Our parent committee

The president plays a crucial role as the person who must maintain management oversight of the kinder, while guiding the work of the Committee to support delivery of the kinder service. This involves considerable relationship management and the president works very closely with the kinder Director and Committee Executive, while maintaining awareness of wider Committee work. The president is also responsible for managing stakeholder relationships and representing the interests of the kinder in discussions with Ripponlea Primary School, Glen Eira Council, Department of Education (DET), Early Learning Association of Australia, and in various other forums.

Over the years, the Early Education sector has attracted significant government funding, resulting in infrastructure upgrades and changes to the kinder's programs, staffing and budget. At times, this has required proactive engagement and advocacy to DET about the impact of its policy initiatives on the kinder. While policy or legal experience would be beneficial to assist future presidents in this regard, the most important skills, which anyone could have, are a curious mind, a desire to achieve the best outcomes for the kinder and pure tenacity to resolve any issue.

The president is the approved provider of the service and risk management, due process and governance inform every decision. The executive team provides excellent support and brings a wealth of other skills and experience which facilitates a healthy consensus-based model of decision making.

The VP works closely with the staff, Executive Committee and other committee members to support the workforce and staff development needs of the kinder. Anyone who has worked in education, not for profit, HR or management roles will have great, transferable skills, but the role could also be taken on by someone looking to build and learn skills in this area. 

There is opportunity to lead or support particular projects linked to service change and development if that is an interest area, for example changes to programming in response to State Government reforms. This role also works closely with other executive team members to build committee and governance experience, without necessarily taking on the demands of the role of President.

There are a mix of regular and one-off tasks depending on what is happening at kinder. Policy reviews, oversight of staff hours and meeting attendance and reporting are a regular and short term input of 2–3 hours each fortnight or month. Staff appraisals and contribution to contract updates or reviews are supported by the admin officer and take place twice a year.

The Secretary role is a member of the executive team and is involved in key decisions.

This role requires good organisation and coordination, but no technical skills are necessary – anyone with a little bit of enthusiasm and a good diary reminder system would be great.

The busiest times are during the monthly committee meetings (once per month) and ahead of the AGM in mid-November. Otherwise the the role is very manageable and you will be very able to support other team members as necessary.

The treasurer usually has skills in budgeting and forecasting, and projects the financial impact of changes to the kinder's funding or expenses. For example, maybe the government is changing its funding policy, or maybe staffing requirements are changing and therefore expenses will too.

Monthly reporting, BAS and payroll is handled by our bookkeeper rather than the treasurer.

The grants writer searches the internet for any potential grants that come up throughout the year that could benefit the kindergarten. Applying for a grant involves checking off the eligibility criteria, collating all the required information and drafting the application. As grants usually have a short application window, the grants writer has to ensure the application is submitted by the close date.

In recent years grants have allowed the kinder to have a kitchen refurbishment, landscaping and sun shades for our wonderful outdoor space, a new accessible bathroom, new IT equipment for educators and new sensory equipment for children. Although there may be some busy periods in the role, the position is very satisfying when the grant application is successful and even more so when you finally see the fulfilment of a project.

The enrolment officer has a busy, but structured role in terms of the calendar of events. In between these items, the enrolment officer answers future parents' queries in a prompt manner, usually with a short email. The role requires someone organised, with good attention to detail and who is transparent and fair. You will learn a lot about early childhood teaching priorities and models of care, and also gained insight into the background workings of our amazing kinder staff members & CoM team.

This role involves planning and running both social and fundraising events and recruiting volunteers along the way to help! While a rough outline of the role exists, new ideas for events are always welcomed with any social gathering that brings parents and families together, a great contribution to strengthening ties in our community and raising some funds for the kinder. 

The main responsibility of the maintenance and sustainability officer is to liaise with the kinder about any maintenance issues that need attention during the term. The maintenance officer can then either fix or repair the issue themselves, or organise a trade to do the job. 

The other key part of the role is to organise one working bee per term. Expect to do some runs to the hardware store, and, as a key holder, you may need to be on hand to open the kinder or let in trades. 

The sustainability part of the role has a focus on making changes to the kinder's environment that improves sustainability outcomes, either through composting, recycling, energy efficiency, water management or other relevant initiatives.

The purpose of this role is to showcase the kinder and fill vacant enrolments for this or next year. This role will appeal to anyone with a marketing or digital background, or perhaps a design or communications background. The role focuses on the online presence (online reviews, Google Ads, Meta Ads, analytics), promoting our Open Days and public events, and communicating vacancies through channels like the school newsletter.

This role primarily involves monitoring the progress of goals, projects and initiatives to support our staff and the kinder community document achievements and track areas identified for improvement. No QA experience, no worries! Just a keen eye for detail is all you need. There's plenty of resources and support available along the way.