A career for the future

As an Early Childhood Teacher and Educational Leader, she says the relationships she builds with her students are the highlights of her role.

“No matter how hard the day is, there's always a moment where one of those little people puts a smile on your face with something quirky or lovely they’ve said,” she says.

“There’s always something rewarding, something you can pull from the day that has made it worth it.”

Having worked in various roles in the sector for a decade, Jasmine recalls several times when a former student, or the parent of a former student, has recognised her and told her of the impact she made in their life, or the life of their child.

“It’s so fulfilling to know you have been remembered for a such a long time by someone whose life you were only a small part of,” she says.

“It is such a beautiful, rewarding career.”

It’s a career that City of Ballarat Executive Manager Family, Youth and Children's Services Sharelle Knight would like more people to consider.

Announced in 2022, the State Government’s Best Start, Best Life reforms guarantee children in the coming years can access 30 hours of four-year-old kindergarten and 15 hours of three- year old kindergarten. The State Government also guaranteed that kinder would be free for three and four-year-olds in participating services across the state.

While this is great news for Ballarat families, it is a significant change requiring the City of Ballarat to expand its early years education workforce and make plans to ensure there is adequate infrastructure to deliver the reforms.

“It has essentially meant, in really simple terms, that we are down by a third on kindergarten provision, meaning our workforce is not large enough to deliver on these reforms,” Sharelle says.

With funded kindergarten at four locations, the City of Ballarat is a relatively small provider of kindergarten services in the region. However, the City of Ballarat also plays a role in terms of infrastructure planning by providing facilities to other kindergarten operators to lease.

In collaboration with other municipalities in the region, Sharelle says the City of Ballarat is working on a workforce strategy, which will explore how to attract, train and retain early years educators and teachers.

“Essentially, we’re looking at how we can make sure that, over the long term, we can build our own workforce and keep the workforce here in the Central Highlands region” she says.

“We are a growing municipality and we're really wanting to support the health, development and educational needs of our youngest residents here in Ballarat.

“We want people to consider kindergarten education as a viable career option here in Ballarat.”

It’s a career option that Jasmine recommends people consider.

“There’s a lot of stigma around kindergarten teaching being just play, but it’s so much more than that — kindergarten teaching is about getting to know the children and families, and working as a team to develop the skills and knowledge necessary for each individual child for school and life beyond school.

“To know that you played a part in their education, when parents come up and say ‘He really enjoyed that science experiment and cannot stop talking about volcanoes’, is important.” 

Visit the Victorian Government website to learn about the Best Start, Best Life reforms.