Job Description:
- Temper tantrum soother
- Spilt food and drink cleaner upper
- First aider
- Cook
- Sleep/nap getter downer
- Comforter/counsellor
- Have no issue with bending, crouching and sitting on child sized furniture all day
- Willingness to always expect the unexpected
- Able to reason with unreasonable humans who are unable to regulate their emotions
- Ability to teach vital social skills
- Resource developer
- Artist
- Cleaner
- Can embrace a mess but must be able to clean and sterilise every surface, chewed toy etc (and this was before Covid-19)
- Be trustworthy of parents placing their whole world in your caring, supportive hands (no pressure!)
- Proven ability to detach clingy, anxiety ridden children off their parents
- To develop and foster a lifelong love of learning, giving children the best start to their educational lives.
- To create wonder and excitement for 6 – 9 hours a day
- Cannot be seen to be having an ‘off’ day
Pay? Well, it’s nothing close to what you are worth but we’ll give you some money for this huge list of demands!
NB People with a weak stomach who don’t respond well to snot, faeces or urine need not apply.
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Tough gig huh? Yet, we have thousands and thousands of marvellous, caring and passionate people who (choose!) to work in various prior to school settings around the country. Many of these settings remained open throughout the pandemic, even when primary and secondary schools were closed, so that parents could work and/or focus on older siblings who were being home-schooled.
It has been proven that children who attend a prior to school setting for a minimum of two years perform better at school. We need to acknowledge the critical role these educators play in our children’s lives. These amazing humans are everything and more to our children when we cannot be there ourselves.
To Early Childhood Educators across the country: You are poorly paid and hugely overworked, I am not sure this blog will do justice for all that you do to enrich the lives of children, their families and your communities. You deserve a big fat pay rise – you have been frontline workers this past, crazy year and a constant in children’s lives when their worlds have become a little smaller, a little darker and a lot scarier.
Education Boutique are aware of the vital role you play in children’s learning and social and emotional development. We see you, we value you and quite frankly, we salute you!
Brooke McClure, Lead Resource Teacher at Education Boutique