Few people know that we employ over 1,000 teachers nationwide, with over 900 of those in designated teacher roles in our kindergarten and preschool rooms.
Since Goodstart started operations in 2010 after the collapse of ABC Learning, our workforce of passionate teachers has grown rapidly – at the time there were just 180 qualified teachers within our network of centres.
Growing this number to what it is today has been absolutely central to our goal of transforming our centres from the ABC-modelled ‘babysitting service’, to providing an early learning service at a level of quality well ahead of the industry average.
In addition to the teachers we employ, we’re also sponsoring another 120 of our educators who are studying to become teachers and, in the last financial year, have invested over $18 million in professional development and training to provide our workforce with the knowledge and resources to be the best they can be.
The reason we place so much emphasis in the quality of our teachers is simple: it’s because we know how much difference high quality early learning makes to a child’s school outcomes, even with as little one year of preschool or kindergarten.
The evidence for this is clear. Perhaps the biggest driver of our investment though, is that it takes a highly skilled and engaged practitioner to observe and plan the individual learning and development journeys of each and every child in our care.
Our program is based on the knowledge that children are natural learners, and that each child develops at their own pace. Unlike outdated programs of previous generations that expected all children to learn the same things at the same time, our program is flexible, individual and engaging.
High quality teaching in the early years has never been more important than it is right now.
Too many Australian children are starting school developmentally vulnerable, which means a child is in the lowest 10% in at least one of five developmental categories: physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills, and communication skills and general knowledge.
Children that start school behind tend to stay behind, and right now one in five Australian children are starting school vulnerable in at least one of those categories. But attending high quality early learning halves the chances of this happening, which highlights the important role of teachers.
Evidence collected from over 40 developed countries showed children who attend three years or more of early learning perform much better on year four literacy and numeracy tests.
Furthermore, a 15-year study of 3,000 English children found that attending quality preschool programs had a strong effect on literacy and numeracy scores at age 11, and the effect was still evident at age 16.
Children thrive in quality early learning environments with highly skilled teachers. We’re committed to attracting the best people and supporting their access to professional development, career opportunities and the resources they need to provide the very best outcomes for children.
Since Goodstart started operations in 2010 after the collapse of ABC Learning, our workforce of passionate teachers has grown rapidly – at the time there were just 180 qualified teachers within our network of centres.
Growing this number to what it is today has been absolutely central to our goal of transforming our centres from the ABC-modelled ‘babysitting service’, to providing an early learning service at a level of quality well ahead of the industry average.
In addition to the teachers we employ, we’re also sponsoring another 120 of our educators who are studying to become teachers and, in the last financial year, have invested over $18 million in professional development and training to provide our workforce with the knowledge and resources to be the best they can be.
Why invest so much in teachers?
The reason we place so much emphasis in the quality of our teachers is simple: it’s because we know how much difference high quality early learning makes to a child’s school outcomes, even with as little one year of preschool or kindergarten.The evidence for this is clear. Perhaps the biggest driver of our investment though, is that it takes a highly skilled and engaged practitioner to observe and plan the individual learning and development journeys of each and every child in our care.
Our program is based on the knowledge that children are natural learners, and that each child develops at their own pace. Unlike outdated programs of previous generations that expected all children to learn the same things at the same time, our program is flexible, individual and engaging.
Why quality teachers are more important than you might think
High quality teaching in the early years has never been more important than it is right now.Too many Australian children are starting school developmentally vulnerable, which means a child is in the lowest 10% in at least one of five developmental categories: physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills, and communication skills and general knowledge.
Children that start school behind tend to stay behind, and right now one in five Australian children are starting school vulnerable in at least one of those categories. But attending high quality early learning halves the chances of this happening, which highlights the important role of teachers.
Quality teaching has long lasting benefits
Evidence collected from over 40 developed countries showed children who attend three years or more of early learning perform much better on year four literacy and numeracy tests.Furthermore, a 15-year study of 3,000 English children found that attending quality preschool programs had a strong effect on literacy and numeracy scores at age 11, and the effect was still evident at age 16.
Children thrive in quality early learning environments with highly skilled teachers. We’re committed to attracting the best people and supporting their access to professional development, career opportunities and the resources they need to provide the very best outcomes for children.