Educator in the spotlight: Carly Easy

What is your name and where do you work?

Hello, my name is Carly Easy and I am the Campus Director and Educational Leader at Only About Children St Ives Link Road, Sydney.  I’m also a 27-year-old mum to a beautiful and energetic 15 month old and love being able to share my experiences as a mum with the children and families at my centre.

Our campus is a 92-place centre in the heart of St Ives where more than 1,500 children have been cared for! I have been at the campus since 2015 when it was renovated, and a nursery added.

What is your professional background and career experience?

I began my career in EEC as a trainee in 2012 and quickly found my passion for the nursery age group. I completed my Certificate III and Diploma and in my spare time I would research and learn about different developmental routines and milestones.

With the support of my director at the time, I enrolled in the Bachelor of Education at Charles Sturt University and completed the course while I continued working in the nursery room. I especially loved completing subjects about the circle of security and infant development and completed my degree in 2018.

After taking on a variety of different roles and taking maternity leave, I had a personal goal to return to work in a director role and was extremely lucky that the director role became available at my campus.

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

My sister worked in early education and when I was in school I chose an elective class in year 11 called “Exploring Early Childhood”. It inspired me to pursue early education as a career path and seek out a traineeship. I always loved being around children and am passionate about supporting and educating children. I always believed that children should be cared for and loved as if they were at home.

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

I love that every day is different, but my favourite part of the day is the mornings when the children arrive. I love greeting the families and spending time settling the children in. There is nothing more rewarding when I am greeted with a big smile and hug! I strive to spend as much time with the children and on the floor to ensure I am constantly building relationships with my team and the children.

What makes your service unique?

At Only About Children St Ives Link Road I believe our team is what makes us unique. I’ve been at this campus for seven years and I’m lucky to lead a team of long tenure educators, many who have worked together since the renovation in 2015. We emphasise team spirit and once a month we have a party day with lunch provided. The team is from various cultural backgrounds and everyone has valuable strengths that help assist the campus and newer educators with planning experiences and interactions with families and children.

We are also extremely lucky to have four large outdoor play areas including an all-natural ‘Sustainable Garden’. The Sustainable Garden is a space where the children can get back to nature, dig in dirt, make cakes in the mud kitchen and explore the growing cycle. Our three other play areas are full of natural materials and inspire curiosity and engagement.

Our campus also has its very own fully functional library. Children spend time in the library each day engaging in literacy and choosing books they are interested in. Families are also encouraged to borrow books and spend time in the library at pick up and drop off with their children.

What are some of the advantages of working in early childhood education and care?
The biggest advantage is how rewarding the job is. Nothing is more amazing than the look on a child’s face when they are excited to see you or after spending time settling a new child into your campus they come in with a big smile, you just know you have made an impact in that child’s life. Another amazing moment is the embrace the children give you when you are their trusted adult. They look for that affection in their home away from home and it feels very special knowing that the children feel cared and loved by you.

Another advantage is seeing the amazing growth and development of each individual child. Especially when you have been working hard to teach and educate the children on different topics and you know they have got it!

I worked in the nursery for more than seven years before becoming director and I loved being a part of a child’s journey to sitting, crawling, walking, talking, feeding themselves and becoming independent members of our community.

What are some of the biggest challenges facing the sector?
The biggest challenge for the sector at the moment is the Covid pandemic. We are constantly needing to change our procedures and find new and inventive ways to support the children, families and educators while the situation constantly evolves. Although we are currently not affected by closures or in an LGA of concern every week is different.

How has your service changed to deal with these challenges?

Through this lockdown we have supported families who have kept their children at home with our Grow@Home series. It includes activities the children can do at home that align to what the children on campus are doing. We’ve also created take home packs with colour in, painting and play dough and our teachers and children have been sending videos to their friends at home which has been a huge hit.

We’ve also stayed engaged with our local community by creating a community art wall where both our children and the local community can share their masterpieces and hopefully put a smile on people’s faces.

We hope to maintain normality at the campus so that children can engage in learning in a fun and exciting way despite not being able to go out when in their home environment. We ensure all of our cleaning procedures do not impact the children and plan fun and exciting things to do each week so the children have something to look forward to.

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

We need to be recognised as a professional career by the media and the government. We should be paid them same amount as teachers in schools and be treated with the same respect as we are also teaching and educating the next generation.

The government needs to respect the industry and stop the stigma of “babysitters” so that families are informed and understand how much we actually do on a day-to-day basis.

Throughout the pandemic we were often pushed to the side by the media and through this we have needed to create our own policies and procedures to ensure the safety of the children, team and families.

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

Just do it! It is an amazing career and something that brings joy and happiness everyday. You spend most of your time at work and it needs to be enjoyable and exciting. You will not regret it!

Also some advice I was never given at school was that although the HSC is important it isn’t everything. There are multiple different paths to university. I really struggled in the school setting and once I discovered I could leave and complete my traineeship I persevered and was offered my dream job. I

have never looked back and was degree qualified by the time I was 24. There are multiple different avenues and if you put your mind to it and work hard you can achieve anything!