Jen's update

Predictably, the COVID-19 lockdown period was slow, with a great deal of community uncertainty, whānau unable to visit kindergartens, and our online advertising paused for the duration.

We worked hard to maintain our profile with COVID-19-related material over that period, and videos featuring teachers were some of our most popular content ever.

A lot of the content we gathered from you over the lockdown period is relevant to a non-COVID environment, so we will be releasing that over the next few months onto the Kidsfirst YouTube channel and promoting it through Facebook.

The good news is that queries and enrolments have picked up again since we relaunched our online marketing, with with applications via the website for this month presently up 37% on last year - despite us operating for a shorter period.

We are hearing from a lot of parents whose circumstances have changed, but it's not all bad for us: in many cases, whānau no longer require the longer hours provided by daycare and childcare centres and are exploring alternatives. Some of those who wanted to their child to attend kindergarten in the past but couldn't, are now able to make it work for them.

We know that some kindergartens have lost children for a time, while parents wait and see what will happen with COVID-19. The good news is that more than 75% of our tamariki are now back, with many other whānau letting us know that their tamariki will return soon.

We are closely monitoring all roll and waitlist numbers to ensure kindergartens that need marketing support, get it. Very often, the most effective profile-building activities happen at a local level. Something that kindergartens are noticing - and that is backed up by other data - is that parents will very often encounter Kidsfirst in a number of settings before exploring the website further, making a phone call, committing to a kindergarten visit, and in many cases, an application.

So - be patient, remain proactive, and keep in close contact with waitlist whānau, who may well also be looking again at their plans for ECE, in the light of COVID-19. Don't forget our Stay-and-Play whānau, too, who won't have been into the kindergarten for some months now.

While the advertising continues to build momentum, this is a great time to think about your own local profile - check out how here.

Noho ora mai – stay well, look after yourself.

Jenny Pitama

Manager – Business Development