Introducing Tara Ashe, Lead Educator of the Babies Room at Kids Academy Regentville, and one of our latest Shining Stars!
Tara has been working in early childhood education since she was just sixteen with her first role being as a trainee in Mandurah in Western Australia.
“I have always felt that early childhood education was such a valuable career,” says Tara.
“When I was approached in 2015 to do my Diploma in Early Childhood Education, I started to think about all the information I have been lucky enough to gain through my years of experience and I felt that the extra study would allow me to really make a difference in the lives of the children that I teach. As I was completing my Diploma I realised the professional development opportunities within early childhood education and that is when I really zoned in on what I wanted to achieve,” she said.
Tara was nominated for her enthusiasm and drive as she currently works towards completing her Bachelor of Education and helps support the centre’s Educational Leader.
Apart from her genuine love for children, Tara is also passionate about motivating, mentoring and supporting other educators in the programs and practice.
“My consistent goal is to always to learn as much as possible to provide the best early education and care for children,” she says.
“My weekly goal is to always share knowledge with my fellow colleagues so we can make the best environment possible for the children in our care.”
When asked to look back on her career she brought up many fond memories, but was eager to help others learn from her challenges also.
“The biggest challenge I faced in my career was entering the industry so young. I held my Certificate lll at just 17 and was made second in charge of a 1-2 year old room. I found it hard to gain the respect of my fellow colleges at the time.”
“After studying my Cert lll I wanted to further my studies and move on to my Diploma, but at this young age I feared I wasn't experienced enough. I was lucky to have a strong room leader at the time who supported me and taught me a lot.
“After a few years becoming the best assisting educator I could be, I then moved on to finding my home at Kids Academy Regentville. Today I am very thankful for this challenge, it has made me very confident but also very understanding,” she says.
Tara has said she cherishes the learning opportunities she has been offered through Affinity Education Group.
“Affinity are increasing the opportunities for their employees to further their knowledge. I have been lucky enough to start my Bachelor of Education this year through Affinity’s brand new ‘Study Assist’ program. This has been something for a long time I thought I would not be able to achieve however, Affinity have made it possible.”
Thank you Tara for bringing our Affinity values of ‘Going Above and Beyond’, ‘Delivering Outstanding Professionalism’ and ‘Living the Team Spirit’ to life!