Member in the Spotlight: Edge Early Learning

The Leading Edge: The importance of empowering our educators

Early childhood education is essential in a child’s life assisting with enhancing their social and intellectual development while setting them up to be lifelong learners.

Edge Early Learning is a privately owned and operated company, established in 2017, with a rapidly growing number of centres across Queensland, South Australia and the ACT.

Providing quality education and care for children aged from 6-weeks to school age, Edge is committed to delivering an exceptional early learning experience so that all children in its care can discover their potential and start school with a love of learning.

Edge understands that for our youngest generations to have optimal learning outcomes and development opportunities, it starts with having the best on the frontline - their educators and employees.

Providing quality education and care for children is Edge’s main driver. But they are equally passionate about employing the right people for the job and believe this has set their foundation for high-quality centres with excellent team cultures.

“Our quest is to become Australia’s leading provider of early childhood education. We know in order to deliver the best quality education and care, we need to empower our educators,” Edge Early Learning CEO Annie Bryce said.

“We truly value our employees and constantly seek new ways to reward them. One of the many ways we do this is by providing our team members with the environment, resources, and support required to ensure children have access to state-ofthe-art learning opportunities tailored to their development.”

Here are some of Edge’s many initiatives in support of its educators and employees.

Liberating our leaders participating in massive milestones daily. On the other hand, Centre Directors and Coordinators work in a leadership capacity, benefitting from the expertise and support of their Area Managers and the Support Office team. at the door. We love bringing people on who have different backgrounds, who might love yoga or cooking, for example, and we look to see how we can incorporate those interests into our centres to create rich educational experiences.”

As a team of lifelong learners, internal growth and development is a big part of the Edge approach.

The ‘Leading Edge’ program offers personal professional development to help Centre Directors learn and grow, and the team is constantly looking to – but not following– the industry to ensure it is leading the way.

In 2020, Edge launched its leadership program – created to provide support so that team members could regularly connect in order to share knowledge and updates, and empower each other to incubate innovation, strength and leadership within their individual teams.

Edge Centre Directors are given a platform to help shape Edge Early Learning as a whole, and their role goes beyond their own centre. Each month, Centre Directors are invited to come together and discuss key topics as part of monthly professional conversations. Topics covered are based on the 7 quality areas outlined in the National Quality Standards guide.

Edge Centre Directors also gather annually for an all-expenses paid weekend to connect and refresh, while gaining invaluable knowledge through inspiring workshops and motivational speakers.

Over the past year, Edge has drawn 50 Centre Directors from across Australia – Queensland, South Australia, and the ACT – to congregate across a weekend together in Brisbane. It commenced with a leadership workshop that coached the Centre Directors on how to lead confidently and clearly, to drive team performance. The session was specifically tailored to their role and covered a range of topics from ‘moods and innovation’, ‘habits and way of being’, ‘listening beyond prejudice’, and ‘mobilising teams’.

Working at Edge is different from being employed by any other corporate company. Edge takes pride in ensuring all staff have a voice, suggestions are heard, there are multiple support pillars, and the entire network celebrates wins together. There are many perks for being an Edge employee, including 95% off childcare fees, an extra day of leave for your birthday, above award wages, school holiday leave for ECTs, full professional uniforms provided, an employee assistance program, and annual flu vaccinations. All Edge employees also receive a paid study time allowance and paid attendance for team meetings.

Edge offers paid traineeships for those looking to enter the industry, and all roles are paid above-award wages. Leadership roles also receive monetary bonuses each quarter, and at the end of the year when the company’s Edgy Awards are announced, winners are rewarded with prizes of up to $1000.

Professional development isn’t limited, with each Edge leadership role having its own connection sessions where team members are encouraged to share ideas and continuously strive for greater outcomes in their roles.

Making a difference, together

No matter the role – Educator, Early Childhood Teacher, Centre Director, Chef, Support Office Employee

– Edge’s diverse teams are all passionate about making a positive difference in young lives within communities and ensuring they get the best start in life.

Being an emerging company with more than 50 locations across Australia, Edge constantly has roles open and opportunities for career progression available.

Edge Early Learning is an equal-opportunity employer that understands the importance of creating a diverse and inclusive work environment for its educators and families and encourage applications from people of all ages, nationalities, abilities, and cultures - committed to making reasonable adjustments to provide a barrier-free recruitment process. For more information on Edge Early Learning, visit www.edgeearlylearning.com.au

Employee benefits

A career in childcare can be equal parts rewarding and challenging.

The benefits of a job in childcare can look very different depending on what role you take up. Educators work with and learn from children through Edge’s inquiry-based approach to educating, following the child’s interests to increase their curiosity and

“The wonderful thing about working in early learning is that it accommodates so many different kinds of people and encourages us all to play to our strengths,” Edge Early Learning

People and Culture Manager Peita Heintzberger said.

“And you don’t need to leave your prior skills, experience or passions