Belonging, Being and Becoming: Interview with Cassandra Duff
Pictured: Goodstart Early Learning Kingston

Belonging, Being and Becoming: Interview with Cassandra Duff

Belonging, Being and Becoming is a LinkedIn interview series which shares the stories of early childhood and oshc professionals currently working in the education industry.

The next interview of this series features Cassandra Duff, a Centre Director at Goodstart Early Learning Kingston.

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When and why did you start a career in early childhood education?

I started my career in 2006 after I completed high school. My aunty, who taught the Diploma of Early Childhood at TAFE, encouraged me to study the qualification, to which I did and I've never looked back since!

What's your philosophy on education and care?

Evidence says the first 5 years of a child’s life are the most crucial because a child’s brain develops more and faster than at any other time in their life. This is why my philosophy revolves around the importance of attachment, relationships and being an advocate for our most precious citizens.

How would you describe your career journey?

To quote Ron Burgandy from Anchorman – it’s been “a glass case of emotion”. The ride has been fun, scary, incredible, tiresome. There has been long amazing stints of passion and excitement but there’s been patches of frustration and worry (mainly during the pandemic).

What is your proudest career achievement?

I think it would be leading and supporting my team through an incredibly tough time, navigating a pandemic and the changes that we have had to make along the way – often in the spur of the moment.

We had a lot of educators leave at the beginning of last year to go home to families or their home country, with all the changes and uncertainty of 2020, we still went through Assessment and Rating with 5 Meetings and 2 Exceeding’s. Although it’s not the ideal outcome, the whole team was over the moon with the outcome after having had so many changes!

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What do you love most about your job?

I think one of the best things about Early Education is no 2 days are the same and you can’t plan too far in advance – if you understand that and have the flexibility to learn and grow – you will succeed in this career. Aside from that, always the smiles and cuddles, whether it’s from a child, a team member or an overwhelmed guardian it’s the love and connectedness that will always keep me here.

What's it like working for Goodstart?

Goodstart is the largest Early Childhood provider in Australia, with that comes a support system that is second to none. I have a network of 9 other centres in our area to reach out to for support. I have an Area Manager, a state Manager, a quality and pedagogical advisor, not to mention all the departments I can reach out to for support in Safety, People and Culture, Safework, Inclusion. There is always someone who can help with advice when I need it.

 What advice would you give someone looking to pursue a career in early childhood education?

Love what you do, and truly believe in the incredible work that you do - don’t work in early childhood because you get paid at the end of the week. Be flexible, passionate and curious – if you don’t have these qualities, you can’t teach children to be flexible, passionate and curious about life!

Thank you Cassandra Duff I love your career analogy, love reading these interviews, Maddy Farrell you have nailed it again, great interview!

So good💯

Anita Fasha

Senior Employment Consultant, Mental health Counsellor, Human Resources

3y

Hii Maddy I am looking for an opportunity job in Early learning centre, if you can help me in that please contact me.

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