JILLIAN – Centre Director
Jillian has been involved in the childcare industry for as long as she can remember. Her mother was an Early Childhood Educator and so there were always young children around her home.
Jillian has always been passionate about her role as an advocate for the education and care provided to the children in any care facility she has been involved in.
Jillian gained her first Child Care Qualification in Scotland where she worked as a nanny. She believes this has given her some insight into the complexities of family life and a greater understanding of the stress and challenges as both parents work and try to juggle family time too. It was during a nanny placement that she was introduced into the area of palliative care. Not only did she nanny the children during that placement, but also cared for and nursed their mother (who had terminal cancer) at home so she could spend as much time with her children as possible. This was a very difficult situation and it raised Jillian’s awareness that she needed/wanted more training to understand the psychological makeup of people to better support them through the storms that face each person as we journey through life.
Jillian subsequently studied psychotherapy and counselling with the view to change professions, but decided that she could better use her new knowledge to assist and support educators and families within the childcare industry.
You can also read more about Jillian in this interview
SABINA – Centre Director
Sabina is a Diploma qualified Early Childhood Educator and also holds an Advanced Diploma in Community Sector Management. She has been working in the childcare industry for the past 11 years and absolutely loves her job!
Through those years she has worked in all of the different age groups from babies through to school age children and she also has 5 years’ experience in a management role within the childcare industry.
Sabina has a son of her own who is now in primary school and she also have 3 fur babies including 2 rescue cats and a dog.
She finds working with children, watching them grow and develop their own unique personalities so rewarding and grateful to be a positive role model in each child’s life and be involved in their learning and development.
Sabina loves having a chat and is approachable at any time for any reason!
DESPINA – Educational Leader
Despina grew up in a small village in West Greece with her parents and her three older siblings. When she was little, she enjoyed spending time in nature, playing with her younger cousins and doing crafts.
Her career in Early Childhood Education started in 2007 with her studies towards her Bachelor Degree. In 2019 and after many years of working experience in the field, she decided to continue her studies further and she completed her Postgraduate Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care with Victoria University. A couple of years later and while her son was a toddler, she managed to complete successfully her Master’s Degree in Education specialising in Leadership and Management with Melbourne University. Despina embraces life-long learning and she loves reading research articles about early childhood whenever she has the opportunity.
During the past 15 years she has worked as an educator and Kindergarten teacher in various Early Childhood Education settings in Australia and overseas. When Despina first moved to Melbourne, she worked locally as an Out of School Hours Care assistant and co-ordinator at St Anthony’s Parish Primary school in Glen Huntly. She has also worked at Oakleigh Grammar ELC, Melbourne University children’s services as well as ECE services for Kingston and Glen Eira Councils.
As an educational leader and a Kindergarten teacher, she is passionate about inclusion, respect, sustainable practices and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) learning in ECE. Her trip to Uluru in 2023 inspired her even more in embedding Indigenous culture, such as art, music and traditions in children’s everyday learning. Despina deeply believes that the first years of children’s life are crucial and quality and educational experiences help the development of life-long skills. As the ecological model reminds us, families play the most vital role in children’s development. Therefore, strong and honest partnerships between families and educators can only have a positive impact on children’s learning and development. The philosophy that underpins Despina’s work is listening to children’s voices respectfu
ELI – Educational Leader and Kindergarten Teacher
Eli has a Masters degree in Early Childhood Education and is registered with the Victorian Institute of Teaching. He is very passionate in his job, caring for each single child and teaching them a wide range of life skills and academic skills. He is fluent in both Mandarin and English.
Eli has been working at Beacon Street for more than seven years and has undergone numerous professional development training. He designs and delivers age-appropriate activities based on children’s interests, which significantly boosts children’s physical and emotional development, as well as their academic learning. The teaching happening in the room has been highly valued by many parents. Singing and dancing is one of the remarkable highlights happening every single day in the room. Eli believes singing can build up children’s confidence and speech development, and that dancing benefits children’s social skills and a sense of belonging to the group.
Eli is also a great team leader, leading the Kangaroo room (3yo kinder) educators with respect and trying his best to help develop his co-workers professional skills. His caring personality lends him to be not just a leader to his colleagues, but also a friend.
