Best Educational Service Providers in Australia | Service Provider Awards

Brett Salakas, one of TE’s Most Influential Educators of 2024, highlights the impact outstanding service providers can make.

He says, “They provide access to the latest and most effective tools, making it easier for schools and educators to stay current and competitive in their educational offerings.

“Schools and educators should look for comprehensive support and service packages. Localised support, quick replacement options and robust service agreements are critical in ensuring that service providers remain a reliable tool for education, rather than a source of frustration.”

The best educational service providers are vital, as the Australian education industry has experienced consistent growth in three key metrics.

Students

From 2017 to 2023:

• The total number increased by 6.2%.

Schools

• In 2023, 69.7% of schools were government schools, 18.3% were Catholic, and 12.0% were independent. 
• There has been an increase of 185 from 2017 to 2023.

Teachers

• There was a 16.5% rise from 2017 to 2023.

Janine Stratford of Coaching Focus, which provides leadership development for educators, is one of TE’s Most Influential Educators of 2024.

On service providers, she says, “What we need, as educators, is that they understand what we are wanting to achieve, as well as our challenges, so that what they provide improves the way we work each day. We need them to listen to our concerns and design solutions to keep educators in the classroom focused on the important task of educating our students. Educators are constantly searching for ways to streamline processes, reduce administration and inspire and engage students in their learning.”

And she adds, “If service providers can help educators be more effective and efficient in their daily work, this will allow them to be more innovative in their classroom practice, experience greater job satisfaction and ultimately improve their wellbeing.”

 

Key Benefit: 90% of educators report saving up to five hours of time while elevating their teaching game, and Toddle’s goal is to give each educator at least 10 additional hours every week to focus on what matters most – students.

A comprehensive, modern teaching and learning platform designed for progressive K-12 schools. Going beyond a typical LMS, Toddle integrates all aspects of the teaching and learning workflow into one platform.

Educators can:

• plan curriculum
• assess students
• manage portfolios
• generate progress reports

It launched in Australia in 2023 and now serves over 100 schools. The plan is to reach over 1,000 in the next four years, with more staff being hired in Australia and a larger office being established.

“What we have seen is that most of the current LMS that schools are using or that we’re replacing started 20 or 30 years ago. They are not really innovating and are not modern systems,” says director of growth Amit Parihar. “We have around 400 full-time employees and, out of that, 200 plus developers. So, we are really able to innovate and build things fast.”

Customer service: Each school is assigned a dedicated Toddle Buddy, a former experienced educator who has an understanding of educators’ needs. They provide lifelong support and guidance tailored to each school’s specific requirements. Additionally, in response to educators working beyond regular hours, there is 24/7 chat support with a response time of under three minutes. The Toddle Academy also offers comprehensive resources such as self-paced learning modules, webinars and tutorials designed to help educators make the most of the platform.

 

“We really partner with schools; we are open about listening to what they want and we build it in record time”

Amit PariharToddle

Value for money: Over the last three years, 85% of customer schools have replaced three or more tech platforms with Toddle (with some replacing up to seven) and paying less overall.

Quality of product: There is a deep understanding of educators’ pain points and modern, cutting-edge frameworks. It is also the world’s first AI-powered teaching and learning platform with embedded advanced, context-aware and secure AI.

Ease of purchase: All of a school’s existing data is transferred to our platform accurately and securely within a matter of weeks. Toddle’s technical team handles the migration process, requiring no effort from school staff.

Speed of delivery: The onboarding process typically takes two to three months, with the priority of getting schools up and running quickly and efficiently.

Parihar says, “As a company, we put teachers’ vision first, which comes from the founders and flows down to the entire team.”

The biggest compliment the Toddle team receives is when teachers and educators speak to them at conferences or exhibitions.

“This community will really come to your face and tell you how much they appreciate you if you really serve them well. They are such powerful testimonials because you can see how much their lives have changed as now they are able to spend more time actually interacting with their kids,” adds Parihar.

 

Key benefit: Raises the professionalism of education support staff by providing customised professional development to enhance collaboration in the classroom and improve student outcomes and wellbeing in mainstream schools, special education and other settings.

An organisation for education support workers, nationally, advocates for the professionalism, recognition, and advancement of this 120,000+ strong workforce. ATA professional learning extends across 100+ evidence-based resources in the 11 topic areas, such as:

• Additional Needs and Disability
• Behaviour
• Critical Creative Thinking
• Digital Literacy
• Inclusive Education 
• Learning and Wellbeing
• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Paraprofessional Educator Role
• School Performance and Development
• The Engaging Science Classroom by Kelly Hollis

Founded in 2015 by Ed Tech leaders Stella Liliendal and Mandy Bell, ATA has member schools renewing for their seventh, eighth, and ninth consecutive years of membership, enabling education support staff to continue accessing relevant professional learning.

“New member schools express excitement at the range of resources available to them, on-demand, in the Professional Development library, along with the opportunity to attend at least 10 live web events each year, where experts from all over Australia present on a range of topics that are highly sought after by schools,” says Bell.

 

“ATA professional learning is online, which means it is available to all schools regardless, on demand, anytime, anywhere”

Mandy BellAustralian Teacher Aide (ATA)

Customer service: Respond to customer requests within 24 hours and provide web-based resources, including an extensive FAQ page, user guide and new member orientation video, to create a positive member experience.

Value for money: There are individual and student teacher-aide memberships. School plans provide an unlimited number of staff with 12-month access to over 100 professional learning resources. Subscribers can also attend monthly live web events and access the Professional Development library.

Quality of product: The signature program Effective Teacher Aide Practices for Schools is based on national and international research and high-impact teaching and learning practices that lead to improved collaboration and positive student outcomes. It responds to the recommendations made in the Education Endowment Foundation Guidance Report, Making the Best Use of Teaching Assistants, authored by Professor Jonathan Sharples, Rob Webster and Professor Peter Blatchford in the UK. Monthly live web events are delivered by content experts with practical experience supporting children and young people in education.

Ease of purchase: Customers can purchase their membership online, over the phone or using a web-based membership application form.

Speed of delivery: Members receive immediate access following a subscription.

Bell adds, “We also conduct ongoing anecdotal research to understand the challenges of schools in deploying and utilising education support staff effectively, which has ultimately led to the development of the Australian Teaching Assistant Professional Standards, a framework that will support the performance and professional growth of TAs, contribute to role clarity and facilitate teachers and TAs working together more effectively.”

 

Key benefit: Providing a community of professional learning and connections to support executive and personal assistants, specifically within education.

The popularity of the platform is clear, jumping in 12 months from 40 members in 2023 to 100. It is the brainchild of Kristine Niven, who combines the platform with her role as executive assistant (EA) to associate principal Steven Middleton at St Margaret’s Berwick Grammar in Melbourne.

She says, “What I have discovered in connecting with EAs in Education across Australia is that we share so much in relation to the rewards and challenges of our roles. Those EAs working with senior leadership are often isolated and alone in their work due to the highly confidential nature of the information they often hold. Connecting with others from other schools has been a blessing.”

While often the focus in schools can be on principals or teachers, there is an important place for EAs.

“One of the great challenges is the fluid nature of day-to-day life in schools,” explains Niven. “Working with an executive educational leader requires adaptive skills, as plans can go out the window fairly quickly in response to a whole range of issues. As such, EAs need to be able to shift and pivot very quickly from what they may have anticipated their schedule or day to look like in response to external factors. This can be both exhilarating and simultaneously frustrating.

 

“To continue my own growth and learning and to foster the same in others, I wanted to create and establish a community to network, support and learn from one another”

Kristine NivenEAs in Education

Customer service: Tailored boutique professional learning for educational administration professionals supporting senior executives in schools.

Value for money: Eight hours of professional learning for 12 months. $450 plus GST for 12 months. Many of the members are sponsored by their schools.

Quality of product: User Tanya Fox of Padua College says, “Being a part of EAs in Education enables me to feel connected and supported. The professional learning program is tailored to an understanding of the unique challenges EAs in Education face daily. I appreciate the opportunity to connect with other EAs nationally and thank Kristine for all her work to build this wonderful community.”

Ease of purchase: Registration form on the website.

Speed of delivery: Recordings and invitations to events are sent immediately upon payment.

“I have received lots of feedback from members over the past few years, recognising that it has been an untapped market. Many members have been grateful and appreciated for the EAs in Education community to feel connected and supported in education,” says Niven. “It’s a community for like-minded administrative professionals, understanding the complexities of the role and the unique challenges we face in education.”

 

Key benefit: Seamless integration of elements consulting, one-off policies, platforms, staff training and GRC tools in one platform.

The importance of Ideagen CompliSpace for schools is visible if a scenario is imagined of an off-campus excursion.

“Without solid policies, procedures and risk tools, schools rely on paper-based systems, which are prone to errors and offer poor safety measures and oversight,” explains head of marketing Jessica Gunning. “Poor risk assessments and processes can lead to serious issues during excursions, such as accidents or emergencies, putting students at risk and exposing the school to legal troubles and a damaged reputation.”

Noncompliance with ever-changing regulations is a serious issue, and schools face the risk of fines and penalties. Ideagen CompliSpace is the market leader in governance risk and compliance solutions for independent and Catholic systemic schools, serving 38% of them in Australia.

Gunning adds, “By providing real-time insights and alerts, schools can proactively address compliance issues before they escalate, thus avoiding financial repercussions tied to regulatory failures.”

 

“Our platform allows schools to focus on the strategic aspects of managing risk and compliance to manage and mitigate risks and create a safe and supportive school for students, staff and the wider school community”

Jessica GunningIdeagen CompliSpace

Customer service: Up-to-date content, maintained by legal and subject matter experts in child safeguarding and school governance. By providing real-time updates and quarterly Law Monitor reports, customers are kept current on compliance efforts and can effectively communicate the latest information to their board, staff and regulators, removing the administrative load of updating and reviewing policies and procedures as legislation changes. Customer workshops, ‘GRC IMPACT’, help to not only enhance platform understanding and usage for customers and their staff but also support growth and development in key subject matter areas.

Value for money: Savings in year one for GRC management amount to $100,000+, reflecting approximate annual expenditure based on factors including the general GRC management of principals, deputy principals, and business managers (25% of their time), the management and maintenance of policies, including registration, end-of-month reporting, professional development fees for staff and board members, and consultancy fees and subscriptions, including legal fees and other software subscriptions.

Quality of product: Built around the unique award-winning P-LAR methodology, different systems work together to support compliance and change management across schools of all sizes. Dedication to ensuring systems and content are reflective of the needs and requirements of schools is showcased in the quality and depth of module content and the supporting tools to help track, monitor and report across a variety of GRC areas.

Ease of purchase: The standard package of Essential Content provides the foundational tools to support registration compliance. Alternatively, customers can go through a consultative purchasing process to design a package that meets the unique needs of the school, such as schools with boarding or international students.

Speed of delivery: Projects are designed to be completed within seven to eight weeks, with an initial setup including project initiation, technical content and configuration, and implementation training, covering administrator training across each platform. The setup is staggered to support the successful adoption of the solution within their school and to correctly support the initial contextualisation of core content and understanding of platform functionality.

With the dynamic nature of the regulatory sector of Australian education, Ideagen CompliSpace actively monitors 240 sources of law and regulation.

“On average, schools experience significant updates to guidelines and requirements anywhere from several times a year to monthly, depending on the nature of the regulations and policies being enacted,” says Gunning.