The Fern Early Learning Centres
Where a child's first adventure gets a website to match.
Part of the i9 Education family of early learning brands, The Fern needed a site that could do double duty — warm and reassuring for parents, structured and fast for a network of centres.
Location
Australia
Completed
0000
Services
00
Where the project began
Background
The Fern operates multiple early learning centres, each with its own programs, availability, and enrolment process, under one shared brand identity built around nature-inspired, adventure-led learning.
Objectives
Give every centre a fast, findable presence while keeping the parent experience — from first visit to booked tour — simple and reassuring across the whole network.
Audience
Parents and guardians researching childcare options, evaluating centres on programs, location, philosophy, and how easy the provider is to actually deal with.
What we were solving for
Multiple centre locations each needed their own information without fragmenting the brand or duplicating content management effort
Childcare decisions are emotional and detail-driven — the site had to answer parent questions before they had to ask
Tour and enrolment enquiries needed a low-friction path, since hesitation at this step means a lost family
Time-limited offers (like seasonal enrolment promotions) needed to be manageable without a developer for every update
Planning before a single pixel
Mapped the parent research journey from first search to booked centre tour, across desktop and mobile
Reviewed program and curriculum information architecture across the group's centres to design a scalable structure
Planned a centre-finder experience that surfaces the right location and availability quickly
Structured content ownership so non-technical staff can update programs, offers, and centre details independently
Building the visual language
A bright, energetic green paired with grounded charcoal — playful without losing credibility with parents
Full-bleed, nature-forward imagery treatment that reflects the outdoor, adventure-led program philosophy
Clear visual hierarchy guiding parents from "find a centre" to "book a tour" without hunting for the next step
Consistent, reusable page patterns across every centre so the network scales without a redesign each time
Engineering it properly
Built on Next.js and React with Tailwind CSS for a consistent, fast-loading design system across every centre page
A headless CMS gives the team direct control over programs, offers, and centre details without code changes
A centre-finder and tour-booking flow integrated directly into the enquiry pipeline
Deployed on AWS with a build pipeline that lets new centres go live quickly as the network grows
What shipped
What it achieved
Improvements described qualitatively — presented honestly, not inflated.
Simpler Enquiry Path
A shorter distance between finding a centre and booking a tour.
Independent Content Control
Staff can update programs and offers directly, without waiting on developer time.
Clearer Multi-Centre Navigation
Parents find the right location and its specific details quickly.
Fast on Every Device
Lightweight pages that stay quick to load on the mobile connections most parents actually use.
Brand in the details
Brand Palette
Wordmark
The Fern
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