Sharnay Ormazabal

I started out in this role from November 2020 in a volunteer position and transitioned into a paid role in July 2024.

Since 2020, my role has involved and continues to involve:

• Building and establishing an inclusive youth group that runs once a week for ages 11 to 18 and provides a safe space for all backgrounds, abilities and cultures.
• Putting together and running a team of leaders who work with me to create activities, plan events, organise youth community building and focus on growing relationships with the youth in our care.
• Communicating frequently with parents and carers of the youth.
• Handle all of the administrative and child safety paper work and requirements.
• Completed necessary reports and documentation to maintain thorough, accurate case records.
• Established trusting relationships with young people through empathetic listening and genuine interest in their lives outside of program hours.
• Promoted a safe, inclusive environment by establishing clear expectations and reinforcing positive behaviours among participants.

I also continue to run a playgroup and a girls group at Stromlo High-school, which still includes everything mentioned in my previous job description.

As the Children's Worker for Woden Valley Alliance Church, I undertook a variety of different roles. My main programs included the Sunday School classes, a weekly playgroup and a girls group at Stromlo High-school.

Sunday School classes included:

• Organising and working with a group of volunteers ranging from ages 15 to 60+.
• Creating programs and rosters.
• During Covid-19 lockdowns I moved online, creating content for the children to watch twice a week and engage with in a closely monitored online platform which included activity packs I created that were relevant to the content which were then sent to families weekly for their children to participate in.
• Communicating consistently with the volunteers, the families and caregivers of the children in my care and the wider church community.
• Administrative work including reports, child safety, managing a budget and keeping track of supplies.
• Providing pastoral care to volunteers and families within the community.

Playgroup included:

• Organising and working with a group of volunteers ranging from ages 20 to 60+.
• Creating programs and rosters.
• Communicating consistently with volunteers and family/caregivers.
• Administrative work including reports, child safety, ACT Playgroup requirements, managing a budget, keeping track of supplies, and advertising.

Girls group at Stromlo High-School included:

• Communicating with the youth workers at Stromlo High-School in order to run my program.
• Creating lesson plans and activities which focused on dealing with stress, depression, anxiety, body image, identity, family and health issues, managing emotions and a range of other relevant topics for the youth I was working with.
• Having flexibility in creating new programs on short notice, adjusting programs to fit the needs of the youth, moving or cancelling sessions, taking on more students and working with the students and youth workers in an online capacity during Covid-19 lockdowns.

In July 2024, I stepped down from my role as the Chidlren's Worker and began a paid position as the Youth Worker for Woden Valley Alliance Church. While I no longer run the Sunday School services, I still continue to run the playgroup and the Stromlo High-School group as part of my role as the Youth Worker.

I was employed in a casual position, working around two to three shifts a week. During this time I was also working on completing my Diploma in Childhood Education and Care but when I moved on from this position, I chose to stop my studies as well.

While employed at Noah's Ark, I:

• Was self-motivated, with a strong sense of personal responsibility.
• Worked effectively in fast-paced environments.
• Skilled at working independently and collaboratively in a team environment.
• Had a proven ability to learn quickly and adapt to new situations.
• Had excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Worked well in a team setting, providing support and guidance.
• Demonstrated respect, friendliness and willingness to help wherever needed.
• Assisted with day-to-day operations, working efficiently and productively with all team members.
• Passionate about learning and committed to continual improvement.
• Managed time efficiently in order to complete all tasks within deadlines.
• Was organized and detail-oriented with a strong work ethic.
• Paid attention to detail while completing assignments.
• Used critical thinking to break down problems, evaluate solutions and make decisions.
• Strengthened communication skills through regular interactions with others.
• Was adaptable and proficient in learning new concepts quickly and efficiently.
• Developed and maintained courteous and effective working relationships.
• Demonstrated strong organizational and time management skills while managing multiple projects.

As a childcare educator for YWCA Currawong my role included a variety of things, such as:

• Coordinated with other staff members effectively in order to provide a cohesive childcare program promoting teamwork and collaboration.
• Ensured the health and safety of children by consistently monitoring their activities both indoors and outdoors.
• Collaborated with parents to address individual child needs and discuss progress reports regularly.
• Implemented hands-on learning opportunities that encouraged exploration, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills among children.
• Completed administrative work once a week to support the director, this included organising break rosters, answering phone calls, working alongside all other staff, creating programs, filling out reports, making quick decisions and implementing ideas.

During my employment at Our Place, I took on the role and responsibility of a full-time, before and after school care educator.

I quite after only a brief time though as I was not receiving any of my pay while working there and ended up only being paid once I informed them I would be taking legal action if I did not get paid.

During my employment at Lavender Lane, I took on all the responsibilities of a full-time position.

Unfortunately I had to quite due to needing to be available to help support and care for my family during a difficult season.

Worked as an Australian School-based Apprenticeship.

I worked as a preschool assistant and also in the afterschool care program for two days a week with the occasional days at the holiday programs.

This involved:

• Working in a classroom with 25 children from ages 4 to 5 with a preschool teacher.
• Helping with the organisation of activities and running activities of my own with the children.
• Engaging with the children and working alongside them to help with their education and providing support for their emotional and physical needs.
• Cleaning of the classrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and outdoor play areas in the centre.
• Often being put in charge of documenting certain events which occurred such as excursions, incursions, accident reports and filing information.

This job involved:

• Collecting the newspapers and catalogues once a week and preparing them to be delivered.
• Delivering the papers once a week.
• My paper route included approximately two hundred and twenty five houses.

From this job I had begun to learn the following skills:

• Time management.
• Strategies to complete my job despite uncontrollable circumstances such as weather.
• Engaging with disagreeable and difficult people and being able to appropriately interact with them.