Jess

My name is Jess and I am the Chairperson of the Management Committee this year. My son has ben attending the Warradale Campus for about 18 months now.

I am a primary school Japanese teacher working part time at the moment. I have been teaching for about 12 years in South Australia, and before that I worked as an assistant English teacher in a small country town on Shikoku Island in Japan. Until recently I was also a group fitness instructor as the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre, but Covid-19 challenges have put that on hold for now. I like to keep busy and enjoy a coffee (or wine) and a chat. I love to travel locally and internationally and am really looking forward to the day we can travel easily again, and I can take my son to Japan to visit some of the places that mean a lot to me. Hopefully that day will come in the not too distant future!

My son loves childcare. He has mad some lovely connections to other children in his room and always talks non-stop on our drive home about all the things he enjoys. He has formed beautiful relationships with staff across the centre and has learnt so much! I am so happy knowing we found a childcare centre so close to home that he loves going to, and that fosters strong adult-child and child-child relationships while providing him with wonderful care and rich experiences.

I decided to volunteer to be part of the Management Committee after a couple of other parents at the Circle of Security course our centre offered last year did. I have always valued the idea of supporting the community I am part of, so being able to give back to the centre that does so much for my family was an easy decision. Being part of the Management Committee has certainly presented some challenges this year (thanks 2020!!), but despite those challenges, it has been a lot of fun. I have enjoyed getting to know some other parents, and I have definitely learnt a lot about just how much work goes into our amazing centres. I had a huge amount of respect for our Early Childhood Educators already, but know I have an even greater appreciation for all that they do and how lucky we are to have them educating and caring for our little ones every day.

Carmen - Secretary of the Management Committee

My name is Carmen and my son Lucas has been attending the Park Holme Campus since 2018.

I am originally from Germany and moved to Australia 8 years ago from London.

I am a Team Support Officer in an Australian Government Agency. Since returning to work after my maternity leave finished I have been working par-time and looked at ways to get more involved in my community. At the beginning of 2019 I took over a German speaking playgroup and in October also joined the management committee for Warradale Community Children's Centre as Secretary.

I have worked in admin roles for a long time and volunteering for the Secretary position has been a very easy decision. It's amazing to make a meaningful contribution with your existing skill set and learn a lot of new things along the ways from the dedicated child care staff and other parents and committee members.

We raise our son bilingually and I love the colourful cultural backgrounds at Park Holme. My son has loved the centre from day 1 and for a long time he was actually quite disappointed about his non-child care days. He has developed great friendships and learnt so many new things. The staff are absolutely amazing in what they do on a daily basis and I am thrilled to be able to shape the future of the centre.

I'm Michelle Tilbrook

I started at Warradale Community Children's Centre almost 15 years ago and in that time I’ve worked with all the age groups but the last few years I have found my greatest skill/strength and enthusiasm in the preschool room. Being in the preschool room allows me to pursue my passion of enriching the children’s learning with intentional teaching. I have a strong interest in planning and providing fun but educational group times that are language rich. Through my own love of books I ignite the children’s curiosity in literacy and imagination about the big world around them.