Mandy Jacobsen
Centre Manager - Waterford West World of Learning
“I absolutely love working with children and helping set them up with the skills they need to continue to learn.”
I began my career in early childhood education and care in 2006 and started working at Waterford West World of Learning early in 2016. I hold a Certificate 3 and Diploma in Children’s Services. I have had a great experience working in Early education and have enjoyed growing as an educator.
Since a young child I have always wanted to work with children, I love supporting children to grow into themselves and creating lifelong relationships with families. I absolutely love working with children and helping set them up with the skills they need to continue to learn throughout their life. Every child learns differently which has taught me to be adaptable and look at things in a different light.
Some of the benefits attending an early childhood education centre is social skills, emotional skills and language skills. Children have the opportunity to engage with different activities and set ups, we cover self-help skills in depth such as hand washing, self-serving, toileting etc. At the moment the rooms are working on stranger danger, traffic safety and the life cycle of a caterpillar.
Our team here at Waterford West World of Learning is dedicated, hardworking, passionate, and committed to providing the best learning environments the children could possibly have. They are all highly trained and go above and beyond for the children and families, we aim to provide a home away from home where we all feel like one big family.
By following all policies and procedures, completing all check lists and teaching the children about health and safety. G8 have teamed up with brave heart to refresh our child protection courses and start a campaign “I will”.
During the family’s time at the centre we engage with our families daily, stay updated on how they are going, offer support if needed, spend the time to get to know them all. We always send daily communications and keep families updated on things that are happening with the centre.
We have an open-door policy and families are always welcome, we hold breakfasts in the carpark, we hand out appreciate bags filled with treats. We celebrate special days with BBQ’s, lunches, or morning teas. We have a strong connection with or wider community and enjoy inviting them into our centre to celebrate their special celebrations too.
Our tours are very friendly and informative, we aim to make the families and children feel welcome and part of the family. We have enrolment packs which we have added information about our menus, Xplor home, the staff for that room, what they need to bring and the fees for the centre. We are always available to help families apply for CCS or fill our enrolment forms.