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Education
05. Dealing with Setbacks
Even the most successful businesses out there experience setbacks
at some point throughout the journey. The road to success is not
built on a straight line. Make it part of your school’s culture to
welcome failure and see it as a stepping stone to learn. “Take time
to review the cause, review your standard operating procedures
and update if necessary to reduce chance of events repeating
themselves or to clarify procedure. Maintain a positive mindset,
learn from past experiences and mistakes, and improve,” remarks
Ellis of Hi-5 House of Learning and Chow of San Lorenzo Preschool.
“It is crucial to keep maintaining the service standards in order to
gain the trust of parents. Any strong, longstanding parent-teacher
or teacher-principal relationship will be able to weather setbacks if
you are proactive in the communication front on a regular basis,”
adds Goh of The children’s house.
06. Keep It Going and Growing
Build the kindergarten as if you will own it forever. People who are
in it to make a quick buck rarely succeed.
“
Conduct regular staff training and ensure excellent
teaching and learning in the school; review and develop
programmes to ensure quality and relevance; continue to
widen your marketing strategy.”
-- Heather Ellis, International Director of
Learning of Hi-5 House of Learning
All teams behind these inspiring schools stress on the importance
of maintaining the quality of the deliverables: deliver a strong
programme through a quality curriculum, be consistent with
the operating standards, sustain the environment’s safety and
cleanliness, maintain educator’s morale and performance, remain
committed, and keep that passion burning. “Value everyone’s
contribution and work as a team. Support your people, who
Image taken from 3Q MRC Junior Kindergarten, Taman Midah
support your mindset, which supports your vision,” adds Lim of
MRC Educare.
The real success behind all featured schools is down to recognizing
that parents are also partners in the educational process. They
recognize the importance of creating a community where
information is communicated and exchanged regularly, and
personally. Ellis of Hi-5 House of Learning suggests to “send
newsletters, have parent meetings, encourage regular face-toface
communication between teachers and parents.” We cannot
educate our children without reaching out to their parents.
“Parenting workshops are a great way to get families to take
initiative to actively support their children’s development and
learning,” remarks Chow of San Lorenzo Preschool. The schools
have open door policies that welcomes parents and expresses
concern for their needs, as well as their child’s needs. The focus
should be set on sustaining healthy relationships built on trust with
parents in order for the school to survive and succeed.
Above all, do not forget to enjoy the journey and be happy
because at the end of the day, parents just want their children
to be enveloped by joyous vibes. “It all comes from within, with
happy children comes happy parents,” expresses Goh from The
children’s house. You do not have to sacrifice your sanity to build a
booming kindergarten business. Strive for a balance.
Acknowledgements:
We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to Seng
Hui Goh of The children’s house, Heather Ellis of Hi-5 House of
Learning, Adele Chow of San Lorenzo Preschool and Reich Lim
of MRC Educare for the invaluable contributions and insight into
becoming a successful leader in the early childhood education and
care sector. Without which this article would be impossible.
Image taken from San Lorenzo Preschool
Note:
Kindergartens featured in this article are not mentioned in any
order of prestige, achievements or quality.
Kiddy123 VOL 02 13