Educator in the spotlight: Lina Fayad

An important and popular feature of our weekly newsletter for early childhood education and care providers is our profiles on dynamic and inspirational people working in the sector.

This week we are proud to introduce you to Lina Fayad who works at Kool Kidz Mill Park in Melbourne a service with 50 staff and up to 130 children per day.

What is your professional background and career experience?

10 years ago I started volunteer work in a prep room in a primary school. The teachers encouraged me to start an education support course. I completed my certificate 3 as a Teachers Aide at NMIT in 2011 then I started my Diploma in Early Childhood Education & Care shortly after.

I started working at Kool Kidz Mill Park in 2016 as an Assistant Educator. I have now been at Kool Kidz Mill Park for over 5 years and I am currently working as an aide in the babies room which I am really enjoying.

What attracted you to a career in the early childhood sector?

I am good at engaging with children, interacting with them to develop their skills and knowledge and getting to know their interests and needs to support them. I have good skills working with children and I am a good listener. When I am engaging with the children I get down to their level to bond with them and gain their trust.

What does a ‘normal’ day look like for you?

A normal day at Kool Kidz Mill Park is seeing me start my day by greeting all of my colleagues, the children and their families.

If the child I am caring for is not in the room yet, I set up activities specifically to meet his development goals for the day.

When he arrives, I discuss with mum and/or dad how his night was and then give him a big warm cuddle to start the day.

My day is then spent talking with, challenging, supporting, feeding, and attending to my child’s sleep and rest routine along with his nappy changes.

I like to engage in singing songs throughout the day along with lots of conversation.  I support my child’s core muscle development by doing exercises with him as recommended by the Occupational Therapist.

I then also support my team and other children in the room throughout the day by ensuring the room is set up and reset as we go and undertaking any cleaning tasks needed.

What makes your service unique?

We are a privately owned and operated centre in Melbourne’s north and only have permanent staff.  I really do like that there are no casual staff or temp staff as this provides consistency for the children, the families and the team.

We are multicultural and diverse both with our families and our amazing team.

In our centre we get all the children involved in all activities.  The children always come first.  Each child has a voice and the educators know the children and their interests and needs.

What are some of the advantages of working in early childhood education and care?

There are lots of advantages to working in early education such as feeling every day like I am going on an amazing new adventure to have a good day with our beautiful children.

It is very emotional to see the children in our care growing and developing new skills, strengths and gain confidence. This brightens my world immensely.

What are some of the biggest challenges facing the sector?

Staff who are new to the industry having the adequate knowledge and skills through their training to be successful in their role.

Having passionate and dedicated staff who come into the sector and stay for the career that it is.

Moving away from a casual workforce to a more permanent workforce in the sector with job stability and consistency.

How has your service changed to deal with these challenges?

Kool Kidz Mill Park only employs permanent educators and provides staff who are new to the sector with tailored, specific training to ensuring they close the gap with current knowledge of the National Quality standards.

Kool Kidz Mill Park also hosts work placement students to provide them with the best possible training during their course they could possibly obtain.  If the student shows the passion, dedication and initiative during their placement, our Owner, Nicole will offer them a permanent position.

We have two educational leaders who work one-on-one with all educators across the service to support them and provide training to ensure they are meeting the needs of the children and families.

How does the early childhood industry need to change to adapt to these challenges?

The early childhood sector should look firstly at the quality of the training courses being offered to prospective employees.  This also includes ensuring successful work placements that allow students to develop their knowledge and skills of the sector during their course.

Secondly, the sector should significantly decrease the number of casual employees it uses to provide stability and consistency for both the educator and the families and children.

What advice would you offer someone thinking about a career or looking for a promotion in early childhood education and care?

You must be patient and willing to expand your knowledge; be a lifelong learner yourself.  You must love what you do and have a passion to see the children thrive and learn.

You must love people and have great customer service skills and share your knowledge with everyone that you cross paths with.

The early educator sector has a fantastic career path from an assistant educator, to a room leader, to admin, an educational leader, centre director and then onto an owner.

We are in an amazing sector where we support each and every child we cross paths with to be the very best that they can.  Be positive.  Do your best. Celebrate your successes.  Be proud of your role in the sector and tell everyone how amazing you are.