I love children and I come from a massive family, so I couldn’t think of anything else I’d rather do as a career. My mother is also a teacher, and growing up I always liked hearing her talk about how the children she taught had succeeded. I thought, ‘Wow, I’d love to do that. To help kids become what they want to become.’
I’m currently studying towards a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education at Charles Darwin University. This is my third year of teaching studies and it’s my second year with Goodstart.
I work three days at the centre and spend two days at uni, studying. That allows me to put my studies into a practical setting, and also to learn from colleagues.
Goodstart is very flexible with my time, though. If I need extra time for study, they’re understanding. They don’t overload me. If I have online lectures at a certain time, they allow me to work my hours around that.
I can’t recommend the industry enough. You can’t go wrong with a degree and there is so much of a need for educated teachers.
I love play-based learning, too – it’s much more engaging. The kids want to learn when they have fun learning something. They definitely listen more.
We do monthly observations and can see how well they progress in literacy and numeracy and how their confidence grows. The majority of our kids go to a school linked to our centre, and it’s great to see them develop, ready for that transition.
The thing I love most is when kids from the preschool who have graduated from here, come back and say hello. They take the time to say thanks. I think that’s awesome.