The incursion program market in Australia has grown significantly over the past decade. Where childcare centres once had a handful of options, directors today are presented with a wide range of providers offering everything from dance and yoga to science experiments and cooking classes. More choice sounds like a good thing. But more choice also means more risk of choosing the wrong provider, and the consequences of a poor incursion programme, an uninspiring session, inconsistent delivery or a provider who disappears after a term, fall directly on your centre’s reputation.

Here is a practical framework for making the right decision.

Start with developmental value, not entertainment value

The first question to ask about any incursion programme is not whether children will enjoy it. Children enjoy many things that offer limited developmental value. The right question is what specific developmental outcomes the programme supports and how those outcomes are documented. A quality physical activity incursion programme should be able to tell you exactly which EYLF outcomes it addresses, provide session documentation you can use for accreditation and explain the developmental progression built into its curriculum. If a provider cannot answer these questions clearly, look elsewhere.

Check their credentials and compliance

Every person who enters your centre to work with children must hold a current Working With Children Check for your state. This is non-negotiable. Beyond WWCC, ask about public liability insurance, professional indemnity insurance and whether their instructors are qualified and trained specifically in early childhood delivery. A dance or yoga instructor who is excellent with adults is not necessarily equipped to deliver an engaging, developmentally appropriate session to two-year-olds. Ask specifically about their early childhood training and experience.

Look for consistency and longevity

The most valuable incursion programmes are the ones that come back every week, year after year. Children benefit most from consistent, progressive programmes where skills build on each other over time. A provider who has been delivering to childcare centres for five, ten or twenty years is a very different proposition from one who launched last year. Ask how long they have been operating, how many centres they currently service and what their retention rate looks like. A provider with a strong retention rate is telling you something important about the quality of their delivery.

Consider the full package, not just the session

A great incursion programme does more than deliver a good session. It provides curriculum documentation, communicates clearly with your team, handles its own equipment and materials and makes the logistical side of hosting a weekly programme effortless for your educators. Ask what administrative support the provider offers, how they handle cancellations, whether they provide EYLF-aligned documentation and how responsive they are to questions and feedback. The administrative experience matters as much as the in-room experience.

Ask for a free trial before committing

Any reputable incursion programme provider should be willing to deliver a free trial session at your centre before you commit to a term or a year. A trial session tells you everything. You will see how the instructor engages with your children, how they manage the room, how children respond and whether the programme genuinely delivers what the provider promises. If a provider is not willing to offer a trial, that is a significant warning sign.

Choosing the right incursion programme is one of the highest-impact decisions a childcare director can make for their centre. Take the time to ask the right questions and the right provider will be obvious.