free early childhood education at home - footsteps

Child, Youth & Family

Teachers/Kaiako

Kate at support office wrote this poem about footsteps. August 2009	f ootsteps, fantastic, fun o rganisation. o ut of the ordinary with t errific team of s pecial t eachers bringing e ducation to p re schoolers with help from s upport Office
Lindy Amberger Bachelor of Education - Early Childhood, Diploma Early Intervention, Higher Diploma Teaching, MOTHER	I have been asked to write a piece about the joy's of being involved with footsteps. I have been with footsteps for nearly two years now and it has been two years of hard work, but probably the most enjoyable work I have ever experienced. Many of my colleagues would have heard me say, "I love this job", well it is true, I do! I have learnt more over the past months than I ever have, and for the first time for many years I feel truly valued as a Teacher/Kaiako. The warmth and support I have received from my colleagues has been tremendous and the patient support and guidance from support office has been amazing. A huge thank you to everyone for their never ending support, which always is delivered with such calm and positive manner and always makes me feel that I am doing a good job. Footsteps is receiving some very positive comments down this way and it is exciting to watch it grow daily. Meeting the children and caregivers on my caseload has been a privilege, and as these relationships strengthen and deepen so does my commitment to the job. I travel the Nelson district as well as Blenheim and Picton. Even the motel owners are warm and welcoming, which makes being away from home easier to cope with. Footsteps rocks, and may it continue to grow and develop for many years to come.
Louise Hoggart Diploma in Teaching - Early Childhood, MOTHER August 2009	I began with footsteps in January 2009, and after fifteen years teaching in early childhood in a range of different settings such as Kindergarten, Childcare and Preschool Centres, what an exciting and refreshing change to be part of this wonderful organisation and all that they offer to families across New Zealand. I have two young children aged 2yrs and 4yrs old and footsteps has offered me an opportunity to return to employment and work flexible days and hours to suit me and my family. Not only that, but when earlier this year my husband’s work commitments changed and we needed to move our family from Auckland to Christchurch, I spoke with our directors and they were very supportive of the move and found me a new position within the South Island team. If my job wasn’t good before it’s even more exciting now, once a month I travel to Queenstown, one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand (in my opinion) to visit six lovely caregivers and twelve wonderful children. I am passionate about Early Childhood Education and the benefits we can offer so many children and their caregivers, by sharing our knowledge and skills, footsteps offers a whānau approach to the way it operates which is applied to staff, families and caregivers. Our directors are friendly, supportive and accommodating and we have a wonderful support network of administrators at Support Office and of course our Regional Managers who are always there to share the load and support our teaching staff whenever we need it. I wake up every morning excited about my work and the people I have contact with, I can’t wait to get to my computer and download my email to see what is waiting for me today and that’s before I even go out on my visits, which is one of the most rewarding aspects of my role. Footsteps has offered me the opportunity to work in a job I absolutely love and I get paid for it! I have as much or as little work as I require, the hours suit me and my family, if my children are sick I can easily rearrange my schedule to accommodate their needs and the work offers me just the right amount of challenge, professional development and scope for future development that it satisfies all my needs. Why wouldn’t you want to work for footsteps?

Back To Top View Printer Friendly Version