Jessica
Director
Qualifications: Advanced Diploma in Community Services, Cert III Infant Mental Health,
Marte Meo Practitioner & Marte Meo Colleague Trainer
Time in Child Care: Since 1995
What you love about working in this organisation:
One of the things I love about working at Highway is the sense of belonging to the team and the Community. We share a passion for education and care and are dedicated to improve our practice all the time, working with parents as our partners, and learning alongside children.
I have been involved in many projects over the years but the stand out one for me has always been the “Through the Looking Glass’ project and my role co-facilitating the parent group. The group supported parents to connect with their children to build their relationships. This project enabled me to develop my understanding of attachment and further led me to study Infant Mental Health. This was very rewarding as it enriched my own practices and understanding of how the brain develops from birth.
Since 2017 we have been on the journey of professional growth as a team as we embarked on the journey of Re-imagining childhood – ‘the inspiration of Reggio Emilia education principles in South Australia’. Since the start of this journey I have had the opportunity to travel to Reggio Emilia (in Italy) and attend 2 5 day study tours as apart of my own Professional development and to also bring back and share the knowledge with my team as we continue to research the principles of Reggio Emilia within our context as a service.
Jasmine
Assistant Director
Qualifications: Diploma of Children’s Services
Time in Child Care: Since 2006
What you love about working in this organisation:
The best part of being in this service is working with such a dedicated team of people, this includes the leadership team who are continually supporting us and inspiring us to keep on learning and improve our understanding and practices.
I feel very lucky to have been to so much professional development, including Anne Pelo workshops, who has inspired much of my practice. I have been part of leading the Literacy project in our service and am currently in a team of people collaborating on the Birth to Three years Reggio Emilia project.
This project has inspired me to think about our learning environment and the ways we inspire learning and curiosity in our young children. I love that we are all learning together.
Robyn
Assistant Director & Administration officer
Qualification: Diploma of Child Care
Time in Child Care: Since 1985
What you love about working in this organisation:
We have a fabulous staff team. I have been part of many projects over the years and have come to watch our programs grow as the staff team develop new knowledge. I have had a role in this that I am very proud of. My current position is as an administration person. I enjoy this challenge and I can understand it both from an educator perspective, understanding parents’ apprehensions about leaving their babies, as well as the admin perspective.
Vlora
Teacher in Preschool room
Qualifications: Bachelor of Early Childhood Teaching
Time in Child Care: Since 2014
What you love about working in this organisation:
I have been the preschool teacher here for the last five years and this has been a very rewarding time for me. I have had many opportunities to for training and development to support an integrated service. I have been part of ongoing projects and professional development including The Universal Access project and the Early language development project. I have had the opportunity to travel to Darwin to the Early Childhood conference and to Reggio Emilia in Italy to train at the International Loris Malaguzzi centre. These opportunities are unique and help me to understand the quality of programs in services such as this one.
I am always striving to improve my teaching practices and to run a quality program for the children who attend the pre-school environment. The training opportunities support me to do this and I can see how our programs have improved from these experiences.
I really enjoy working with children and supporting them to test their ideas and to try new things. I enjoy taking them on excursions to explore the community where they live and grow.
Lynn
Nutrition consultant
Time in Child Care: Since 1986
What you love about working in this organisation:
Having worked with this service for so long I never get tired of hearing the children enjoy the meals, nor of parents as they walk through the door saying “OH my goodness that smells great…” I now see parents come to the centre who enjoyed my cooking when they were children here and they say they remember those smells, and speak fondly of it. This is one of the reasons I love to cook here.
Kylie
Qualification: Diploma of Children’s Services
Time in Child Care: Since 2009
What you love about working in this organisation:
We have such a friendly and supportive educator team and management that really care about high quality education for children. I really enjoyed being part of the team that underwent training in the reconciliation symposium. This had a great impact on me and I was able to understand ways to share an open approach to learning about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. The children enjoy this part of our program as we read stories and learn signs and symbols relevant to the art of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and so much more.
Loan
Qualifications: Diploma of Community Services (Child Care)
Time in Child Care: Since 1993
What you love about working in this organisation:
One of the things I love about working for this service is working with a great educator team. Everyone supports each other and you can develop great relationships when you work as a team with the same goals. This reflects in the relationships we develop with children, they see how we get along and what respectful relationships look like and know this is how we treat each other in our room.
I am inspired by the way children learn. I listen to their ideas and the way they express them which leads to me learning something new about them.
I have been involved in many projects over the years I have been working here. One of the most important ones to me was the Circle of Security project that opened my eyes to ways to develop secure relationships and to work with challenging behaviours and the other more recent project was the Universal Access project. This project gave me insights into working with preschool aged children and provided me with ideas and new learning about the needs and strengths of the age group.
Lauren
Qualification: Diploma of Children’s Services
Time in Child Care: Since 2006
What you love about working for this organisation:
I have been involved in a great deal of professional development based on the Circle of Security and attachment theory and this has given me an understanding of how to build relationships with babies, young children and families.
I work with a fantastic team of educators and that is really important to my work with children. I enjoy the partnerships I build with new parents when their babies begin care, often lasting until they go to school, and of course the relationships with the babies! Being with a child when they achieve something and being able to see how proud they are of themselves is fantastic…What could be better than that!
Zahra
Qualifications: Diploma in Children’s Services
Time in Child Care: Since 2012
What you love about working in this organisation:
I really enjoy working with a team of people that are always learning. This reflects in their care of the children and inspires me to continue my learning journey. Since being at this centre I have had many opportunities to learn about curriculum, Circle of Security to develop secure relationships, and of course to be involved in lots of professional conversations about these topics. This has only deepened my understanding and the quality of relationships I develop with staff, children and parents.
Sheridan
Qualifications: Certificate III in Child Care and Currently working towards Diploma in Child Care
Time in Childcare: since 2016
What you love about working in this organisation:
We are one big family here which makes it such a rewarding place to come to everyday. It makes me proud to work with such an amazing team that have so much knowledge and experience to share. I love our amazing natural play area and I pride myself on the relationships I build with all children and their families.
Masooma
Qualifications: Diploma of Children Services
Time in Childcare: Since 2017
What you love about working in this organisation:
I love working for this organisation because it embraces multiculturalism. All of the educators respect each other’s culture and values. I enjoy working with children of all ages and building secure relationships with them and their families.
Amanda
Qualification: Cert III & Currently Studying: Diploma in Children’s Services
Time in Child Care: Since 2012
What you love about working for this organisation:
I really enjoy working with a supportive and friendly team. I work with them every day and I just know I can depend on them. I have also had the opportunity to attend professional development and to engage with other educators in discussions regarding Educational practice. All this helps me to continue to grow in my role.
I have to say I enjoy working with under 2’s babies and toddlers, and working so closely with all families to support them to settle into a new care environment and to building secure and trusting relationships with the whole family.
Jayanti
Qualifications: Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care
Time in Childcare: Since 2016
What you love about working in this organisation:
One of the best things about this organisation is the lovely natural environment that we have. I love working in this organisation because it has a beautiful & supportive team. I believe that this organisation is very culturally inclusive & I feel very lucky to work here.
Iqbal
Qualifications: Diploma in Child Care
Time in Childcare: Since 2015
What you love about working in this organisation:
This organisation is amazing. I am learning every day, I love being a part of a great team. I enjoy sharing my cultural festivals and celebrations with my colleagues, children and their families.
Jessica
Qualification: Cert III
Time in Child Care: Since 2012
What you love about working in this organisation:
I really enjoy working with this great team of people. We are always learning new ways to speak with children and develop our skills. I have been involved in projects like ‘Going deeper with the Learning Framework’ and this really helped me to understand about programs and planning and following children’s lead.
Bronte
Qualifications: Qualification Cert III in Children’s Services, Marte Meo Practitioner
Time in Child Care – Since 2009
Currently Studying: Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care
One of the best things about working at this service is the fact that it is always evolving. It’s so dynamic. We strive to undertake new ideas and to bring them into our practice and this makes it challenging and new every day. In my work with babies this especially true as I can see how my training in Circle of Security is put into practice. I can see how important it is to be consistent in providing a secure environment for babies and to work in partnership with parents in the care of their babies. I find it rewarding to watch the babies mastering a particular skill and to share in their happiness when they know they have done something great.
Brittany
Qualifications: Cert III in Children’s Services
Time in Childcare: Since 2014
What you love about working in this organisation:
I have a background in working with children with special needs. I love being part of this team, we work in collaboration each day to provide an interesting and stimulating learning environment through ongoing research projects and learning with the children. My favourite space is our amazing outdoors environment as it provides a beautiful play space for children to share their imagination and discover new provocations each day as well as learning to take care of our gardens and learning about sustainable environments.
Marie
Qualification: Cert III
Time in Child Care: Since 2013
What you love about working in this organisation:
I love working at this Early Learning Centre because of the cultural diversity within the centre, working with a great team of educators and the natural environment that provides learning opportunities for both the children and the educators.
Madelyn
Qualifications: Certificate III In Child Care
Time in Childcare: Since 2014
What you love about working in this organisation:
I love working in this organisation as I feel it is a very supportive team to work with. I continue to share my passion for nature with all of my colleagues, the children and their families, through the ongoing entomology project . I love researching the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly with all of the children and together we discover what happens as they butterflies emerge.
Kelly
Qualifications: Diploma of Children’s Services
Child Care: Since 2004
What you love about working in this organisation:
I love working for this organisation because they really believe in what they do. The Educators that I work with are amazing and are really invested with education and care that they provide for the children and their families. The Organisation is wonderful to work for and you feel as though you are always valued and respected. They are always ready to help anyway they can. Working here has provided me with many opportunities to grow and development within the service. I’m very passionate about my role as a child care educator and making a difference in the children’s lives. I have had many years of experience working with children with Special Rights and I am always looking for new ways to extend on my knowledge.
Desirae
Qualifications: Studying towards Diploma in Early childhood
Time in Child Care: Since 2018
What I love about working in this organisation:
I feel a sense of belonging to this team of educators. The team here are so helpful, knowledgeable, experienced and passionate about life long learning. I love working with children of all ages as no two days are ever the same and they teach me as much as I can ever teach them. I have experience in driving the 12 seater van and also have my bus licence. Having this driving experience has given me the opportunity to be able to be involved in the kindy pick up and drops offs, which I love being able to do as it gives me the opportunity to get to know the children and the wider community in different contexts.
Abida
Qualifications: Diploma in Early childhood
Time in Child Care: Since 2018
What I love about working in this organisation:
I really enjoy working with a very supportive team; I work across all rooms in the service which enables me to build trusting relationships with all of the children across the Centre. I pride myself on having a calm and friendly approach and look forward to developing and growing as an educator through engaging in research projects and learning with the children, families and my colleagues.
Aimee
Time in childcare: since 2009
What you love about working in this organisation?
I am excited to be working as part of a team that is passionate about learning alongside families and children, a team who are dedicated to improving practices to create amazing learning environments. I am looking forward to being part of the Highway Early Learning Centre’s sustainability journey. I have a background working specifically with children with ASD and have participated in many workshops about ASD. I am pleased to be working with an organisation that embraces all cultures and abilities.
Janet
Nutrition consultant
Time in Childcare: Since 2018
What you love about working in this organisation:
Hi, I’m Janet one of the Nutrition consultants here at Highway Early Learning Centre. I have more than 15 years’ experience in cooking in other services such as Aged Care. This is my first experience in preparing nutritious meals for young children. In joining this team i have experienced a welcoming and supportive environment from all of my colleagues, I enjoy the daily conversations i have with the children about the menu, meals they like and ideas for the future menus. I look forward to continuing to build relationships with all of the children and the families each day.
John – Grounds Person
Time working at the Service: Since 2014
I work at all of the services and one of the best things about doing that is always having variety in my work. I love working outside and being involved in creating beautiful gardens and play spaces for children. It’s good to know my work keeps them safe with the maintenance I do on the building and my working in the garden
Lots of the children know me and often ask how I am fixing something and I can get them involved in fixing some things too. They love to ask questions and to compare my work with other peoples.
I am committed to making sure that the children have a beautiful and inspiring outdoor environment and that the centre is maintained to a high standard.