Our Childcare Management Services

Rebecca Hutchison

General Manager | Advisor Certified

Created and implemented financial models to increase accuracy and efficiency of childcare business accounting and reporting. Working with Xero, Futrli and Modano.

Rebecca Hutchison is Finance Manager at Early Learning Management with 12+ years experience in bookkeeping & accounting in the childcare sector. Plus 20 years working in childcare centres from Assistant to Director. Rebecca was instrumental in reducing budgets through strategic plan development & implementation for an ASX listed company. As a Childcare Finance Specialist, Rebecca is in control of budgets, financial reporting & expenditures.

Rebecca holds a Certificate IV in both Accounting & Bookkeeping from the Australian Institute of Financial Services & Accounting. Rebecca is also a registered BAS Agent & Xero Advisor Certified. Her technical knowledge of childcare and accounting matters is complemented by a proactive approach to implementing systems and strategies for the benefit of childcare clients.

Communication is key to Rebecca’s approach with childcare clients. She enjoys providing solutions, whether in a financial capacity or business advisory, & being able to help clients solve any challenges they may be facing. Her favourite aspect of Early Learning Management is the people – working in a great team environment as well as building strong relationships with our childcare clients.

Naomi Freney

Office Manager | Project Administrator

Administrative support to head office & developing & implementing short & long-term marketing strategies & advertising campaigns in order to create & increase brand awareness.

Naomi functions effectively in a variety of roles within a dynamic environment. Naomi has a strong understanding of the childcare sector & is active in supporting a small office & client base across Australia. Naomi works closely with project team members, managers & leads to help deliver organisational projects efficiently. Naomi manages the administrative tasks, such as document & information distribution, managing resources, negotiating contracts, maintaining records, coordinating staff, recommending corrective actions, & hiring contractors. Naomi has a hands-on approach to her position which assists analysing business operations & identifying customer needs in order to bring the two closer together. 

Naomi acts as a bridge between employees, clients, suppliers, & the marketing team. Naomi helps planning, implementing, & monitoring marketing, branding, & advertising activities in order to improve the clients brand’s image & increase customer satisfaction. 

Naomi enjoys learning about clients & their background stories before starting a project & works closely with them to determine their situation, so clear, workable solutions can be created. 

Jenna Dawes

Head of Financial Operations

BAS agent under the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (TASA), Xero Advisor Certified

Jenna has extensive knowledge in accounting & experience implementing new accounting packages/processes into growing businesses. Jenna has over 10 years’ experience in financial-based roles & 5.5 years’ experience in an office managerial role, which has included all the aspects which you require for the role. Jenna has a Certificate 4 in Financial Services, as well as a Certificate 3 in Business Administration. Jenna is also Xero Advisor Certified. Jenna performs an in-depth analysis of each childcare business requirement, with a focus on delivering childcare business goals based on solutions to elevate productivity, efficiency, & financial performance.

Jenna is known as the Xero Guru & is constantly training clients & implementing new accounting packages/processes into growing businesses. One of her biggest passions is to allow businesses to reach their full potential. Jenna is well-versed in exercising independent judgement & solving problems independently, but also a team player.

Jenna brings a positive & proactive attitude throughout the roles & is approachable. Jenna believes that information & people are the key to a successful childcare business. Jenna has a strong understanding of information systems & the information needs of business owners & their staff.

Jenna’s role is to ensure the smooth and efficient running of the organisation by providing leadership in:

• All financial matters, including budget development, planning and reporting; managing the accounts, payroll and financial reporting of Early Learning Management and clients.
• To work as part of the Management Team to contribute financial and operational expertise in the development and implementation of organisational strategies, policies, practices, government funding and applications.
• To interact with the Management Team by providing financial reports and information to ensure sound financial and operational governance.
• To work closely with the Stakeholders and Management Team to provide financial and operational monitoring and controls on all programmes of work and activities, including producing reports and overseeing the analysis of data and budget administration.
• Act as the main point of contact for addressing any inquiries and questions related to financial operations.

Tamara King

Operations Manager

Mentoring and growing teams, supporting their professional development and developing and maintaining a positive and highly engaged workforce.

Tamara is passionate about providing authentic support direction to services to promote continuous improvement. Management and leadership experience leading teams of 25+, maintaining excellent quality customer service is a strength of Tamara. Experiences across various childcare services, covering numerous demographics, providing holistic views and personal experiences. Full office administrative experience across day-to-day operational requirements. Face-to-face support for clients, including conflict resolution, reporting to government agencies and other stakeholders. Mentoring and growing teams, supporting their professional development, and developing and maintaining a positive and highly engaged workforce. Tamara has strong HR interest and childcare knowledge of regulatory compliance.

• Advanced Diploma Community Sector Management
• Diploma in Children’s Services
• Asthma & Anaphylaxis Management
• CPR
• First Aid
• Blue Card
• Certified Supervisor Certificate
• Child Protection Certificate

Samantha Davies

Operations Manager

I have over 22 years of experience working in Early Childhood Education and Care services.

Samantha has over 22 years of experience in Early Childhood Education and Care services. Samantha holds a advanced diploma in Children’s Services and worked in various roles throughout the sector, with the focus on management. She enjoys supporting and mentoring dedicated teams to build lasting connections with families and children through open communication. Samantha has a strong focus on the national quality framework, compliance, leadership and management.

An inspirational childcare leader with 22 years progressive experience in the expansion and oversight of childcare programs, policies and initiatives to promote wellbeing, success and achievement in the childcare sector.

Certified Supervisor Certificate
Senior First Aid and CPR
Emergency Management of Asthma in the Work Place
First Aid Management of Anaphylaxis
Advanced Diploma – Children’s Services
December 2005

Mary-Jane Burstow

Operations Manager

Mary-Jane has been in the Early Childhood Industry for over 12 years. She has had many different roles in the sector but has focused on management for the last 7 years.

She has a passion for building and guiding strong teams of Educators. She is driven to create environments where both Educators and children can flourish. Focusing on providing emotional intelligence, collaboration and exceptional communication, Mary-Jane can bring teams together to provide outstanding care to the children in the community.

Mary-Jane has extensive experience and knowledge in all aspects of admin in Early Childhood Centre’s. She has had great success in ensuring her Centres are consistently exhibiting high occupancy as well as meeting all KPI’s.

In addition to focusing on quality administrative functions, Mary-Jane also has a passion for incorporating succession planning as a contributing factor to the centre’s success by training and upskilling the whole team.

Mary-Jane focuses on building strong connections in each community to further increase the opportunities children can have to learn.

Certified Supervisor Certificate
Senior First Aid and CPR
Emergency Management of Asthma in the Work Place
First Aid Management of Anaphylaxis
Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care 2014
Certificate III In Early Childhood Education and Care 2009

Sandi Fern

Senior Operations Manager | Project Development

Over 22 years of experience working & delivering positive commercial outcomes across the Early Childhood Industry.

Over 25 years of experience working & delivering positive commercial outcomes across the Early Childhood sector. Sandi joined the Early Learning Management team in August 2010 bringing vast experience to the Operations Team. Sandi has overseen service operations in Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia, Northern Territory & the Australian Capital Territory.

Aligning her knowledge from the private & corporate sectors, Sandi has implemented strategies to enhance overall business structures in various services to ensure quality practices are maintained & the business is commercially successful. Sandi has extensive experience in multi-site management & possesses a strong business acumen. Sandi provides effective leadership & management guidance, support to staff & the key stakeholders. Sandi has experience in the successful delivery of compliance & safety programs., assisting services to comply with technical & safety legislative requirements.

Sandi has a deep understanding of the National Construction Code (NCC) & heads up Childcare Project Development across Australia. This role requires interaction with a range of internal & external childcare stakeholders, most often managing several moving project parts simultaneously. Sandi also covers direct & administrative support duties related to the full scope of the childcare development process, such as coordinate &/or assist with marketing and communications, & other related projects as assigned. Sandi has far-reaching experience with Pre-planning, Construction to Fit Out & Lockup to Service Approval & has worked with Approved Providers, developers & investors.

• Diploma of Children’s Services
• Advanced Diploma of Children’s Services
• Certificate 4 Workplace Trainer and Assessor
• Justice of the Peace Qld 
• Driver’s license class C
• First Aid Certificate and CPR
• Working with Children’s Check
• Police Check

John Hutchison

Operations | Innovation Strategist

30 years of experience in the childcare sector

Success cannot be achieved without sufficient planning, inspiring leadership & strong management. John brings his 30 years of experience, childcare management, exposure, marketing & strategy skills, & digital knowledge to his Early Learning Management role. John’s expertise spans the broader childcare sector & brings a balanced approach with a robust strategic capability & thought leadership to the team. John has specialised experience in childcare restructures, governance & compliance, mergers & acquisitions, strategic planning, equity raising & initial public offerings (IPO).

Leonie Shears

Operations Manager

Multi Service Management | Goodstart Early Learning Business Manager

Through Leonie’s extensive career, Leonie continually strives to be the best version of herself, manager of multiple successful businesses, leader and positive role model to all the people she works with. Is passionate about the first five years of children’s development, and providing the best care and education to every child in the country.

As a manager, Leonie possesses exceptional communication abilities, stakeholder engagement, positive influencing and management skills. She is well versed in both verbal and written language and communication. I have an in-depth working knowledge of compliance requirements within the National Quality Framework, and the regulations/laws. Leonie is commercially savvy and has a high success in delivering outstanding operational, pedagogy and financial performance. Leonie continually meets and exceeds all the budgets and targets set in her KPI, and has continually provided strength, direction, coaching and support to too many teams to achieve exceeding results in all areas of operations.

• Advanced Diploma of Children’s Services (CHC60208)
• Diploma of Children’s Services (CHC50908)
• Certificate III in Children’s Services (CHC30708)
• Community Coach Training Program (60000)
• First Aid Certificate & CPR
• Working with Children’s Check
• Police Check

Kylie Gava

Operations Manager

Kylie has over 25 years' experience in the education sector.

Kylie has over 25 years’ experience in the education sector. First as a Primary school teacher, then a Secondary teacher, and finally, spent significant time teaching Kindergarten.

Kylie then moved into Child Care as a Centre Manager, and then naturally progressed to Operations, where she developed key skills in management, organisation, people, communication, and co-ordinating and interpreting data in many educational settings.

Kylie works hands-on with both Approved Providers and Nominated Supervisors to achieve desired outcomes and has extensive experience with new centre start-ups across Australia.

Leanne Matthews

Senior Finance Officer | Payroll Manager

Over 12 years of experience in bookkeeping & 26 years experience in payroll.

Leanne Matthews is Finance Officer / Payroll for Early Learning Management with 11+ years of bookkeeping & 25+ years of payroll experience. Leanne manages financial reporting, accounts payable & receivables including reconciliation of bank accounts, client payrolls & BAS / IAS preparation. In addition to holding a Certificate IV in Financial Services from the Australian Institute of Financial Services & Accounting. Leanne is also a registered BAS Agent & Xero Advisor Certified. Leanne drives continuous improvements, identifying opportunities to consolidate, automate & gain process efficiencies for the team & key stakeholders & possess strong accounting & analytical skills.

Leanne demonstrates in-depth knowledge of financial policies, procedures, and systems. In addition to being an excellent communicator, Leanne also has outstanding analytical & time management abilities.  Leanne is tasked with developing childcare centre budgets, monitoring transactions, & preparing financial reports. Leanne loves the diversity of her job & childcare tailored services we provide for clients across Australia. While Leanne undertakes a range of work, she most enjoys creating month-end management accounts.

Niki Sullivan

Operations Manager - New South Wales & Victoria

Leadership skills, enthusiasm & motivation for creating vibrant, accepting, & energetic learning environments for all stakeholders.

Niki has over 6 years of leadership experience, as a management professional, in the management of Early Childhood Education & Care Services. Recently, Niki has been working with Deloitte’s & was responsible for preparing information regarding childcare industry trends, researching benchmarks, auditing, analysing internal data, organising risk management events, meetings & training. Niki’s professional history includes Senior Management roles with the responsibility of large teams. Niki has worked towards the establishment & implementation of strong strategic growth plans & establishing new childcare businesses. 

As a passionate people leader, Niki possesses the ability to lead & develop frontline teams to enhance their performance by setting clear, accountable performance measures. 

Through a hands-on approach, Niki empowers & engages teams, implements personal development plans, coaching & development opportunities, while also creating a culture of achieving shared goals & striving for continuous improvement. Niki’s personal values of facilitating team collaboration, always operating with emotional intelligence, consistent reliability & continuous self-development, allow her to remain valuable to employers & ensure she operates with respect to best practice.

• Training and Assessment TAE40116 | Currently studying
• Justice of the Peace | 2019
• Emerging Minds – Trauma and the child | 2019
• Office of the Children’s Guardian – Child Safe Training | 2018
• Bachelor of Early Childhood Education | Charles Sturt University | 2018
• Diploma of Early Childhood Education TAFE NSW | 2012
• Certificate III in Early Childhood Education TAFE NSW | 2010
• First Aid Certificate & CPR
• Working with Children’s Check
• Police Check

Kelly Dixon

Operations | Learning Resource Manager

KPI's including occupancy, revenue & staffing targets, quality audits, eLearning & regulatory compliance expert.

Kelly has been a Compliance Officer for a Vulnerable Children’s Program in Out Of Home Care. She has extensive experience in risk management, risk assessments, investigation of allegations of harm & abuse, documenting incidents & reporting on trends. Kelly has many years in compliance roles & strong background in policy development, review & implementation in the Children’s, Community & Disability sectors. Kelly has extensive experience as a Child Protection trainer, her skills & experience are closely aligned with the childcare industry.

During Kelly’s many years managing childcare centres including LDC & OSHC, Kelly consistently met all KPI’s including occupancy, revenue & staffing targets, quality audits & regulatory compliance. As a centre manager with Guardian Early Learning, Kelly was the only person to achieve 100% of her targets in the first year & went on in her position to continually exceed strategic & operational objectives.

As a leader & mentor to childcare educators, Kelly values open communication & supporting staff to achieve their professional goals.

• Diploma of Community Services (Children’s Services)  
• Farran Street Education – Hiring, Firing & Everything in Between
• Farran Street Education – Leadership Essentials 
• Beyond Blue – Managing Mental Health Risks at Work – Training for Managers and Employees
• Beyond Blue – Approaching an employee you’re concerned about
• White Ribbon – Understanding Men’s Violence Against Women 
• Currently undertaking RPL to attain current Cert IV TAE 
• Currently undertaking Diploma of Lead Auditing 
• First Aid Certificate & CPR
• Working with Children’s Check
• Police Check

Gel Nina Pena

Senior Bookkeeper

Gel has a bachelor in Management Accounting and has extensive experience in finance roles and within various sectors, from retail through to real estate. Gel is a vital part of the finance team, helping produce journals to streamline month-end processes to ensure our clients receive these in a timely manner.

Gel is dedicated and perceptive, always ensuring our client’s expectations are understood and exceeded. She loves the type of innovative thinking we do at ELM, providing invaluable advice that helps clients move forward or solve issues they didn’t even know. Gel strongly believes that training and professional development is an investment for the future and is therefore always available to lend a helping hand to ELM’s junior team members

Mary-Rose Dabalos

Bookkeeper

Mary-Rose has a Bachelor in Accounting and has over 7 years experience in all financial roles, from generalised bookkeeping tasks through to payroll. Mary-Rose has worked in large-scale manufacturing and distribution companies. Mary-Rose assists the team in ensuring all accounting files are up to date, and liaising with the Nominated Supervisors to ensure we have all supporting documentation to produce end of month reports for our clients.

Communication is key to Mary-Rose’s approach with clients. She enjoys providing solutions, whether in bookkeeping or payroll, and being able to help clients solve any challenges they may face.

Hazel Estrellado

Bookkeeper

Hazel has a Bachelor in Accounting and has over 8 years experience in various financial roles. She has worked as an accountant and analyst in many industries, which has provided her the experience to easily transition to the Early Learning Sector. Hazel assists the team in ensuring all accounting files are up to date, and liaising with the Nominated Supervisors to ensure we have all supporting documentation to produce end of month reports for our clients.

Hazel believes she has the best of both worlds at ELM. A fun and friendly work environment, paired with the challenges her role offers, keeps things interesting daily.

Janine Denning

Senior Finance Officer

Janine has an Advanced Diploma in Accounting and over 10 years experience in various accounting roles across many different businesses. Janine has extensive experience with Procura, Ellipse, MYOB, Excel, MS Office and Xero and can pick up new skills quickly. Throughout Janine’s various roles, her duties included bank reconciliations (of multiple accounts and credit cards), accounts payable and receivable, debt collection, intercompany accounts, weekly payroll, superannuation, workers compensation, rostering, human resources, Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss, Cash Flow, journaling, WHS, OHS, payroll tax and BAS.

Shannon Sutton

Senior Finance Officer

Shannon has a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Business. Shannon has over 10 years experience in high-level financial based roles. She has extensive knowledge of all accounting matters, such as reconciliations, payroll, taxation liabilities, and preparation of monthly and yearly financial statements. Shannon is approachable, highly motivated, and has great attention to detail within the work she produces.

Jamie Morris

Senior Operations Manager

Jamie wants to help our clients succeed using all the knowledge and experience he gathered.

Since 2000, Jamie has worked consistently in the Early Childhood Education and Care sector, led a wide variety of teams and ages groups from 6 weeks to 13 years olds, and filled many professional roles in large, small and multi-unit settings, and high-profile Account Management for the largest Child Care company in the United States. Within those roles, he enjoyed developing training packages for his colleagues and teams regarding professional development and positive culture building. Jamie holds qualifications for training and assessment, and has developed and delivered training packages within the new Certificate 3 and Diploma ECE courses. Jamie has also been known as a ‘turnaround’ leader with the ability to work in high pressure environments. He uses his calm and creative thinking combined with a solution-based style to work towards successful long-term positive outcomes.

Certificate 4 Front Line Management
Advanced Diploma Early Childhood Education (0 – 12 years)
Diploma Early Childhood Education (0 – 12 years)
Certificate 3 Early Childhood Education (0 – 12 years)
Driver’s license class C
First Aid Certificate and CPR
Working with Children’s Check
Police Check