Intergenerational 'Grandfriends' Program

Melanie is a true leader and role model who has helped drive the quality and educational programs of Little Scholars. Melanie Excell has worked in the Early Childhood Education and Care industry since 2002 and is a university-trained teacher, holding a Bachelor of Education. She’s passionate about early education and preparing children for a successful future. Melanie has worked in various roles in the sector including teaching, centre director, area manager of both small and large groups of centres across Australia and more recently a senior management position in a large childcare company. Melanie manages her campuses wearing many hats, ensuring that our campuses are meeting the needs of the parent as well as the child, ensuring the very best outcomes for all involved. Melanie is dedicated to the early education sector to ensure the best level of care is available to our future generations. She is also passionate about mentoring, guiding and training our educators to ensure they are fully equipped to deliver a high standard of care and education to all children in their care. Melanie enjoys working collaboratively with all stakeholders to create safe, welcoming and playful learning environments in our campuses, which will, in turn, provide an optimal learning space for children.  

Jennifer is passionate and dedicated to early childhood development and is a strong advocate for children and their freedom and right to play. Jennifer has worked in early childhood education and care for almost 20 years. During this time, Jennifer had the privilege of working across all age-groups from babies to school-aged as lead educator and early childhood teacher. She has also worked in adult learning as a Trainer and Assessor teaching our future educators in their Certificate 3 and Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care. Jennifer has recently worked for the Department of Education as an Early Childhood Officer, followed by becoming the Lead Quality (Pedagogy & Practice) for the South East Region. Her qualifications include an Advanced Diploma of Children’s Services, Bachelor of Child and Family Studies, Graduate Diploma of Early Childhood Education, Cert IV in Training and Assessment, Diploma in Leadership and Management and certifications in Coaching and the Abecedarian Approach 3A. Jennifer draws upon a range of theoretical perspectives within her work in early childhood education but is particularly drawn to Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems theory. This emphasises the importance that social interactions have on children’s development and wellbeing, particularly the profound impact educators can have on children’s learning and development through their meaningful interactions. This also aligns with Jennifer’s philosophy taken by from the African proverb ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ where she believes that an entire community of people must provide for and interact positively with children for those children to experience and grow in a safe and healthy environment. Jennifer is excited to be a part of the Little Scholars family where her goal is to lead the development and implementation of a high-quality educational program across the Little Scholars campuses.

Skye is a dedicated leader driven to developing services, providing management to staff and tools to support and attain the highest of quality while helping to create an atmosphere of growth and increased job satisfaction. Skye is a dedicated leaderdriven to developing services, providing leadership to staff and tools to support and attain the highest of quality while helping to create an atmosphere of growth and increased job satisfaction. During her time in early education, she has had the opportunity to hold all positions; she believes this has helped shape her leadership style, as she has an understanding of the needs, expectations and job pressure the comes with each job role. Skye is a pragmatic contributor within the team environment, and believes it is important to work together to set goals as a team that allows campuses to continually improve and strive for the highest of quality in their environments, curriculum and the care that is provided for the children and families. Skye is passionate and advocates that the early years can have biggest impact on a child’s life, and that it is important to educate and mentor our educators to understand how valuable and important their roles are, not only to educate, but to nurture and help each child to have a strong sense of belonging. Skye shares her love in creating inspiring and engaging environments, that allow the children to explore their curiosity and imagination, as well giving them the opportunity to enhance their learning and development.  

Sasha joins Little Scholars with a wide range of early learning experiences spanning more than two decades, from having worked as a private residence educator in the centre of London, England, to working in early learning campuses in very rural areas of New South Wales, to working in all positions in between. She believes these diverse experiences have equipped her with a unique insight into collaborating with families and bolstering communities, acknowledging the wide array of aspirations, requirements, and educational achievements depending on the campus. Sasha believes all of her unique roles and experiences have helped shape her leadership style, as she understands the needs, expectations and challenges that come with each job role, in each studio, and even the communities in which the children live and learn. She believes the best learning environments are the ones that bring joy to children, that are vibrant with laughter, play, stories and singing. Sasha's experience with the littlest learners is extensive, and working much of her career in nursery settings, she understands communication goes beyond words. In her experience, she mastered the art of engaging with the littlest learners before they even became verbal, recognising that gestures, expressions, and emotional cues play a crucial role in understanding and meeting their needs. This nuanced approach to communication has not only been pivotal in providing high-quality, individualised care, but also serves as a cornerstone of her leadership philosophy, as well as connecting with those individual communities. Sasha believes that the essence of effective leadership lies in the ability to listen, interpret, and respond to unspoken signals. This skill enables her to lead her teams with empathy, fostering an environment where educators feel valued, understood, and motivated to pursue ongoing training and development.