Affinity Education Group prioritises safety appointing leaders across the country

Affinity Education Group has appointed a group of trained Safety Leaders across the country, strengthening a dedicated program of activity on safety as part of its core values.

Samantha Martin (pictured), Centre Manager at Kids Academy at Erina Heights, was the Group’s first appointed Safety Leader, and will join 20 other leaders from across the country each of whom will be charged with championing the safety commitment, working closely with Affinity’s Safety and Compliance team. 

Mrs Martin said the Safety Leader role was about continually striving for excellent safety ratings at her centre, and mentoring centres across the area to reach the same standard. 

“We’re so excited to be regarded as exceeding in all areas under the National Quality Standard – but that’s not enough for us. My job as Safety Leader is both to help our centre strive for excellent levels and share our knowledge across all 22 Affinity Education centres in our local area.” 

“Achieving the highest safety standards is not just a tick box exercise – we’ve got to continually adapt our methods and adopt learnings from other centres and the wider sector to make sure we’re doing everything possible to protect our children.” 

Tim Hickey, Affinity Education Group CEO, said the provider has committed to a national approach to prioritising child safety through these new appointments and continued investment in the space. 

“The safety of the children in our centres is paramount and has always been our number one priority,” he shared. 

“Following the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw benefit in creating a national program of activity to ensure that our industry-leading approach is consistent in the Group’s 180+ centres across the country and that knowledge sharing and learning is shared among our centres.”

The commitment, he continued, is another way that the provider has demonstrated its dedication to ensuring continual improvement of its safety practices and embedding these safeguards into its culture. 

“Apart from parents, childcare workers and educators spend more time with children than almost everyone else in their lives, therefore early educators are at the coalface of protecting our children,” Mr Hickey continued.

To become a Safety Leader, Affinity educators and centre managers must undergo an induction process with the Safety and Compliance team and receive ongoing mentorship. 

Learn more about Affinity Education Group here.