Beth Dempsey

• In October 2023 till current- I decided to join the team at Imaginations Early Education. I have been working in their pre-school room from October 2023 till current. During this time, I have worked with a large group of children daily, as my room has around 40 children per day. Some of these children have a range of medical needs and large behaviours. These are all situations that I have responded to daily and accepted all opportunities to further my knowledge, so I have been able to support all of these children to the best of my ability his has also allowed me to work closely with speech therapists, occupational therapists, paediatricians and play therapists. I have also been working closely with the school readiness program that we offer. This includes creating and implementing a range of activities, experiences and programs that encourage and support, growth and knowledge of children that will be attending school the following year to encourage confidence when they begin. Part of this process is writing two summative assessments per child each year, and multiple daily diaries about their planned experiences. My room currently has a wide range of educators, I have been able to work closely with all age groups of educators to learn, grow and understand a range of learning styles and how to work positively together.

In February 2020 to October 2023. I started my traineeship with Scaliiwags, completing my Certificate 3 in Early Education and Childcare. I completed all 18 papers and my first aid certificate within those 12 months. I built amazing relationships with all families, and my work team. I loved watching all the children grow, and all of them develop, and it was amazing to know I was a part of their developmental milestones.. During my time at Scaliiwags I also did some administration like documentation and filing. Scaliiwags really helped me to think outside the box, and helped me become a quick, decisive, motivated thinker, and develop the skills I need to work in a fast-paced professional environment. I spent my first 2 years working in early childhood in the nursery, working along side my room leader. As it was the start and the peak of COVID-19, our numbers were low, and often it was just my room leader and me.. This came as a great benefit to me, getting that one on one time with my room leader I was able to learn, observe, engage and complete all tasks that were thrown at me having my room leader by my side. I actively engaged myself in conversation with all families, not just about daycare but general conversation so that I was able to not just create relationships, but friendships so that all families can confidently know that I do everything I can to provide the best learning environments and quality of care for their children.

I have spent the last 15 months in the toddler room, I am very confident with that age group, and able to do a range of things myself deciding what I could do to better the room and still actively learn. In the past 4 years I have worked alongside my room leader, programming each month, completing daily dairies, planning and executing experiences as well as being trusted to run the room and and be that lead person that other educators in the room can communicate with when my room leader is not in the room. I have kept my room and the center to a high quality of hygiene, limiting the sharing of sickness throughout the center. For the past three years, I have opened the center with another educator. I live 45 minutes out of town, and I strive to make sure I am always on time and ready to go for the day so that I am able to set up learning environments and be a support for the children who arrive early, also. I consider opening the center to be a large and rewarding opportunity. I am able to communicate with all parents that arrive and pass things on to their educators. I am able to build relationships with families in other rooms to complete learning environments that will educate and actively engage all children throughout the day. Lastly, I am there as support and provide love and compassion for the children who get dropped off early and can be unsettled by that. I am there for not just the children, but the families also.

• In June 2018 when I was 19 I moved out of New Zealand and to Mossvale NSW to be an Au pair for an extremely lovely family and their 3 children. In my role of being an Au pair I would wake up get the 2 oldest children (7 & 10) ready for school and the rest of the day attend to their baby who was only 8 moths. I attended to her needs all day including prepping food, bottle, changing nappies, bathing, washing and taking her to all appointments that were required. Then in the afternoon I would pick the other children up from school do all of their homework with them get all their dinners ready and set them for the night. Along with looking after the children I also looked after the family with their basic household needs. I cleaned, cooked and did all the washing that was required. I found this job extremely enjoyable and it also benefited me in a lot of ways.

Cobb & Co restaurant / Avenal Sports Bar, Invercargill. I was employed from April 2016 through to June 2018.

I was a part-time waitress, but I am also trained in the bar and beverage. My role is to wait on and look after a range of small to very large groups of people, making sure that their experience at the restaurant is enjoyable. I believe that working in hospitality has helped me develop more skills in interacting with people that I have never met before which I consider to be a strong trait I gained. I also worked long hours in the bar till early in the mornings to learn management tasks such as, banking, pay sheets, rosters and ordering stock, I also did a lot of speaking on the phone to customers and contacting through emails also.

reston Russell Law, Invercargill

December 2014, 2015.

My role involved transporting legal documents and administration material due to the business relocating buildings. I also organised material and was proficient at filing documents and dealing with sensitive information.

I received high praise from the Chief Executive and Partners of the law firm.