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| Child care person in the spotlight:
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| Suzanne Parker
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What is your name?
My name is Suzanne Joy Parker and I am the General Manager and Founder of Guppy's Early Learning Centres.
Which centre do you work in? How many staff and children are in the centre?
As an Approved Provider I own 10 LDC Centres in Brisbane and regional Queensland and we are soon to open another two in Brisbane.
What is your professional background and career experience?
I have been working directly in the child care industry for just under 10 years, but before that was involved in the aged care industry.
What attracted you to a career in child care?
Connecting with families and ensure all children are educated and have a place of fun.
What does a 'normal' day look like for you?
Training with my management team, meeting with staff, parents and engaging with children
What makes your centre unique?
Our vision is to provide exceptional child care through personalised service and so our service is designed around the personalised needs of our parents, child and staff.
As approved Providers we are hands on with all operational requirements of our services.
What are some of the advantages of working in the child care sector?
We get to work with some wonderful staff and we get to care and educate the young children of Australia.
What are some of the biggest challenges facing the child care sector?
Providing high quality child care and balancing this with the costs of operating a long day child care service and the costs of this to our parents.
How has your centre changed to deal with these challenges?
We have used training, technology and management systems across all of our centres to ensure we deliver high quality child care as efficiently as possible.
How does the industry need to change to adapt to these challenges?
Be more responsive to the needs and requirements of parents, children and staff by asking them what they want and delivering on these requirements.
What advice would you offer someone thinking about a career or looking for a promotion in child care?
Be passionate about all aspects of child care. Obviously the compliance and education components are paramount, but also learn the business aspects of child care because a successful child care operation must take into account four main areas: business, people, customer and compliance. Success across these four parts of child care ensures everyone wins.
Australia needs us to care and educate their young children. Keep being passionate about child care and you are not only helping your families and their staff, but you are helping Australia as a whole.
Guppy's Early Learning Centres
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