MARCH 2026
With such bustling days, many children, many families, many demands placed upon educators, busy management teams and an unbelievable amount of correspondence coming in and going out, excellent communication is an absolute necessity for the daily operation of any early years’ service.
When communication falters, there’s no doubt that multiple stakeholders are affected. When an email from a family sharing important information about their child has not been passed on from management to the relevant educators, the level of care for that child is diminished. Trust is compromised. Relationships are damaged. Professionalism takes a hit. The reputation of the service is damaged. And, depending upon the severity of the consequences, it can be difficult to bounce back from. It’s like a ripple effect; when one vital piece of communication is not accurately and successfully passed on, others feel the effects and may suffer.
In my experience, tools put in place for effective communication are key to the smooth and successful operation of a service. I recall two incidents of poor communication in particular, (unfortunately, both of these occurred at the same service) which, at the time, made my role difficult to fulfill, and caused significant stress.
The first, was when I took my kindergarten children out to play in one area of the yard. After a few minutes, a member of the management team came out to tell me this area was closed, as a snake was sighted in there earlier that day. I instantly felt both anger and despair.
Anger that the lack of effective communication at this service could have resulted in very serious outcomes for one or more children, and despair that other educators and the management team hadn’t taken a proactive approach to communicating this important information to the entire team.
The second, was when my manager came into my room as I was transitioning the children indoors for our morning meeting, to tell me that a presenter had arrived for a planned incursion. I had not been informed at any point in time of this incursion. The manager apologised for forgetting to tell me and told me that he was ready to come in, right away. I asked for a few minutes with the children first, to settle them as they transitioned, and to set the expectations with them for this particular incursion, which I felt important in terms of managing behaviours. The manager agreed and left. Immediately after, the presenter for the incursion walked in and began greeting the children as they were transitioning in, organising their belongings, and gathering on the mat. It was pure chaos. The children became overwhelmed, over excited, climbed all over the presenter, ran around the room, screamed and yelled at him, began touching and pulling at his resources, and it took me a long time to get the children settled and actually ready to listen to him.
In both cases, an established process for communication, or even better yet, a tool of some kind, would have been greatly beneficial. It would have prevented the miscommunication along with the risk of danger, stress and chaos. In my experience, the best methods of communication in a service, have been the use of a communication book, and the manager’s morning routine consisting of checking in with every individual team member to maintain effective and ongoing communication.
At services where a communication book was effectively used, the book was located beside the staff sign-in sheet/tablet. Upon signing in, all team members were expected to read the communication book that morning, as well as on their break. All team members were able to access and add to the book. They typically used this book to share messages from families, record phone call messages, share messages from the management team, share notifications of children and educators that were away that day, share notifications of any changes to the daily routine, notify of any visitors or events that were expected, and share general housekeeping messages.
When the manager approached everyone in the morning, she would have a quick friendly chat to see how they were each going. She would also obtain any communications from families that had been made to the team, and she would also pass on any relevant messages for the morning. Yes, this took maybe ten to fifteen minutes out of the manager’s morning, but it was very effective for maintaining accurate communication, and in helping the team to feel heard and supported.
Any early years’ service is going to be dealing with a phenomenal amount of communication each day. It is vital that means are put in place to enable ease and accuracy of communication. What communication tools or processes have you experienced that are effective? Share your thoughts below.
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