United Voice News
Susan Templeman walks a day as a childcare professional
Local ALP candidate for Macquarie Susan Templeman earlier this week walked in childcare professionals' shoes, saying it was really important for her to get "a real sense of what it feels like" to be a childcare professional.
"We all think we have a bit of an idea about other sorts of work but really unless you spend some time doing it you don't appreciate the nuances and complexities of it," Susan said. "From this experience, I think I'll be a much better advocate for [childcare professionals]."
Susan spent the morning at KU Hazelbrook in the NSW Blue Mountains engaging with three to five year olds in sandplay, using obstacle courses, dress-ups and woodworking. She also read the children a story.
LHMU member and childcare professional Therese White was excited to have Susan walk in her shoes. "It's great to see politicians see the real us – and not so called babysitters," Therese says. "Susan got a chance to see the hard work we put in as childcare professionals and the challenges we face on a day to day basis."
Having done some of the work childcare professionals do, Susan says things have progressed since her children were in childcare. "There's a greater acceptance and understanding of the educational value of [childcare] – that it's not just child-minding – that it's actually crucial," she says. "The staff seem to have a really good knowledge of the different learning processes and different types of learning that they want to be working through with the kids."
Susan adds she was impressed with childcare workers' capacity to extend children's play to get "better outcomes". She says it was "fantastic to see the level of planning and thoughtfulness" that went into each activity.
Therese is an active leader in LHMU's BIG STEPS in childcare campaign. She says the campaign means a lot to her because "I would like to see myself staying in my field through professional recognition, support for training, quality childcare and professional wages".
"As a professional, I play a big role in who each and every child becomes as a young adult and being recognised for the hard work as a professional is not too much to ask."
Susan would have earned $27.50 for the hour and a half she worked as a childcare professional. "Doing this day in day out, knowing that what you do is so crucial for a child's development and knowing that the work that happens here can help deal with issues that might be much harder to deal with further down the track … we can really see why childcare workers definitely deserve to have greater recognition in their own pay cheques."
