Multi-track Career Path Epitomises NTUC First Campus' People-Focused Value

2. The three career tracks that NTUC First Campus preschool educators can embark on are the teaching, leadership, and curriculum paths. Two new positions, Mentor Teacher and Senior Principal, are created in the teaching and leadership paths respectively; NTUC First Campus is the first in the industry to introduce such a scheme.

3. Mentor Teachers are positive role models who are strong in teaching and possess the aptitude to impart their knowledge and experience to younger teachers by providing feedback and coaching them on lesson delivery and children management. Mentor Teachers also have the opportunity to assist in the setup of centres and evaluate overall learning programmes.

4. Ms Michelle Thomas, 28, from The Caterpillar's Cove, was promoted to be NTUC First Campus' first Mentor Teacher. Started her career as an English Teacher in 2002, Michelle's last position was a Senior English Teacher. Delighted with her new position, Michelle said, "My passion lies in teaching and sharing of my experiences. I thought that a Senior Teacher is the furthest I can progress on the teaching path. But now with this new role, I will be learning to support the professional growth and development of teachers, especially that of beginning teachers and fresh graduates."

5. Teachers who showed strength and interest in researching, assessing and designing curricula, teaching materials, and educational programmes can also excel on the curriculum path. Ms Kou Ye, 44, is one teacher who progressed from a Chinese Teacher in 2001 to a Curriculum Officer after 11 years in the profession. As a people developer organisation who believes in investing in employees' development and upgrading, NTUC First Campus sponsored Ms Kou Ye for her Diploma in Pre-school Teaching and Chinese Bachelor Degree.

6. Since 2008, NTUC First Campus has been investing steadily in staff development and upgrading, with sponsorship and scholarship amounting to close to more than $1.5 million from 2008 to June this year.

Staff Engagement Survey Findings Affirms NTUC First Campus as an Employer of Choice

7. NTUC First Campus, the industry's leading preschool operator, conducted an employee survey[1] in early March this year and saw responses from over 90% of the staff. Key findings ranked NTUC First Campus favorably as an employer of choice, particularly in the areas of pay and rewards, and career development.

8. In the area of pay and reward, the favourable score received by NTUC First Campus was 20 percentage points higher than Singapore National Norm[2]; and when it comes to career development, NTUC First Campus's favourable score was 10 percentage points higher than the Singapore National Norm too.

9. Mr Chan Tee Seng, Chief Executive Officer, NTUC First Campus said, "This year's survey results gave a clear indication that our initiatives in raising the pay and benefits for our early childhood professionals last year were well-received. And this year, our focus is on helping our staff to live their aspirations by realising their potential in areas that they have the greatest strength and interest, hence the birth of the Career Theme Park Framework." He added, "We're very encouraged to learn from our staff that we're on the right track, and will continue to make early childhood a profession a career of choice and NTUC First Campus an employer of choice."

NTUC FIRST CAMPUS TO MAKE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION A CAREER OF CHOICE

• Leading pre-school operator’s strategy to attract and retain talents is paying off
• Embarking on providing Structured Career Progression Opportunities and Options for the early childhood professionals

NTUC First Campus, Singapore’s largest early childhood industry player, announced today the introduction of its structured and diverse career tracks for early childhood professionals. This comes as the next key strategic initiative after its focus last year on ensuring that the salary of the early childhood professional was able to attract and retain quality talents into the industry.

NTUC First Campus is opening 46 new childcare centres this year from its 54 centres in 2009, bringing the total number of centres by the end of this year to 100. Ten centres were opened in January 2010 and they are fully staffed with about 75% enrolment within 6 months of opening.

Improved recruitment, retention, and quality

NTUC First Campus is confident of meeting its target of recruiting 350 new pre-school teachers and 100 infant care teachers from now to end 2010. To date, it has secured 70% of the critical positions needed for these new centres. On-going efforts are in place to fill the remaining positions.

More early childhood education professionals are keen to stay on and build their careers with the industry leader, as efforts to recognize and groom staff bear fruit. The attrition rate has dropped by a third, from 30% in 2008 to 20% in 2009. Despite the large number of new hires in 2010, NTUC First Campus aims to maintain its retention rates.

Professionals and graduates are seeing NTUC First Campus as their employer of choice. In the second half of 2010, some 85 candidates who have undergone the Professional Conversion Programme funded by SPURS, and supported by MCYS, will join NTUC First Campus, after completing a 12 month accelerated programme in Professional Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education (PDECCE). These mid-career entrants have Diploma or Degree qualifications from local and overseas institutions and prior experience in other industries before they switched to be early childhood professionals. This year, of the cohort of 62 graduates from the Wheelock Bachelor of Science Degree Programme, 24 of them (or four in ten) are joining NTUC First Campus. The graduates from the Wheelock Bachelor of Science Programme are generally recognized as the cream of the crop among the pre-service group of students entering the early childhood field.

“We are very gratified to be able to attract more people to join the early childhood profession, and in particular, NTUC First Campus. They join us because they have a strong passion to work with young children. In the last two years, we have made the pay and benefits better and more competitive. But beyond passion and pay, we must make early childhood a meaningful career, and let people grow with us. This is our focus for the next phase of our development and we will announce a series of initiatives to our staff next month”, said Mr Chan.

Career Tracks provides wide career opportunities and development

By offering multiple career tracks, opportunities for cross-track movement and new specialized roles, the social enterprise will be the industry’s first to provide such wide career options and advancement opportunities for early childhood education professionals on the teaching, specialist and leadership tracks. It also aims to generate greater interest for Singapore’s early childhood education profession.

Strengthening teacher and leadership development is the “people” extension of its growth strategy as NTUC First Campus seeks to address an industry-wide manpower shortage. It will introduce new roles in the industry such as Mentor Teacher and Senior Principal. What used to be the pinnacle for teachers as Senior Teachers backed by skills and experience, the progression to Mentor Teacher which are for teachers who are good role models and strong in teaching, opens up a whole new level of contribution for teachers. They have the opportunity of leading in learning centre set-up, advise and evaluate overall learning programmes and provide advice and feedback to teachers on lesson delivery and children management.

“We want to provide our professionals a career in this field where they can grow. LIVE! Your Aspirations in the ‘Land Of Possibilities’ in First Campus opens up choices to staff, ‘rides they are comfortable to take’. They can stay and do well as a teacher or they might want to be on an accelerated path of development as a curriculum specialist, take up a role in HQ or a leadership role as a Principal and even as a lecturer in SEED Institute,” said Mrs Geraldine Lee, its Chief Human Resource Officer.

With the career tracks and job roles defined, staff will be assessed and developed on the competencies. Staff can plan and be prepared for these roles in advance.

Grow With Us Program

NTUC First Campus has designed a program specifically to groom experienced early childhood teachers into Principals. The six-month program – “Grow With Us” - will roll out in August 2010. To date, it has received 74 applications. Applicants went through a rigorous selection process including ability tests, case studies and panel interview with portfolio presentations. The program will equip these experienced early childhood teachers with business and leadership skills through group strategy sessions, applied workshops, case discussions and life applications as a Principal at the centre. This program is made available to existing teachers with NTUC First Campus and external experienced early childhood teachers who aspire to become Principals. NTUC First Campus will require 40 new Principals by end 2010. A similar programme for experienced teachers to become mentor teachers will be introduced soon.

To celebrate and launch its new initiatives, a staff event will be held on 23 July 2010 at Universal Studios to signify the opportunities within NTUC First Campus as a career theme park. Details of the initiatives will be shared with the 1,500 staff, and team-bonding games and activities held in line with the “Career Theme Park” concept.

15 April 2010

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15 January 2010

NTUC First Campus raises quality of local infant care services through health care partnerships.

Memorandum of Understanding with National University Hospital marks the first local infant care collaboration.

Parents at NTUC First Campus’ child care centres will soon have an added level of assurance when it comes to their infants’ holistic development.

NTUC First Campus, Singapore’s largest child care service provider, announced two major collaborations today:
• A partnership with the National University Hospital (NUH). NUH’s University Children’s Medical Institute (UCMI) and Dietetics Department will jointly develop a new infant care programme and enhance the training programme for infant care teachers islandwide.
• Separately, NTUC First Campus will also work with a network of retired nurses to enhance its infant care services.

The collaborations are part of NTUC First Campus’ strategic direction to raise the bar for its infant care services since the social enterprise accelerated its expansion plans last year. Among its network of 68 pre-school centres, 27 currently offer infant care services. NTUC First Campus expects to double its infant care centres to 50 by the year’s end.

NTUC First Campus and NUH to raise infant care standard for its pre-school brands as well as the early childhood education industry

The announcements were made at a ceremony today where NTUC First Campus and NUH signed a Memorandum of Understanding to mark their partnership. This local partnership, the first to be formalised in Singapore, brings together the combined expertise of a leading early childhood institution, and a major health care institution.

“The developmental years of a child are crucial and through this collaboration, we hope to give these children a head-start in life by enhancing the overall standard and quality of early childhood health and education”, said Mr Joe Sim, NUH’s Chief Executive Officer.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the partnership consists of two main areas:

i. New centre-based infant care programme in NTUC First Campus’ infant care centres
NTUC First Campus will develop a new infant care programme in consultation with NUH’s UCMI and Dietetics departments for their medical expertise. The team will develop a new infant care programme designed to foster positive parent-teacher-child relationships and holistic development of infant– including areas such as health, safety, nutrition, physical, social, emotional, language and mental development. Professionals from both NTUC First Campus and NUH will jointly review and design daily routines and activities for infants according to their developmental stages. They will also develop assessment tools and guides to help the teachers to address the holistic development of infants.

Infant care teachers will undergo training to equip them with the knowledge and skills to implement the new programme, and learn how to better share and help parents understand their infants’ developmental milestones. The UCMI doctors will also conduct scheduled health checks for the infants and extend the UCMI’s educational talks and programmes to the parents.

The new infant-care programme will be gradually implemented in NTUC First Campus’ network of child-care centres from mid this year. It will start with the Little Skool House International’s centres, followed by My First Skool’s pre-schools with infant care services.

ii. Enhanced training programme for Singapore’s infant care teachers under NTUC’s SEED Institute

NTUC’s SEED Institute will work with NUH to enhance the syllabus for the Certificate in Infant and Toddler Care and Development (CIT) programme[1]. SEED Institute will offer the new CIT programme from mid-2010.

SEED Institute’s lecturers will work with NUH’s dieticians, doctors and nurses to co-deliver relevant programme modules, including infants’ growth and development milestones, nutritional needs and child safety, to provide infant care teachers with more relevant and up-to-date information in medical care and paediatrics. Infant care teachers will be better able to monitor the overall progress of the infants and toddlers and understand childhood diseases more deeply.

Said Associate Professor Daniel Goh, Head of Department of Paediatrics, University Children’s Medical Institute, National University Hospital, “Apart from bringing the best treatments to sick children, UCMI also focuses on early detection and intervention as well as facilitating and enabling optimal child health through education and disease prevention. Our collaboration with NTUC First Campus is very much in line with our vision which is to shape children’s health for the future. We hope to be able to impact a large sector of our young in Singapore, the future of our nation.”

Dr Melinda Eng, NTUC First Campus’ Senior Advisor, Curriculum added, “Fostering positive relationships and experiences will help young children perform and relate better to others. This partnership will enhance our infant-care teachers’ awareness of the latest health care knowledge, enabling greater objectivity when gauging infants’ progression towards developmental milestones. This awareness will also help them plan programmes that best support the infants’ growth and development.”

Tapping on Retired Nurses’ expertise and experience

NTUC First Campus will also tap on a pool of retired nurses with a wealth of expertise and practical experience in caring for infants. In consideration of its pre-school brands’ scale, two implementation approaches have been adopted:

• My First Skool - System of Health & Safety practices for its network
As Child Health Advocates, retired nurses will work with My First Skool’s principals and infant care teachers to evaluate, enhance and put in place best practices in health, safety and care. A pilot project in 3 infant care centres: Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio and Yew Tee are in progress. The practices to be implemented will gradually be introduced to the rest of its pre-schools.

• The Little Skool-House International – On-site support
A pilot has begun in two centres, since December 2009, to include retired trained nurse onsite, as part of the infant care team. As Infant Care and Health Officer, the nurse works with the infant care teachers in providing care to the infants, give health and safety advice and share knowledge relating to the provision of care to the infant care givers including parents. Initial response from parents has been positive.

Mr Chan Tee Seng, NTUC First Campus’ Chief Executive Officer said: “Caring for infants is not only labour-intensive but a very heavy and onerous responsibility. NTUC First Campus is committed to provide the best care and developmental opportunities for children. As demand for our infant care services grow, it is critical that our teachers are better equipped with the skills, knowledge, and expertise to give parents greater confidence, and ensure the best care for their infants.”

• Centre for Research and Best Practices,
• Centre for Continuous Professional Development,
• Centre for Higher Education,
• Centre for Professional Qualifications, and
• the Office for Regional Partnership.

Bringing Kindergarten Learning to New Heights

About 2,200 Kindergarten children from 20 PCF (People's Action Party Community Foundation) centres will benefit from a new and upgraded quality of teaching and learning, designed to enhance their all-round development and readiness for school.

Five PAP constituencies in the Jurong and Bukit Timah areas have combined forces to improve the quality that each PCF centre is capable of delivering by partnering with NTUC First Campus, Singapore’s early childhood education industry leader.

Under this partnership, NTUC First Campus provides customised training for teachers, ensures quality and consistency in the delivery of a new curriculum, and helps to create a better physical learning environment.

A launch was held to cement this partnership on 12 May 2009, and the 20 centres are now known as Little Wings.

Over the last 12 months, efforts focused mainly on implementing a consistent curriculum throughout all Little Wings centres. Special attention was paid to training and helping teachers to implement the curriculum and a new way of engaging young children in teaching and learning.

Other improvements implemented include:

• Requiring each teacher to undergo 250 hours of training to equip them in the requirements of the new curriculum.
• Setting up of a teacher mentorship system to help teachers translate their learning to classroom settings.
• Introducing a small group learning approach to allow more effective delivery of lesson objectives and monitoring of children’s progress.
• Producing and developing new learning materials.