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ECEC Provider in Focus – Little Scholars School of Early Learning
Jason Roberts
Oct 20, 2023
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Little Scholars School of Early Learning is a well established family-owned early childhood education and care (ECEC) provider offering care and education across 14 locations around Southeast Queensland.
What is the history of Little Scholars?
Little Scholars began with one campus in Yatala, Queensland eight years ago. It was started by Jae Fraser, a teacher with more than 20 years’ experience in the ECEC sector.
Prior to starting Little Scholars, Jae had worked across all levels of the sector, starting as an educator before becoming qualified as a teacher and then graduating to senior operations management roles before becoming a service owner.
Having experienced so much of the ECEC sector before starting Little Scholars, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his next chapter and with his characteristic vision and energy set about building the Little Scholars group.
What is Little Scholars’ vision and approach to learning?
Little Scholars lives by its four pillars – Grow, Inspire, Learn and Contribute.
Its first priority is the growth and development of its children through nurturing, teaching and guiding each child to develop all the skills that will allow them to succeed in life. This approach includes families and involves finding out what they would like their children to achieve or even be as adults – and then the team starts building on that foundation.
It’s an approach that recognises how critical those first five years are for a child’s development, and ensures all Little Scholars get all the support they need to flourish during this time.
“There is something magical about childhood, the simplicity of what it means to be a child, from running, climbing and laughing, to exploring the world through curious eyes,” Mr Fraser said.
“At Little Scholars School of Early Learning, we’re inspired by children’s adventurous spirits and intuitive instincts for discovery. This is why our approach to early learning is a holistic one with a focus on encouraging children to show up in their brilliance, experience the highest standard of early education, as we foster children’s intuitive instincts for discovery, creativity, improvisation and imagination.”
Are there any unique aspects to what Little Scholars offers?
Little Scholars is an organisation that emphasises curriculum, environments, and relationships in their ECEC offer but it is the singular focus on creating an experience that is essentially an extension of a child’s family that makes it stand out.
Each campus has been individually designed to meet the needs of the community it serves, to ensure families feel at home, with considered and crafted learning spaces to a learning program which is tailored to meet child and community needs.
“We know that many ECEC service providers do a terrific job in delivering a program of early education and care to their children but we feel strongly that our ability to craft not only a program, but an entire service, to meet the needs of the broader community sets us apart,” Mr Fraser said.
What is Little Scholars’ approach to educators’ identity and development?
Little Scholars has created a family-like environment where its commitment to ensuring all educators have access to on-going support and training to support their professional development needs.
“From a dedicated Learning and Development Day to team-building events throughout the year, to tenure bonuses, additional leave, paid flu jabs, seminars, even financial advice, 90 per cent discount on childcare fees, we want to make sure as employees we can enhance their lives both at work and at home,” Mr Fraser explained.
“Having been an educator myself, I know exactly what and how it feels like to be working on the floor of an ECEC service, so I feel that my experience has served us well in that everything we do has an educator centricity to it that is tough to match elsewhere.”
An important additional component of the Little Scholars employee value proposition is participation in its bespoke visioning program, The Collective.
Originally created as a means for educators to showcase their individual skills and talents, and as a way to offer sector leading, fun, creative and engaging learning experiences for children, The Collective has now evolved to encompass all aspects of the Little Scholars, including its children, families, educators and community.
To learn more about Little Scholars School of Early Learning, visit their website.
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