G8 Education sends award winners on New Zealand study tour 

Award winning centre managers and support team members from across the G8 Education network were recently given a study tour to New Zealand in recognition of their successes. 

Led by Meg Parnell, G8 Education’s Pedagogy and Practice Manager, the four day study tour included professional development sessions on values-based leadership, team building, routines vs rituals, risky play supporting emotional regulation as well as practicing mindfulness.

The cohort travelled to Wellington to be hosted by Toni and Robin Christie, internationally recognised founders and directors of Childspace Early Childhood Institute, and participated in centre tours and observation visits along with their learning sessions. 

“We’ve now taken roughly 30 Centre Managers to New Zealand on this Study Tour since we started it a few years ago, and have always found that they come back so engaged and eager to put into practice all of the learnings from the trip,” Ms Parnell said.

Some of the Centre Managers from the 2024 tour have already started to implement learnings from the trip, including embedding a philosophy within their centre that is based on shared values.

Other Centre Managers have focused on making work fun for their team, which then flows through to the children in their centres.

G8 Education’s Meg Parnell said rewarding team members with a study tour full of professional development is “a very worthwhile investment.”

“At G8 Education, we have found that the Study Tour is a great way to invest in the development of our team members and show them how appreciative we are of their hard work throughout the year,” Ms Parnell said.

“The Study Tour has a flow-on impact as it is beneficial for the teams the Centre Managers work with, as well as the children in their centres too – this one trip can enhance the learning development and wellbeing for hundreds of children.”

Additional benefits include the team members returning to their services with “a greater level of  confidence and the tools to step into their leadership and own that space as well as motivating both themselves and inspiring their wider team,” she continued.

“We are looking forward to taking more Centre Managers on our next Study Tour and hearing about how they’re implementing learnings in their centres across Australia.”