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| Child care person in the spotlight
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What is your full name?
My name is Ellyn Taylor, but I'm usually called Ell, or Big Ell, or Elf. I'm 24 years old.
Which centre do you work in? How many staff and children are in the centre?
I work at Avalon Beach House Preschool, a LDC located on Sydney's Northern Beaches. We're a 28-place centre, divided into 8 Tigers (2 - 3 years), 10 Kangaroos (3 - 4 years) and 10 Dinosaurs (4 - 5 years).
We do family grouping, so all the educators and children get very used to interacting with each other on a daily basis. In the room, I'm joined by my gorgeous colleagues Liss and Karlie and our Director, Melinda, pops in and out between administration tasks throughout the day.
What is your professional background and career experience?
I started working in early childhood education and care in 2009, when I was offered the opportunity to be an Inclusion Support assistant for a child who had recently been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. From there, I studied my Certificate III in Children's Services, before moving onto my Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care. This is my sixth year working with children and families and to be honest, I can't imagine doing anything else.
What attracted you to a career in child care?
I actually had no interest in working with children, to be honest! Throughout high school I worked as an Austswim teacher of swimming and water safety, and although I enjoyed it, I was convinced that I did not want a full-time career with children. I started my first role as an inclusion support assistant simply out of curiosity! I soon realised how much I adore the work, though, and now I'm that irritating person who absolutely adores going to work each day!
What does a 'normal' day look like for you?
I wake up around 5am, get ready and head to work – my centre is a 1+ hour commute, so I've learned to be an early bird! I arrive at work around 6:30, and prepare the indoor and outdoor learning environments so they're ready when the children arrive for a busy day's play. We open at 8am and from then on I spend my time playing and learning with the children.
We have morning tea around ten, lunch and a rest around 12, and afternoon tea around 3 – the rest of our day is spent in a mixture of structured and free play experiences, in both large and small groups. My teammates and I do the necessary cleaning tasks and whip up the day's documentation while the children rest or sleep. I finish at 4 and brave the traffic for my drive home, thrilled to have spent another great day at work!
What makes your centre unique?
I think the most unique aspect of my service is our real family atmosphere. Because we are a small centre we don't break children up into separate rooms based on age: they all interact and coexist within the one large classroom and outdoor area. It also means we don't have a huge pool of staff, and we don't do casuals – it really is just myself, Liss, Karlie and our Director; and we all work the same set shifts every day, every week.
This gives us a unique advantage because when families and children come through the door, they always know whose faces are going to greet them – it just helps maintain the close-knit family-like atmosphere that we're so well known for, and promotes a real sense of security, comfort and belonging for children, families and educators alike.
What are some of the advantages of working in the child care sector?
It's a genuinely rewarding, fulfilling career; you can truly see the impact you have on the children, families and communities with whom you work. I could never have a desk job after having worked in this industry – the sense of purpose it gives you is just amazing. It really is a job that makes a difference to the world.
What are some of the biggest challenges facing the child care sector?
I'm going to have to give the cliché answer – the wages and the working conditions. The pay rate is pretty dismal, and it's often expected that you'll put in a lot of extra hours and deal with a lot of extra work, usually with little or no financial return – I often hear "that's just how it is in this industry," and I just don't agree with it. It's getting to a point where we have brilliant, talented educators leaving the industry in droves because they can't handle the financial strain anymore, and something desperately needs to change. I'm all for promoting and delivering high quality early childhood education and care, but how does the saying go? If you pay peanuts…
How has your centre changed to deal with these challenges?
As a small privately-owned service, there's not much that has been done to address the issue. Short of raising the fees to $100+ a day, there's not much that can be done – our employer is paying us the award wage, and that's all we're entitled to at this point. Families can't afford to be paying even more for child care. It's difficult enough as it is for families to justify putting a child in care so both parents can work – often one parent's wage is entirely spent on child care! I'm sure if the families at my service knew how little we were paid in comparison to the fees they pay, they'd be shocked.
How does the industry need to change to adapt to these challenges?
That's an incredibly difficult question. At this point, we need some sort of solution delivered by the government – the $2/hr wage increase was a good start, but then that was taken away and instead put into the Long Day Care Professional Development Program – the point of which is to enable educators to undergo further professional development and training, so we can be more skilled at our jobs whilst still being paid our regular tiny wages. The irony doesn't escape me.
We are in dire need of a solution though, because otherwise we're going to be faced with a serious social and economic crisis – if we can't afford to attract and retain qualified, skilled and passionate educators, who is going to care for and educate Australia's children while their parents are working?
What advice would you offer someone thinking about a career or looking for a promotion in child care?
I've noticed that children are rarely too frightened to try something new; they don't understand failure the way we do. To them, failure is just a part of the learning process, and it means they tried. I find it's helpful to keep that thought in mind as an adult, too! I remember feeling incredibly self-conscious and having absolutely no idea what to say to the children when I first started, but I flung myself into it just to see what would happen. Having enthusiasm and a willingness to be challenged are the two best attributes I can think of for someone seeking to start or progress their career in early childhood education and care. Never be afraid to give something a go, and if it doesn't work out, do some research and try again!
On a whiteboard in my service, I've written the following quote: "Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future" (John F Kennedy), and I spend some time each day reflecting upon that. The job done by the individuals and communities who work together to raise children is one of the most sacred tasks one can be entrusted with; it's something no educator takes lightly. When I'm having a difficult day (or week), I find it incredibly relaxing to re-read that quote and just remember what my career means to not only me, but to the future of the little people I work with, and that makes the hard days a little bit easier.
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