I've made the move from teaching primary to teaching a government funded kindergarten in a long day care centre. I started on October 3 so now I am up to Week 7. I must admit to being dismayed at the huge drop in pay given that they wanted someone with a degree in education, I was obviously expecting to work longer hours and to have to work during the school holidays but I didn't expect to have to do so much cleaning in the normal course of a day and to have to move furniture (twice in six weeks our floor was cleaned because the first time it wasn't done correctly - last Monday I arrived to find my entire double sized room all stacked up on two squares of carpet in the middle of the room and I had to get everything shifted during the hours before my shift started). I've also been told that over the Christmas period we have to remove everything from walls and scrub them (as in get up on ladders) and that on the night of our Pre-school Christmas concert we have to empty our room of furniture entirely, move it all back again when the concert is over as well as clean the room and wash up after they have had their "party" in an adjoining room.
Would it be too cheeky to ask some parents to help at various times with this given that we will be working at last 3 extra hours for nothing? I know that some of it is reasonable but all of that moving of furniture does not seem right.
Can I refuse to get on a ladder to scrub down walls? Daily routine cleaning is certainly part of the job but I really feel they should be getting professional cleaners in to tackle things like walls - we have very high ceilings.
Of course there are many positives. The children I'm working with are gorgeous (most of the time) and we have been able to do some really interesting things - clean mud, paper chromatography christmas lights and security footage of Slinky Malinki to name a few. I am enjoying the process and the challenge of the reflection - planning - teaching - assessing - reflection cycle with individual children in small groups. I am also proud of what I can teach my colleagues - doing a "social story with a child and putting it up on windows facing the playground was a highlight, "measuring" with envelopes was another and we've had many discussions about Queensland Beginners Alphabet and how to do it properly.
I'm really keen to link up with and network with other primary teachers who have moved or are moving across to childcare. It was very important that I get a steady job over Christmas and beyond this year because in March I had an accident and sprained both ankles and fractured my tibia. Because I was "only" supply teaching I got very little workers comp and was out of actions for a few months so we are in huge financial strife which is alleviated by my wage coming in but not enough. Are there others out there? I'm seeing lots of job ads for teachers but I don;t know of any that have made the move. It would be really interesting to discuss the bridging course we have to do through TAFE as a condition of our employment. I'm certainly finding study after an 8-10 hour day quite a challenge.
Would it be too cheeky to ask some parents to help at various times with this given that we will be working at last 3 extra hours for nothing? I know that some of it is reasonable but all of that moving of furniture does not seem right.
Can I refuse to get on a ladder to scrub down walls? Daily routine cleaning is certainly part of the job but I really feel they should be getting professional cleaners in to tackle things like walls - we have very high ceilings.
Of course there are many positives. The children I'm working with are gorgeous (most of the time) and we have been able to do some really interesting things - clean mud, paper chromatography christmas lights and security footage of Slinky Malinki to name a few. I am enjoying the process and the challenge of the reflection - planning - teaching - assessing - reflection cycle with individual children in small groups. I am also proud of what I can teach my colleagues - doing a "social story with a child and putting it up on windows facing the playground was a highlight, "measuring" with envelopes was another and we've had many discussions about Queensland Beginners Alphabet and how to do it properly.
I'm really keen to link up with and network with other primary teachers who have moved or are moving across to childcare. It was very important that I get a steady job over Christmas and beyond this year because in March I had an accident and sprained both ankles and fractured my tibia. Because I was "only" supply teaching I got very little workers comp and was out of actions for a few months so we are in huge financial strife which is alleviated by my wage coming in but not enough. Are there others out there? I'm seeing lots of job ads for teachers but I don;t know of any that have made the move. It would be really interesting to discuss the bridging course we have to do through TAFE as a condition of our employment. I'm certainly finding study after an 8-10 hour day quite a challenge.
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