Jingeri! I am Mr Hiroshi. I have been working for Benowa Early Learning Centre since 2017 and I am a very lucky Educator that witnesses children’s developmental stages whilst they spend time here at the Benowa centre before their venturing to new chapter of their lives, their school environment in future.
Before joining the team at the Benowa, I worked in other Early Learning settings including the centre that nurtures children with autism after I attained Certificate III in Children’s services in 2011. During my study of Certificate III, I was looking for a casual work in a children’s setting in order to gain work experience in the industry and I knocked on the door at the Benowa one day. From my memory the Benowa centre was cosy as it wasn’t expanded then but I still remember that I felt good vibes about it. I also heard about good reputations about the centre so I was hoping that I could work at this centre in future. The Director was not available at that time so I left my resume to an office staff and left the centre. Unfortunately I didn’t get a phone call for interview then and went to the autism centre instead. I started as a casual facilitator and became a full time employee later on. Although it was a very challenging task to accomplish during my time there, I learned a lot from each child with spectrum. I am a patient person in general but became really patient afterwards, too. All the staff worked as a team and witnessing each child’s improvement was such rewarding experiences, too.
After my completion of Certificate III, I wanted to continue studying part time and went to TAFE to complete Diploma of Children’s Services in 2012. After spending three years at the autism centre, I had then moved to a mainstream children centre as a full time Assistant and spent another three years there before visiting the Benowa Hills centre in 2017.
At that time I was looking for a casual position in children’s services as I was working for some companies then. The reason for that is I was looking for my next chapter of my life and was seeking what directions I would like to go next. I wanted to see and challenge in different business settings and hopefully I could find the industry that I want to stay for a long time.
One morning, I visited the Hills first and left my resume to an Assistant Director at that time. I was then visiting several children’s services in the area to drop off my resume, hoping to find casual work somewhere. I was on my way home and received a phone call from the Assistant Director from the Hills and set up to meet Miss Kylie that afternoon. I met Miss Kylie for the first time then and she was standing side by side, reading my resume thoroughly. I was nervously waiting for her to finish reading it but she appeared to be calm when assessing my resume. I explained about my situations, too. She then offered some work at the Hills to start off afterwards! I then started communicating with her and gave her my availabilities in advance so that she could fit me in either at the Benowa or Hills in rosters. I gradually gained more hours and became a part time Educator and by then I permanently stay at the Benowa instead of working at both centres. Some months later, one day I walked in the office and Miss Kylie was asking me if I would be interested in working full time for the coming year as she was planning to allocate Educators in each room for the next year. To become a full time Educator, I needed to finish work before 4:30pm or earlier each day as I had and still have other commitments after work. Miss Kylie understood my circumstances and kindly accepted my request. I also terminated one of my business activities so that I could focus on children and the centre more. Benowa Early Learning Centre is my third children’s service to work for and is the longest centre to serve in my children’s service career.
I am originally from Japan and worked for a language academy before migrating in Australia. The language academy is like outside school setting and I worked as a branch manager. I also worked as Assistant for Foreign English Teachers and Children and students that I had in class were from toddler age groups to adult age groups as well as foreigners who live in Japan learn Japanese language and its culture from me. Even back then, I felt grateful for watching children grow even though they only come to the academy once or twice weekly.
Before working for this academy, I studied and lived in New Zealand and Australia previously and wanted to come back to Australia to live again in future so I resigned from this position and went to TAFE as a full time international student to study Associate Diploma of Business, Travel then. After I attained my qualification, I then worked for some airlines for many years and became the branch
manager for one of the airlines that I worked at in my career. However, when my son was born, I wanted to spend time with him more as I used to travel a lot with my work so I was seeking a new career locally and because I had previously taught English language for young children in Japan and knew how rewarding it was to watch them grow, I decided to study and work in the children’s services to involve with children again.
Benowa Early Learning Centre is not only my work place but also I always feel something “Good” about it and I am truly grateful that I can witness each child’s progress while their stay and see their smile and hear them call me “Mr Hiroshi!” every time I arrive in the morning at the centre. It is such a good feeling and is so special to me
Mr Hiroshi Harada, Educator