Kristie O'Sullivan

Centre Manager - Great Beginnings Mt Clear

“Starting a career as an early years’ educator has been the most fulfilling decision of my life.”

Confucius once said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life”. I am one of the lucky people to live and breathe this saying. Starting a career as an early years’ educator has been the most fulfilling decision of my life. 

I have worked in the early education sector for 7 years and I hold a Diploma in Early Education. I have completed a variety of courses as they have become available to me, to extend my knowledge in all areas; including child protection, raising good kids, early childhood nutrition, managing challenging exchanges and more. 

I am passionate about fostering relationships, my belief is that the first five years of a young person’s life is the most important for securing the types of attachments they will form later in life. I draw on my personal experience to strengthen this belief, as it was not only my family but also my community and my teachers that have had a strong influence on the person I am today. 

I build into the programs an underlying importance of sustainability, from upcycling, through to recycling as this can be done in all aspects of our day; from changing the way we wash our dishes, to how we can reuse containers and manipulate/change/use spare parts. 

Our passion and energy allow us to create a great staff culture, making this a place I am proud to work, where our families can come in and feel our love for our jobs. 

Our centre shares a yard with all the age groups, this is important because siblings and friends can come together no matter the age. Each day we watch as the older children change how they play so the younger ones can join in, and how the younger children can learn to extend their experiences and activities based on their peers, as well as seeing the collaboration between children as they work on a shared idea and focus. “It takes a village to raise a family” is an accurate expression that highlights how important it is for children to be allowed access to a range of influential personalities while they learn who they are and who they wish to be. 

The message I would love to leave behind is one of connectedness, not one person can do what we do and hope to grow these children into beautiful people. We need the children, staff and families to come together and share a space, their thoughts, their beliefs and ideas. I invite you to come and see our centre, what it is we do and see if this is the place for you. We hope to see you soon.