As a relief early childhood teacher I am working for the agency and often get shifts in long day care. If you are new to the early childhood education and care sector, tune in to hear about my day.
First, I arrive at the centre 15 minutes before my shift. It helps to find parking, take my bags out of the car, sign in and wash my hands properly.
Usually, the director greets me on arrival and asks me to sign in. It is followed up by the quick orientation (where are the toilets, emergency exits, staff rooms, laundry and other important information about the centre). At this stage, I am usually told what are the expectations, e.g. Kate, you will be working in the kinder room or pre-k room. It was different today, as I was asked to spend some time in the preschool along with another teacher and “cover the breaks”. Typical ECT shift does not include covering the breaks, as this is a kind or job done by a relief educator with the Certificate 3. In early childhood education and care context though, we do a lot of “hands on” things and responsibilities are often interchangeable. To some extent, everyone should be able to care for children, complete documentation and admin work, clean, serve meals and interact with families.
I start in the kinder room to get to know the children, permanent educator and the routine. Today we have 18 children attending and children seem to be settled. They are curious about my “rainbow’ bag and ukulele bag. I promise to play for them later. The permanent educator starts a morning meeting, children are involved and ask questions, participate. They are full of energy and keen to learn. The educator separates children in smaller groups for progressive lunch in the dining area, while me and another relief teacher stay in the room to look after the children. I manage to learn some children’s names and feel a little more confident around the room.
It’s time to start “doing the breaks”. As a relief educator, I go to the nursery room and jump straight into work. Some nappies need to be changed, some children need to go to sleep and some children are playing on the floor and require supervision. The room is busy, but children are settled and no one is crying.
After 40 minutes in the babies room, I go to cover educators’ planning time in the toddlers’ room. Children are dancing inside, listening to the songs on the iPad. I join in. The permanent educator tells me to transition children to the mat and read a story. After so much dancing, children are a little unsettled. I try a few strategies, such as transition songs like “We are going to shake, shake, shake our sillies out!”. Their attention is now focused and I tell them the story of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. I transition children to wash their hands and go back to Kinder room. It’s another meeting time (circle time). Children are sitting on the mat for “school readiness”. Educator tells me that they cover one Letterland letter a week. Today is Bouncy Ben time. I jump in and invite children to tell me what they know about B and the words starting with B. We move on to the storytelling session, as I introduce my puppets. Children seem to enjoy acting out “The big enormous story”, as they say “They pulled and they pulled”. After the group time, children are choosing to go outside or stay inside for play. I assist children with their jackets and beanies.
The permanent educator is back and it’s time to go back to the nursery. I stay there for 40 minutes (covering 2 breaks). I clean the floor and the table, I supervise children in their cots (checking on them every 5 minutes) and play with children who are not sleeping.
It’s my lunch break time and I quickly grab my lunch from the car. I only have 30 minutes. I wash my hands and enjoy few moments of quiet time. After lunch I go back to the preschool room and stay there for the rest of the day. I am asked to do the dishes and check if there is anything to do in the laundry.
I document some of the reflections via Storypark app and take a few pictures of experiences children are engaged in. I play with children outside, supervising them closely. Before I leave the centre at 5.15, I sing a few songs on the mat before the late snack. We also pack up the sandpit and outdoor play areas to get ready for the next day.
