Ava Smith

I am studying a Certificate III in Childhood Education and Care, so I do work placement once a week during the school terms at a childcare centre to complete my placement hours. Here I care for and engage with children of all ages to provide a meaningful childcare experience.

Job I do are :

• Engage in classroom discussions to encourage the children to share their thoughts
• Built relationships with children and educators
• Supervise children when they are in centre care
• Assist children with activity's

I work at The Secret Garden Cafe during the school term when I am away at boarding school. I have been here for going on three years and I have stayed at this cafe over two different ownerships. At the Secret Garden I am a very involved team member, and I am trained to work in all areas of the kitchen including, on the coffee machine, cold kitchen, dishwasher and as server.

Jobs I do include:

• Training new staff on customer service and in the kitchen
• Providing exceptional customer service
• Managing inventory levels, and noting what needs to be restocked, and restocking it when it comes in
• Operating cash register and handling transactions

After my parents finished their managing position, they had the opportunity to own their own property. On Laurita our family produces Angus Cattle and Dorpers, as well as we grow dry land cropping. As Laurita is a family owned business, it has taught me the value of initiative and responsibility, as I often find myself having to make decisions and judgements for myself and my younger siblings.

Jobs I do include :

• Driving heady vehicles and machinery
• Processing cattle/running them through the yards
• Vaccinating sheep and cattle
• Orally drenching sheep/back lining cattle
• Bang tailing
• Drafting cattle and sheep
• Ploughing the crop in a tractor
• Stacking hay on and off the back of a truck
• Mustering

My parents managed a cattle station in Blackall for Russel Pastoral Company. This is where my siblings and I grew up. I was always involved in the Station life and when I would come home from boarding school during the school holidays I started to take on more independent responsibility's. Here I learnt from a young age the importance of team work and the dynamic of a team environment as there were always many employees living on the place.

Independent jobs I did include:

• Water runs/cleaning water troughs
• Feeding livestock/animals
• Yarding Livestock and running them through the yard
• Tailing wieners on horses and bikes