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| Child care person in the spotlight
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| Mary Saad
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What is your full name?
My name is Mary Saad AKA Ms. Mary and I am 35 years old.
Which service do you work in? How many staff and children are in your service?
I am an early childhood director within the Malek Group, I usually work from head office but go and see the centres weekly. All up we have approximately 80 staff and approx. 400 children.
What is your professional background and career experience?
I've been very fortunate to have grown up in the early childhood profession. My mother was an educator and I remember spending all my school holidays there with her, helping set up the paint, reading a story and playing with the children.
My father was a teacher also, but after 25 years he decided to resign from teaching and went back to study building. He built a child care centre for my mum in 1991 and that's where it all began.
My first position as an early childhood educator was in 2001 in the babies’ room for two years while I completed my Bachelor of Education. I loved working in the babies’ room, every day was a completely new adventure and I loved watching the babies making new learning connections daily.
One of my favourite memories of that room was when we set up water in a small bucket with a paintbrush, and watched the babies “paint” the concrete on the ground. To their amazement the water evaporated and they waddled around searching for where it had “gone”.
The excitement on their faces was beautiful, and to know that I was a part of that new knowledge created was an honour.
My mentor at the time, Mel, taught me so many things: planning, patience and passion. She helped me every day in my role as a teacher, director and even to this day and I thank her for always sharing her knowledge and experience.
I then moved to our centre in Fairfield in the preschooler’s class, where I stayed for four years. During that time we implemented the emergent curriculum in the centre and began new and exciting things by transforming the playground to reflect a more natural environment with a pond, and private spaces to play. This was such an exciting time for our centre as research and discussion of the benefits of natural play areas had just begun (2003).
In 2007 my brother Phil, his wife Nairi, my husband Adam and I decided to go into business together and we bought our first child care centre in Croydon. This was such a great time in our lives because we were all working together for the same goal. I continued to lead the preschooler’s room, with some very inspirational people working alongside me. I’m fortunate enough to say that many of these people continue to work alongside me.
I did so many different roles at this time. I was one of the directors managing the service, I was the room leader, I was the Authorised Supervisor, the cook at times, the maintenance man at times and every other position that we all sometimes do as educators!
I had my first daughter in 2008 and took six months off on maternity leave. We opened two other centres and went through many accreditation visits before 2010.
In 2010 I had my second daughter and only took three weeks off for maternity leave. I remember putting her in the Baby Bjorn as she slept and breastfeeding on the couch in the staff room. In 2012 I completed my Master of Education (Leadership) and I looked at focusing on mentoring and motivating staff in our company.
I worked some nights with a professional development company where I visited other centres helping them with the EYLF and its implementation. Late 2012 I then completed my Certificate 4 in Training and Assessment and continued doing educator training within our company. Most of the influential people that worked with me during my experience continue to work with us in our company.
What attracted you to a career in the early childhood sector?
As I mentioned earlier, I was brought up in this sector. I eat and breathe early childhood and I love every minute. I love watching the learning happen in the classrooms and listening to the children’s interpretation of the world. I love igniting the passion back in educators and helping them with their studies and planning.
What does a ‘normal’ day look like for you?
Everybody knows that the role of an early childhood director changes daily, and for me, there isn’t a ‘normal’ day. I am however very blessed to have 2 beautiful girls at school, so my day starts off with being a mum. Lunches, uniforms, and morning school drop off.
I then either make my way to head office and work on reviewing and development of the curriculum, organise directors meetings or classroom networking dates or try and visit the other centres and see how the centre directors are, the educators and of course the children! Going to the centres is my favourite part of my week. The children all know me and show me the amazing things they have been working on.
What makes your service unique?
Our service is unique as we know every single educator that works with us. We have a low staff turnover with many celebrating 10 years of service and more with us. We are a family owned and operated service and we understand the importance of a work-life balance.
Our professional development and training policy ensures that all our educators attend in-service training that are significant to their own professional goals. We have regular meetings to network with other directors and educators to ensure high staff morality and communication.
Our new Prepare Early Education Program has been designed and created by early childhood educators that have had many years’ experience both on the floor and off the floor. We researched over two years to ensure that we have the latest up to date information when developing this program and we are all so excited with its implementation.
What are some of the advantages of working in early childhood education and care?
Making a difference in the lives of children and families.
What are some of the biggest challenges facing the sector?
I think the biggest challenges for the early childhood sector is trying to minimise the cost to families by the ratio increase.
It is a great step in early childhood education and care to increase the ratios of both the zero-two and two-three age group. It supports the learning and development of each child and ensures best practice.
However the extra cost is affecting families, which will result in child care being unaffordable and children withdrawing out of education and care. Where will these children go? If the government truly believes that the early years is as significant as they say, then they should increase funding so that it is affordable for all families.
How has your service changed to deal with these challenges?
We have hired more educators to not only meet the ratio regulation but also to ensure that there are more than enough staff in the centres to cover programming and in turn provide a quality program.
How does the early childhood industry need to change to adapt to these challenges?
Value the importance of the early years by funding our future generation of adults.
What advice would you offer someone thinking about a career or looking for a promotion in early childhood education and care?
Early childhood education is one of the most rewarding professions. We have such a valuable and important role in the lives of young children and it’s our responsibility to ensure that we provide the highest quality education and care. I truly believe you can never stop learning, and to be a remarkable teacher you need to continue to be a life-long learner.
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