COVID-19 has disrupted the lives and development of young children in a big way.
An Australian survey examined that 20% of one to five-year old's have experienced disruptive behaviours and symptoms of anxiety and/or depression since the onset of COVID-19. Children at these ages are in a critical developmental period when it is well-advised that they have a balanced daily routine, quality sleep, and regular social interaction. Without this extra care, they can miss out on learning milestones that support them for the future. For parents, the best thing your organisation can do as a childcare provider is offer support and let them know you’re there to help get their child back on track to achieve key development milestones.
Childcare centres and services play a significant role in early child development. At this time, Australian childcare experts are encouraging parents to keep their children in care to continue developing their general learning and social interactions. However, some parents are still a bit anxious to enrol their child. To counter this, you and your team must build a strategy that helps alleviate stress for parents and answers important questions about their child’s health and safety. Start by taking a look at what families are looking for when enquiring for care during COVID-19.
1) Health & Safety Measures
As busy as today’s parents are, it can be hard for them to keep up with the latest COVID-19 protocols. Parents are likely asking themselves: Do I wear a mask? Does my child have to be vaccinated? Where do I drop off and pick up my child?
Having one central place or communication method where parents receive essential COVID-19 updates and protocols will support families and help them feel more informed about how to keep their child safe at the centre. Updates should be sent in a quick, easy to read method – such as a text message.
60% of today’s parents prefer text messaging over email and it typically takes less than 90 seconds for parents to read and process the message. This ensures they stay up to date with your organisation’s rules and regulations. It also helps them feel more confident about their child’s safety during drop-offs as they know that your centre is well-equipped to keep their child healthy.
Other family resources such as the Parent Handbook and the childcare organisation’s website should also be a place for concrete information about COVID-19 protocols and rules. Key updates and health information are always changing so make sure parents know and understand the changes by re-signing the parent handbook.
2) Ongoing Communication And Updates
Communication is key, especially when parents aren’t able to visit the centre in-person to ask questions like they used to. Provide families with information about health and safety protocols, their waitlist status, and their child’s development status. Parents want to know how their child’s learning and development are going to help them feel reassured that sending them to care was the right thing to do. If parents are on the waitlist, keep them updated on how far along they are and what they can do to prepare for their upcoming enrolment.
3) Virtual Options
COVID-19 has pushed for major advancements in technology. These improvements have helped childcare centres host virtual tours, build at-home learning resources, automate digital payments, move enrolment paperwork to an online platform, and more!
Families are always looking to see if centres have a solid plan in place if lockdown or closures are to happen again. And since families are investing both time and money for their child to have the best care and start of their life, centre closures or lockdowns ideally shouldn’t disrupt their child from learning and developing in their first few years.
4) Flexibility & Reassurance
Lastly, families' biggest concern when selecting care is trust and reassurance. KidsMatter Early Childhood, a national initiative focusing on children's mental health and wellbeing in early childhood education and care services, stated that families and staff who act more as partners (rather than mere businesses transactors) will experience more satisfaction when they interact with one another. If families are slightly late to pick up their child, they want to know that the educators or centre director will be there to support the family and give them that little extra help they need. Small gestures can make a big difference. For example, if a family uses English as a second language and your staff take a little extra time to help them understand your new COVID-19 protocols or even send them a translated version of the new measures, this action will go a long way in getting them to trust and remain loyal to your centre.
ChildcareCRM is built for early education providers during any circumstance. Use ChildcareCRM’s workflow automation and group communication to keep families engaged with communication and important information without using more manual labour hours. ChildcareCRM’s drag and drop email feature also consists of personalisation fields, image content boxes and hyperlinks to help get your messages across to families of different interests, age groups or lead statuses.
Schedule a demo to see how ChildcareCRM can help you better communicate with families.
