Raising the Bar in Early Childhood: How We’re Different from the Centres in the Headlines

Recent reports like the Four Corners investigation into Australia’s child care sector have left many parents understandably shaken. Headlines have exposed the dark side of some services — from underqualified staff and unsafe environments to a lack of oversight and leadership. It’s disappointing, but not surprising. And it’s a reminder of why quality matters more than ever.

At Footsteps By Faith, we want to be clear: we are not that kind of service — not even close. While the media has shone a spotlight on what’s going wrong, we believe it’s also an opportunity to show what quality child care should look like. We don’t just comply with the National Quality Standard (NQS) — we continuously work to embed its 40 elements in our daily practice.

Here’s how we’re doing things differently — and why it matters.

🧒 Qualified, Valued, and Supported Educators

At Footsteps By Faith, every educator holds formal qualifications — from Certificate III and Diploma to Early Childhood Teaching (ECT). We recently supported a trainee to achieve their Certificate III and rather than letting them go, we made the decision to retain them. Why? Because of the meaningful relationships they had built with families. Relationships matter and we invest in them.

Our casual educators are also internally hired to ensure consistency of care. When agency educators are occasionally used, they are not permitted to be alone with children or perform personal care duties like toileting, even though the law allows it. This is just one of the ways we strengthen child safety beyond regulation.

Our team regularly engages in paid professional development — not just child protection and first aid, but high-impact workshops like “Bringing the EYLF V2.0 to Life” and behaviour training delivered by registered psychologist Marina Bailey, held onsite at our service.

Staff continuity isn’t luck — it’s design. We pay above award, offer guilt-free personal leave and always work to find relief if an educator is unwell and has to be sent home. We avoid nonsensical, “under the roof” rostering loopholes by ensuring that each room is properly staffed at all times — for example, we will ensure that two educators work in our Nursery room with five babies, rather than move children around to blend ratios simply because it’s more cost effective to do it that way. We overstaff where necessary and back our team with real support — including weekly hot lunches, paid team meetings, quarterly team events, and regular non-contact time for programming.

We listen to our educators and we back them. Most importantly, we lead by example. As Approved Providers, we’re in the rooms when help is needed and are actively involved in the improvement of the standards throughout the service.

🏡 A Safe, Visible, and Evolving Environment

Our physical environment is open-plan and designed for maximum visibility. Safety and flexibility go hand in hand — we adjust our spaces to meet the changing needs of the children, because we don’t believe that “set and forget” is good enough. We also have security cameras installed throughout the service — not to supervise, but to protect both children and staff and to ensure transparency and accountability.

We maintain at least two educators in our learning spaces at all times, wherever possible. Even when ratios would allow for less, we don’t believe a single educator in a room is ideal. We believe in safe, shared supervision — and in open, daily communication between educators and management to identify safety concerns immediately.

Our management team stays actively informed. For example, if a child arrives with an unexplained scratch, our Nominated Supervisors are notified. We care enough to notice. We care enough to ask.

Our families notice too. One of the things they regularly comment on is the children’s sense of belonging within the service. For example, their artworks and thoughtful displays fill our service. These aren’t Pinterest decorations — they’re real, evolving reflections of children’s creativity and a deep sense of belonging.

📚 A Curriculum That Belongs to the Children

We don’t deliver a one-size-fits-all curriculum. Ours is play-based, child-led and rooted in Montessori and Reggio Emilia principles. It’s a living, breathing program — shaped by children’s interests, informed by educator reflection and discussed regularly by our leadership team.

It’s not about filling out documentation to meet compliance. It’s about deeply knowing each child — their rhythms, preferences, challenges and strengths — and planning accordingly. Our consistency of educators means that children are known well and that means their learning is genuinely individualised.

For us, school readiness isn’t about worksheets or stencils. It’s about confidence, curiosity and strong social-emotional foundations. Our environments shift with the children — not the other way around.

🤝 Relationships with Children and Families That Actually Mean Something

Our team of educators are familiar faces. Every day. The same educators greet the children, settle them and support their learning. This consistency helps children feel safe, which is the foundation for mutual respect.

Communication with families is not a formality — it’s a culture. We talk. We listen. We collaborate. Families know how their child’s day was, what challenges or triumphs occurred and are part of decision-making conversations from the start.

One example: a toddler in our care was highly unsettled during their first week; they were particularly sensitive to stimulation from the comings and goings through their room’s main door. As a team, we chose to reroute staff movement throughout the service to reduce stimulation in that space. It worked. That’s the kind of detailed care we provide — because it matters.

🌱 Leadership That’s Present, Faith-Led, and Accountable

Our service is shaped by our values, which you can read here. Although we operate as a secular service, we are Christian owners and our faith informs our approach — kindness, empathy, community and integrity are foundational to everything we do.

Since November 2022, we (Val and Dan) have been physically present in the service most weekdays (and on occasion, weekends). We don’t lead from a distance. Our presence has helped transform Footsteps By Faith from a struggling service into a high-quality environment — one that’s calm, connected and continuously improving.

💬 In Summary

The reports in the media are shocking — but they also present an opportunity. They ask parents to dig deeper, ask the challenging questions and demand more.

At Footsteps By Faith, we welcome that.

We’re not just meeting the National Quality Standard — we are building a service that intends to exceed it across all seven Quality Areas. In future blog posts, we’ll share how we meet (and surpass) each individual NQS element, using real-life examples and reflective practice. Transparency isn't optional — it’s our standard.

📌 Want to see it for yourself? Book a Tour and find out what quality early education should look like.