Today I was sent to a centre in Warringah area.. It took me about 45 mins to get there from the city (although it was technically only 30 mins proper travelling time). It was a community centre, so my one hour lunch break was unpaid. If it's a private centre, the lunch breaks will normally be paid though. So during my lunch break, I took a walk along the beach.... and I was rewarded with the sight of a whale! Wow....
That wonderful insight aside, if you had told me that I would have so much "crises" to handle in one day six months ago, I would have balked! But after worked about six months in so many centres, somehow everything just slowly fell into place. It just took six months (or hopefully less) to reach where I have....
One of the things a relief staff (or Early Childhood Teacher) should remind herself is that everytime they go a new centre, the children have the inclination to want to push the boundaries of how far they can get away with this "new person" on board. Perhaps she needs to be manhandled, or broken in, as the saying goes....?
On first observation, the children during the first two hours seemed rather sane and normal. But as the day progressed, and as the children went out for outdoor play, their true colours begin to display. It is much more prevalent especially if one is a relief staff. Thankfully, there were relief support staff who were on hand to remind me of what the children were capable of.. within the first 3 hours, (and hopefully it takes a shorter time the next time round), I had managed to identify the children who were bound to get cheeky with the new staff and teachers who came in...
As much as we would like to say to ourselves how sweet and innocent these children are, however what I have observed so far is that the children were doing things which were not only if not supervised and reprimanded, will start doing things that will not only cause harm to themselves, but the school and teachers will have to be made accountable. So before it can even reach this level, it is of most importance that the teachers/staff are extra vigilant and crack down on such misbehaviour and misdemeanors before they even can happen!
Many of these children will argue and ignore the relief teacher when reprimanded. Because the children know that these relief staff are new and not familiar with the rules & routines of the classroom, they will push as far as the boundaries as they can get away with . It is most essential that relief staff do not give in, and of course the sooner we learn to "pick up" and read the basic "body language" where we know the children are openly defying instructions given and "trying to test us", the sooner we are able to better manage and handle the children's disciplinary behaviour.
To end the tale, today Agent E called up and asked if I wanted to go the a centre in Bondi! *surprise, surprise*, it was the same centre that I went to earlier this week. Of course, it was not to their knowledge that I was contracted by Agent S to go to very same place on Monday & Tuesday!
Come to think about it, it is all down to dollars & cents isn't it? All childcare centres are at the end still a business, and businesses have to break even financially. As it is, if I had to manage the finances of a centre, it would be very much obvious that I had to find the cheapest alternative for the centre. If the first cheaper alternative could not help me, I would have no other choice but to source for another alternative even though it would cost the business more ...
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