborating on a global scale means we can share the power of music even further and ensure we are doing our very best to provide all children with excellent  developmental outcomes. 

 

While in the UK, we met with an organisation called Parenta. Parenta specialises in providing software for preschools and childcare services and is a leading provider of apprenticeships and training for early childhood professionals.

 

With so much in common and a shared dedication to the best start for young children, Galina has contributed an article to Parenta’s magazine.  


Read Galina’s article for Parenta here, or access the entire magazine.

 

If you have not accessed our free Bonkers Beat transitional songs, get your access via the article and enjoy them! You will find three songs, each designed with a goal in mind including tidying up, getting ready for group time and one to prepare for rest time. They are sure to make your transition times far more manageable!

 

You can find this Parenta article here: www.parenta.com/2019/08/01/sing-your-way-to-smooth-transitions

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Increasing Occupancy in Your Centre

If occupancy continues to be a challenge for your childcare business, you are not alone. As the demand for childcare has boomed over the past few years, many new services have opened creating more competition. This has made it increasingly challenging to stand out and attract new families. 

Centre owners, directors, managers and educators have so much passion. They take so much pride in the service they offer, making low enrolments even more disappointing. Not to mention the financial stress and frustration at not being able to convince families of just how special your centre and educators are!

Increasing your centre’s occupancy can be difficult. Established centres can feel as though they cannot compete with brand new centres offering impressive design and newer facilities. On the other hand, some new centres are starting from scratch and face the challenge of establishing a good reputation in the community.

Whichever perspective you’re coming from, here are a few super effective strategies for you to use to increase your enrolments and ensure your childcare centre thrives!

1. Show off your centre!

Whether you’re an established or brand new centre, there’s a chance you’re experiencing lower than desired occupancy rates simply because you’re not putting your centre out there for the public.

You don’t have to spend thousands on marketing to get noticed. Try hosting an Open Day – simply open your centre on a Saturday or Sunday and let families explore it for themselves. A sausage sizzle or craft for children can attract more people.

Facebook is full of opportunities to help familiarise your community with your centre. You can post in community groups and/or create a company page for your centre. Investing as little as $10 on Facebook ads can help spread the word about your centre to a selected demographic.

2. Motivate your team

One of our favourite acronyms: TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More. When your educators work together and are a united team, you will have the best chance of success.

Centres old and new struggle to find passionate, committed staff. Regular professional development can help motivate your team – take a look at our Wellness Summits which are run twice a year and are part of the Bonkers Beat programs. These events provide lots of bonding and brainstorming.

Try brainstorming with your educators about how you can increase occupancy. If families are leaving after one year, discuss why you think that might be and what you could be doing differently.

3. Enhance your point of difference

What makes your centre special? What do you do differently? Find your point of difference and make it stand out.

Centres who utilise Bonkers Beat programs are given plenty of resources and guidance on how to highlight their centre’s unique, powerful and effective approach to early childhood education. Parents love to learn about the incredible results and with their enhanced knowledge, they are more inclined to rave to others and spread the word for you!

If you can identify what makes you different from the other centres in the area, you have a better chance of attracting families who will be committed to your centre. The idea is that these families’ values and goals for their children will align with your centre’s outcomes.

Show everyone what makes your centre SO AMAZING!

Like countless childcare centres and kindergartens in Australia, Ellina from ‘Smart Oz Kidz’ was feeling the pressure that comes with a low occupancy rate. Struggling to find a way to stand out from the competition, Ellina knew she had to take action, and that’s when she decided to try the Bonkers Beat programs.

Eight months ago, Ellina’s centre occupancy was sitting at around 60%. “Since promoting the Bonkers Beat music program at our centre we have reached just over 95% capacity”, says Ellina. That’s a 35% in eight months!

DON’T FORGET: Our very special EOFY Offer is now on! To help you achieve your goals contributing to the meaningful early childhood education industry, we’re offering 20% off a 12-month Bonkers Beat membership. But that’s not all. Following that you will get a further 6 months FREE! Click here to join!

The only catch: to take advantage of this incredibly generous offer and see your centre soar to new heights, you need to join by 15 July, 2019. This is a limited time special offer and gives you the opportunity to join our award-winning early childhood educational programs at drastically discounted rates. With easy monthly payments, we know you will see the incredible value on offer! Access the offer here.

Low occupancy doesn’t need to be the new normal or the end for your centre — take action and change things for the better!

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Reach new heights with a new financial year resolution

As a new financial year approaches, it is the perfect time to assess how your childcare service is travelling. Are you meeting your goals from a business and financial perspective? Are you satisfied with your level of occupancy? Do you offer high quality early childhood educational programs? Are you proud of your centre’s current NQS Rating?

These are areas commonly reported as challenges for childcare business owners. They are also areas that the Bonkers Beat programs help to tackle head on in an innovative way across Australia every single day.

We  have a super special EOFY offer for you

To help you achieve your goals we’re offering 20% off a 12-month Bonkers Beat membership. But that’s not all. Following that you will get a further 6 months FREE!
Click here to join!

The high quality training and ongoing support your team will receive through your Bonkers Beat membership will blow your mind. You simply won’t find it elsewhere!

The Bonkers Beat programs will help you:

  • Attract and retain quality staff
  • Increase occupancy
  • Enhance children’s wellbeing and developmental outcomes
  • Save time on planning
  • Improve all areas of NQS

AND SO MUCH MORE!

To take advantage of this incredibly generous offer and see your centre soar to new heights, you need to join by 15 July 2019. This is a limited time special offer and gives you the opportunity to join our award-winning early childhood educational programs at drastically discounted rates. With easy monthly payments, we know you will see the incredible value on offer! Access the offer here.

Don’t delay — find out for yourself why Bonkers Beat is so loved across Australia!
Visit our website to learn more and grab this super special EOFY offer while you can!

Offer ends 15 July 2019.

 

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EOFY Special Offer: Your Time to Shine

When trying to run a successful childcare centre, it can sometimes feel as though you are surrounded by risk. The risk of not appealing to enough families and experiencing low occupancy. The risk of new competition within the local area. The risk of not gaining a high NQS Rating and the risk of staff challenges such as avoiding burnout and team motivation.

With the end of the financial year approaching, we wanted to provide you options that reduce risk from your life and your business. We think it’s time to go risk-free with a free ticket to this widely-celebrated early childhood education event for owners and directors…

Join us next week at 7 Stones, Melbourne for a hands on, high value three hour event for centre owners and directors. To claim your free ticket – Click Here.

Take on the New Financial Year – Risk-Free!

End of financial year is a great time to reflect and review the practices in your centre, where they currently stand and your future direction.

Our free 7 Stones event offers owners and directors a practical three-hour workshop that covers our tried and tested 7 pillar approach.

These insights will dramatically boost your occupancy, enhance curriculum, motivate educators, improve your NQS rating, engage parents and stand out in this crazy, busy marketplace.

We limit seats at our 7 Stones events to ensure you receive a more personalised session to get the most out of the event. With only 4 spots remaining you had better claim yours now!

PLUS…

By attending the 7 Stones workshop, you’ll gain access to our EOFY Special Offer: 6 Months FREE!

If you want to make next year, your best year ever, you will definitely want to take advantage of this Special Offer!

Remember, only four seats left at 7 Stones next week: get yours now!

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Top tips for high health standards in childcare

As we all know, children aren’t always “naturals” when it comes to good hygiene habits! While we encourage playing in the dirt, exploring nature and getting creative, there should always be support for practicing good hygiene and safety too. Children often need extra support when it comes to creating and sustaining these habits.  

Below are some tips for upholding high standards of health and hygiene in childcare settings. They will not only help everyone stay safe and healthy but they will also help you to meet Quality Area 2 of the National Quality Standard.

1. Handwashing should be second nature

Handwashing is a simple way to reduce the spread and potential ingestion of germs. Help children to get used to handwashing after playing, using the bathroom and always before eating.

  • Use images and signage around the centre as reminders
  • Set times for handwashing
  • Make soaps and taps easy to use
  • Have a handwashing song that encourages action and duration of adequate handwashing (here are some to try)

Ensure all educators and staff lead by example!

2. Covering your mouth to cough and sneeze

A simple but effective practice to embed in your centre is covering mouths when a sneeze or cough is ready to escape. Ensure tissues are readily available around your centre and are placed in the bin once used.

Another clever thing children can learn, especially for those coughs and sneezes come along when we aren’t prepared, is coughing and sneezing into the elbow. Here’s a handy poster you could print for your service that demonstrates this technique.

3. Have an illness policy in place

Getting sick from time to time is inevitable. No matter how healthy and cautious families and educators are, illness does happen. It’s important to manage it well. A good policy will ensure that if you are unwell you remain home so that others are protected from sickness. Take note of different exclusion periods for illnesses via Health Vic.

Help parents assess whether their child should attend childcare or kinder with these three questions from Care for Kids:

  • Will my child be well enough to comfortably and happily participate in the activities of the day?
  • Will my child’s care provider be able to care for my child without it affecting their ability to look after the other children?
  • Will my child pass the illness on to their playmates if I send them in today?

4. Avoid Sharing

Children often want to share cups and utensils, but it can increase the risk of germ spread. On top of encouraging children to keep their own cups, plates and spoons to themselves, labelling can be a useful approach. There’s nothing children enjoy more than spotting their own name on something and knowing they have a special item to themselves.

5. Keep the centre clean as can be

Staying on top of disinfecting toys, bedding, carpets, toilets and surfaces at your centre is the best way to ensure that your service doesn’t become a hub for illness spreading germs. Hospital grade disinfectants will be the best bet to kill nasty germs and keep everything safe for playing, resting and learning!

What hygiene practices do you have in place to keep children’s health protected at your centre? Share with us via Facebook!

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Reflecting on the Incredible Women in Our Lives

With Mother’s Day on Sunday, we have been doing a lot of thinking about the role of women not only in our personal lives but in our professional lives too. With around 97% of early childhood educator positions filled by women, working in childcare we are frequently reminded of the wonderful women we are surrounded by.

While not all women become mothers, all mothers are women. This Mother’s Day we celebrate mums, aunties, grandmothers as well as all the special female role models in our lives and the lives of children. This certainly includes all the special early childhood educators who support and guide children, and also provide support to mums who are often juggling children, work, family and other commitments.

Each day in centres we see so many mums dropping off their children before heading to work, study, to organise the family home and run errands in support of their families. We see educators coming in to work to provide loving care for many children, some who arrive after getting their own children sorted for school or care.

Among all these women we are continually in awe of their caring nature and willingness to learn and help. We see women with incredible commitment to their families, their work and supporting those around them, and we see the heart and passion by which they are driven. This Mother’s Day we’ll be celebrating you all and sending out a big THANK YOU for all you do.

Next week, we’re going to be in the presence of many women who do incredible work in shaping the next generation at ELAA’s 2019 Early Childhood Education Conference held in Melbourne over May 17 and 18. (If you haven’t registered yet, there is still time: click here).

Bonkers Beat will be sharing the message of ‘Empowering Educators to Create Pathways to Children’s Wellbeing’ in the conference poster exhibition. Galina is looking forward to seeing all the friendly faces so make sure you come and say hello to Galina and Bonkers the Monkey! In fact, those who visit us will even get a special gift from Bonkers. If you can’t make it along to the ELAA Conference, hopefully you can join us at our upcoming free event in Melbourne, ‘7 Stones’. Click here to claim your free spot now.

Speaking of gifts, to help celebrate Mother’s Day and all the incredible women in our lives, please enjoy access to our Bonkers Beat Mother’s Day poem here. Many children enjoy performing this poem for their mums on Mother’s Day or reciting it together at your centre’s Mother’s Day celebration.

 

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Focusing on music through the lens of the revised NQS

In striving to improve the position and quality of their childcare offering, many services are looking for ways to go ‘above and beyond’ expectations for meeting National Quality Standards. New guidelines clarify the difference between Meeting and Exceeding NQS rating levels for each standard. This allows services to have an in-depth understanding of the expectations of the revised NQF and improve their curriculum accordingly.

Many elements of the NQS, such as Element 1.1.1, focus on developing the best possible outcomes for children and enhancing their wellbeing. The exploration of creative arts, including music, now plays an even bigger role in meeting these expectations.

We have found that a focus on music in early childhood educational settings is more powerful than ever when considered through the lens of the revised NQS. This is a topic we intend to cover during our upcoming ‘7 Stones’ Management Event on Tuesday 28 May.

It is hard to believe that music and wellbeing practices are so transformational for centres looking to increase their NQS Rating and market position.

We have seen firsthand the incredible impact on services who implement music and wellbeing practices. That’s why this upcoming ‘7 Stones’ Management Event is all set to demonstrate how to enhance every Quality Area of the revised NQS and improve your rating through music and wellbeing practices.

During this inspiring presentation, you will discover how to:

  • Empower educators and transform improve centre’s culture
  • Increase occupancy and attract new families
  • Maximise opportunities for each child’s learning and brain development
  • Gain a marketing advantage and stand out
  • Engage parents and support them at home

You won’t want to miss this one. We’ve consulted with the best of the best to dig deep into the revised NQS so we can empower you with the right tools and strategies to flourish!

Spots won’t last, so register now and get ready to see things in a new light: http://www.bonkersbeat.com/7Stones/

This event is designed specifically for management and so we urge centre owners and directors to attend.

Secure your spot now.

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Optimising children’s development through educators’ wellbeing

As early childhood education professionals, we’re all committed to children’s development. It’s fair to say that we all put that at the top of our priority list. In doing this, we can sometimes forget to focus on educators, or on ourselves.

When we talk about wellbeing in early childhood, we’re often talking about children’s wellbeing. And so we should, because enhancing the wellbeing of children is the key to optimising their development on so many levels. In fact, approaching early childhood education with a wellbeing focus enables us to enhance children’s development across many crucial areas.

DDevelopmental impact of a wellbeing focus:

SOCIAL WELLBEING: Can facilitate teamwork; increase self-esteem; build confidence; embed social skills
PHYSICAL WELLBEING: Can encourage physical activity; reduce muscle tension; stimulates feel-good hormone; boost immunity
EMOTIONAL WELLBEING: Can have a calming effect; improve ability to understand and regulate emotions, reduce negative feelings; uplift the spirit

A wellbeing focus can even go beyond this for children’s services. It can also provide a pathway to improve the wellbeing of educators, and this can have a remarkable impact for individuals, centres and children.

At our recent Wellness Summits as part of the Bonkers Beat programs, early childhood expert Heather Barnes (OAM) presented and shared some valuable insight into the importance of educators’ wellbeing.

Heather notes the profound positive impact of wellbeing practices that encourage self-reflection, empowerment and team-building. It sounds like a lot to work on, but in reality, these can be achieved through a combination of professional development and a strategy committed to everyone’s wellbeing within child care services. And why wouldn’t you, when a wellbeing focus will transform every aspect of your centre for the better!

Wellbeing (along with music!) is the focus of our practice and the Bonkers Beat curriculum . The results we see in the wellbeing and empowerment of our educators and in turn the development and wellbeing of our children are powerful. If you’re free this Saturday and are able to be in Aspendale, Victoria, please feel free to join us at our Open Day at the Bonkers Beat Music Kinder. You will see firsthand as we demonstrate our music and wellbeing practices.

P.S.It’s also our 10 Year Anniversary celebration! We will be celebrating this milestone and raising money to help Aussie farmers through some tough times with donation opportunities on the day.

EVENT: Bonkers Beat 10 Year Anniversary Open Day
WHERE: 49 Laura Street, Aspendale, Victoria
WHEN: Saturday 30 March, 10am – 12pm
REGISTER FOR THIS FREE EVENT HERE!

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Inspired pedagogy – educational theories to inform your centre philosophy

When you’re shaping your approach and the philosophy of your service, there are many areas to gain inspirations. From the practical, real-life experiences of Maria Montessori, to the hierarchy of needs theory of Abraham Maslow, you can research and explore so many early childhood theorists which might influence your centres philosophy.

Of course you want your service to provide the very best start in life for children, and there are many approaches you can use to foster incredible outcomes for children. At the same time, you can utilise the concepts from inspiring historical theorists to help you meet the requirements of the Early Years Learning Framework and achieve the highest possible National Quality Standard Rating.

The meaning of pedagogy for your centre

Your centre’s pedagogy is central to your service. ACECQA sums it up perfectly:

“The term pedagogy refers to the holistic nature of early childhood educators’ professional practice (especially those aspects that involve building and nurturing relationships), curriculum decision-making, teaching and learning. When educators establish respectful and caring relationships with children and families, they are able to work together to construct curriculum and learning experiences relevant to children in their local context. These experiences gradually expand children’s knowledge and understanding of the world.”
-ACECQA, Early Years Learning Framework for Australia

The Bonkers Beat philosophy is inspired by Maria Montessori, Reggio Emilia and Howard Gardner theory. Let’s look a little closer at each of these.

Maria Montessori Philosophy

Dr Maria Montessori was an inspirational educator who developed a unique and progressive method of educating children.

Broadly, the Montessori approach considers education as an ‘aid to life’, and has a lengthy track record of success – more so than any other educational approach. The Montessori goal is to inspire children to have a lifelong love of learning that follows their natural learning direction. It enables children to become confident, independent and responsible learners.

The focus is on self-realisation through independent activity, making use of their scientific powers of observation and reflection and the focus on the educator as the keeper of the environment.

Reggio Emilia Approach

The Reggio Emilia Approach was first developed in Italy in a very small city called Reggio Emilia.

This is an approach that values the child and views them as capable and curious – able to discover the world on their own as driven by their own interests. Playing, asking questions, investigating and exploring the world – these are at the heart of the Reggio Emilia approach. The adults are viewed as mentors and learning experiences which arise from a child’s natural curiosity are described as child-led.

Howard Gardner Theory

Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory is based on the belief that there are eight ways people perceive the world.

The predominant message to take from the Multiple Intelligences Theory is that we must deliver a range of different types of learning experiences to ensure that all children are learning no matter which learning style is taking place.

Linking early childhood educational theory to the EYLF

One of the most important things to note about the Bonkers Beat inspirations outlined above is that you don’t have to subscribe to a theorists’ entire way of thinking. You can take inspiration from elements of an approach without adapting to the theorists’ pedagogy as a whole.

This link is a great resource to show how you can link theorists to different EYLF outcomes: https://www.butler-creative-childcare-resources.com.au/blogs/blog/linking-theorist-to-the-eylf-outcomes

Early Childhood Australia also has a document that covers how the great ECE theorists’ approaches work in practice. You can find it here:
http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/shop/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/SUND606_sample.pdf

Essentially, begin by considering the areas you need to enhance in your centre, and what is vital to your children’s outcomes and develop your pedagogy to fit this, along with working within the framework.

If you’d like to learn more about the Bonkers Beat approach as you explore pedagogies, visit www.earlychildhoodeducationalprograms.com.au/. You can even access a free trial to get a taste of the Bonkers Beat Music program HERE.

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How to meet the new standards of a revised NQS (and how to excel)

They say change is as good as a holiday, but it can also be a little overwhelming for most of us at first! For many centres who had a comprehensive understanding of the National Quality Standard, the introduction of the revised NQS in 2018 has meant they’ve needed to change up their approach to meet the standards.

Last week Bonkers Beat members have attended the first of their biannual professional development full-day workshops – the Wellness Summit. At the current Summer Summits we’ve been lucky enough to have Order of Australia Medal recipient and early childhood consultant – Heather Barnes. Not only is Heather an industry expert, but she was contracted Australian Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations to facilitate the training of Authorised Officers – needless to say, her knowledge of the requirements of the NQS is comprehensive!

Heather shared that a number of services have found meeting the standards and achieving an overall Exceeding Rating has been more challenging since the revision of the National Quality Framework (NQF).

So, what were the revisions? And how can your centre meet the standards?

At the Summits, Heather unpacked each of the Exceeding themes and provided us all with ideas and strategies for preparing for the next Assessment and Rating visit, while of course improving outcomes for children.

It’s clear that the number one priority should be to have an in depth understanding of what the framework wants from your centre. You should take great care in going over the official comparison document (find it here) to ensure you haven’t missed anything in the way of changes. And take a look here to understand the new guidelines on how Exceeding Rating is determined.

Is there a simple way to improve your NQS Rating?

Thinking it’s time to find a way to deliver an educational program that enhances every child’s development and empowers your educators to reach Exceeding through a practical and strategic approach that benefits everyone. You’ve come to the right place!

The Bonkers Beat programs were designed in line with revised NQS in mind as well as fosters optimal development and wellbeing for children. Not to mention the benefits for your centre and your educators (including the incredible Wellness Summits!)

To make the decision easier, and allow your centre, educators and children to reach their full potential, we want to offer you this FREE TRIAL of the Bonkers Beat Music Program!

Take an action! Start your free trial today and see for yourself how this award-winning music program can help you to go ‘above and beyond’ what is expected at the Meeting NQS level.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS YOUR FREE TRIAL

Hopefully, we’ll see you and your whole team at the Winter Wellness Summits! Take a look at what we did at the Summer Wellness Summits here and read the feedback from our wellness speaker at the events:

“Thank you Galina, for organising such a brilliant event. I had a wonderful time presenting at the Wellness Summit in Sydney. It was a joy meeting so many Educators committed to doing their best & achieving positive outcomes for children in their care. Educators who go the extra mile to make a difference in the lives of others. I’m looking forward to the Melbourne & Brisbane events” – Suzanne

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