Planning for the future...
Check in:
What about the future of Little People's Place excites you?
And what scares you (or feels uncertain)?
Little People's Place Strategic Planning
What are the qualities we need to have to make sure what we are excited about happens?
Check out:
In 5 years Little People's Place has won the Nova Scotia rural communities award for excellence in child care. How? How did you help to make this happen?
And what qualities do we need to get past our fears and uncertainty?
Session 3: September
- Group guidelines
- Check in
- The qualities we need for the future
- Survey says...
- Our goals and categories
- Action planning
- Evaluation and next steps
- Check out
Survey says...
In the next 5 years...
"Continued support of further education and development for staff."
"A daycare for babies!"
"A much needed infant program."
"Moving to one large location!"
"Seeking increased government support."
"Bigger playground with lots of natural environments."
"Janitorial cleaning staff."
ACTION WALL from June
"In a dream world ... I imagine a new building on the ground level for all of our programs and perhaps being able to expand the programs we currently offer."
Little People's Place mission statement
"Every child is a unique person who will be encouraged to achieve their full potential in a safe, supportive, caring environment. The community of Little People's Place will work together with flexibility, acceptance and respect to create a fulfilling learning environment (with heart) that enriches the lives of children."
Our new goal categories:
Personnel
Expanded/different programs
- Infant care
- After-school program potential at Hillcrest
- Prep and planning time
- A “Floater” person to cover prep/planning time and sick time
- Janitorial staff
- List of casual staff to cover
- Grant writing person
- Crisis plan
- Succession plan
Funding
Space & Physical changes
- Grant writing committee/person
- Fundraising ideas/committee
- New building
- New playground with natural elements
- WIfi
- Ipads
Supportive
Caring
Safe
Quality
Community outreach & engagement/promotion
- “ECE” for a day
- Educating what ECE is, why choose LPP
- Professional promotional materials
- Presentations to councils; need more government interest (advocacy)
Staff-led initiatives
- Food
- Resource management list
- Community partnerships
- Parent/family involvement
Little People's Place Vision
- Food:
- Taste testers for new food
- Kids help prepare/make food (Make your own oatmeal)
- Infant care
- Resources:
- Mechanism for requesting resources (list of what is needed) to buy
- Also list can be sent out to parents/community for resources needed
- Bigger playground:
- More natural elements
- Community outreach/partnerships:
- Bring community in; art (Mellissa, Rose)
- Childrens art show at the Osprey
- Training and relationship building
- After school programs potential at Hillcrest
- Parent/family involvement and engagement:
- Committee work?
- Facebook posts
- Pinterest board
- Parent meeting contracts
- Promotion/talk about what we do:
- “ECE” for a day
- Educating what ECE is, why choose LPP
- Professional promotional materials
- Presentations to councils; need more government interest (advocacy)
- Technology:
- WIFI
- Ipads
- New building:
- Funding:
- Grant writing committee/person
- Fundraising ideas/committee
- Personnel:
- Prep and planning time
- A “Floater” person to cover prep/planning time and sick time
- Janitorial staff
- List of casual staff to cover
- Grant writing person
- Crisis plan
- Succession plan
"Since 1978, as a community based organization, Little People's Place has provided a safe, supportive and caring environment for children to develop to their own potential at their own pace."
Caring
Safe
Quality
Supportive
A goal is...
An observable and measurable end result having one or more objectives to be achieved within a more or less fixed timeframe
But first....
Goal categories or themes
Motivational
Engagement and buy-in
Forward moving
Rewarding
SMART
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound
A goal category or theme is an overarching or broad topic area that categorizes multiple actions or projects that helps to build the foundation of the strategic plan.
ACTION TEMPLATE
Session 2: June 3
Check in:
How have you seen the values at play at work? How have you thought about them? Or made them, or have seen them come to life?
GOAL & goal category:
Safe
Supportive
WHEN
WHO
RESOURCES/$
HOW: ACTION/initiative
Quality
Caring
EVALUATE/measure
what will push us forward/help us out?
What might hold us back?
STRENGTHS
The Environment
The Food
The Staff
The Activities
""The caring, reliable, awesome staff. My son has requested play dates with them!"
Our Strengths:
What do we do really well and need to keep doing?
"The healthy meals and snacks are amazing."
- Group guidelines & Check in
- Confirm mission and vision and values
- Survey says...
- SWOT analysis: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
- Our goals
- Survey says...next 5 years!
- Goal categories
- Next steps
- Check out
"My kid loves everything about LPP, especially playing outdoors with her friends, but really everything!"
"The experienced, loving, supportive staff."
"The focus on the social-emotional well being of the child."
How do we build on our strengths?
"Everyone gets along and it's such a positive, caring environment."
"Reading books in the book corner, playing with my friends, and doing handstands."
"Amazing group of staff caring for our children. They are on the same page when it comes to our children. They are so caring."
"Playing on the playground with trucks and wood pieces."
Check out:
What action/goal/opportunity excites you most and why?
WEAKNESSES/CHALLENGES
Our weaknesses:
What do we need to stop doing?What can you do better as an organization? What needs to be improved?
Support
How do we stop?
Funding
Limited Space &
Resources
"Wait lists for the many children that need to get in."
"Having such a tight budget ... sometimes we don't have the money for the things we would love to have but make do just fine with what we do have."
"Would be nice to be under one roof"
"Higher needs children would likely benefit from increased support."
"A great challenge is monies, and fundraising."
"Starting kids at 18 months leaves a 6 month period."
Our mission
Our vision
"As a community based organization Little People's Place strives to provide quality programs for children to reach his or her potential."
"Every child is a unique person who is entitled to achieve his or her personal best in a safe, supportive and stimulating environment. Little People's Place board, staff, parents, and children will all work together with acceptance, respect, and cooperation to create a learning environment with heart."
A vision statement is future oriented; what we want for the future.•Is written succinctly in an inspirational manner that makes it easy for all employees to repeat it at any given time.•Functions as the "north star"—it is what all employees understand their work every day ultimately contributes towards accomplishing over the long term.
A mission statement expresses the philosophies and principles behind any activities that are done, or they talk about what makes a service or product better than others, emphasizing quality. Are present-based (what we are currently doing)•Answers three questions about why an organization exists: WHAT it does, WHO it does it for, HOW it does what it does
Opportunities
Our Family Tree
The sun: Strengths and opportunities now, and in the future
The leaves: External stakeholders
Our Opportunities:
What is ready for action?
The apples: stakeholder influences
April 22
- A new building in one location
- Infant care
- Crisis plan
- Succession plan
- People coming back to Shelburne
- Input into town’s recruitment (quality childcare)
- Talk about what we do; the value we have (presentations to council)
- Community outreach
Our group guidelines
The rain: Challenges, now and in the future
Check in:
What makes you most proud about being involved
with LPP?
What can we do to seize these opportunities?
Survey says...!
Our VALUES and guiding principles
The roots: Internal stakeholders
Our mission and vision
What parents said they value in YOU!
Our Family Tree
Check out:
What part of the values and/or mission/vision do you identify with?
Our Values
Values are what guides us everyday; what we tell the world we are all about. They are the things that are most important to us and our work.
Top 10 values from the survey
What are the great things about Little People's Place?
"We are like a family and we come together to provide the best possible care for the children in our community."
Caring
Compassionate
Safe
Respect
Cooperation
Acceptance
Reliable
Dedication
Supportive
Quality
Threats
"It's such a nurturing, educational environment where children are given the opportunity to develop a variety of skills at their own pace."
Our Threats
What is preventing you from being the best? What external factors are at play?
"The love and investment put into our children and their futures is amazing."
"Little People's Place is an integral part of the community."
What can we do to prevent these threats?
- Space (having to leave)
- Competition
- Building damage/disaster
- Staff (casuals, not moving here, Susan retiring)
- Changing demographics
- The town’s challenges/future
Today! Session 1: April 22
Purpose of the sessions and plan
Plans for the sessions