The staff at Merewether Day Care share a passion for working with children in small groups where individuals can be heard and assistance can be given to promote the uniqueness in each child. All the staff also share a common attitude towards children to facilitate healthy choices and positive respectful interactions with everyone. We all seek to create a calm, peaceful environment where children can learn to explore and make friendships in this home away from home, educational setting where their contribution is valued.
Gianne – Director
Diploma of Early Childhood
20+ years experience
“Merewether Day Care is such a unique place to work. 20 children a day allows for educators to have the opportunity to get to know and spend quality time with each child and form meaningful relationships with the families. A special part of Merewether Day Care is the twice weekly excursions. These are an important part of the program and allow educators and children the chance to be part of the wider community.
I have been working in the childcare industry for 18 years. I was born and raised in Newcastle and have Diploma in Children’s Services. I have always enjoyed working with young children and over the years have had a variety of different roles from room leader to centre director. Spending time with my family, my dog Coby and friends is also important to me.
I believe every child is unique and deserves the very best we can give them. I enjoy seeing children grow and develop. I believe in interest based play that allows children to create their own learning journey, and this can be facilitated even more within a small group setting like Merewether Day Care.”
Melanie – Daycare Educator, German Language Specialist
Bachelor of Law, Diploma of Legal Practice, Bachelor of Business, Certificate III Early Childhood
6 years experience
“Working at MDC has made me in to one of those people who say they love their job and as corny as it sounds I truly do. I work in a beautiful environment, with the centre and backyard feeling like a little sanctuary, and the team at MDC are like a tight knit family rather than just colleagues.
I have always had a passion for working with young children. Children have the ability to provide you with absolute honesty which is refreshing and rare. The relationships that develop are so special, you are always guaranteed a smile and a laugh and children are such a joy to educate with their willingness to learn and experience new things. Working in this sector and knowing you are helping shape the lives of these little humans and are a part of their crucial formative years provides amazing job satisfaction.
I was born and raised in Newcastle and attended Newcastle University where I completed a Bachelor of Business and a Bachelor of Law. After working in the corporate world in Sydney for 10 years I decided to finally follow my true passion and am currently re-training in early childhood education. I am a mother of two beautiful children, a vivacious 4 year old daughter and an already strong willed 8 month old baby boy, both of who keep my husband and I very busy!”
Rebecca – Relief Responsible Person and Babies Room Leader
Diploma of Early Childhood
15 years experience
“Finishing my Diploma in Children’s Services in 2011, I have worked with all ages of children from 0-6 years old; loving different aspects with each age group. Here at Merewether Day Care, I am Room leader of the Baby Group. This makes coming to work so very busy but also so much fun. No two days are the same. I love how at Merewether Day Care, I am able to watch my babies grow up and move onto each room, and still be involved in teaching them, in this family like environment at this centre.
Having previously worked in a very commercial daycares, I found these centres became more about the profits than anything else. When I came to Merewether Day Care I found the children came first not profits! With the smaller, intimate groups, this provides a much high quality of care and education.
Merewether Day Care has become like a family to me, with the teachers, director, children and their amazing families providing a sense of community. The chance to take children out in the community and teach them valuable life skills, is very rewarding as a teacher as we often have members of the general public come up and say how well behaved the children are. This strikes a sense of pride in me, as if they were my own children!”
Bridget – Educator (Babies and Toddlers)
Certificate III Early Childhood
5 years experience
“I obtained a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care when I completed a Traineeship in 2017 at a 104 place centre in Cessnock owned by quite large company. I worked there for a total of 3 years as an assistant educator and gained experience working with each age group, spending my first 6 months floating, followed by a year and a half working with the Toddlers and a year with the Nursery children.
Working with children is something that I have always been passionate about and I look forward to coming to work and seeing the children’s faces light up as I walk through the door, knowing that they are happy to see me.
Coming from such a large fast paced environment I really noticed the difference when changing to a family owned business with much smaller numbers. The children are the main focus of everything that we do and not the profits. I formed some really beautiful relationships with my children and families at my previous centre and I am so excited to continue to do this within the Merewether Day Care community.
I believe all children deserve the right to feel valued and cherished, comfortable and confident, nurtured and supported and most importantly like they belong, allowing them to learn and grow to their full potential. I aim to foster nurturing relationships with the children and provide a happy, healthy, safe and secure environment that promotes development, whilst also having fun! The imagination can take you anywhere you want to go and children need a space to be free and embrace this, whilst also learning about themselves and others around them. I am so passionate about embracing the small things in life that make you happy and try my best to teach the children the importance of this concept.”
Sarah – Daycare Educator (Toddlers)
Diploma of Early Childhood
8 years experience
“From a young age, it has always been my passion to care for children. My greatest enjoyment is watching children grow and accomplish their milestones.
Previously, I have worked in large centres with over 100 children. Joining Merewether Day Care has been a welcomed change. It feels like a big family and you are given the opportunity to build bonds with every child. I love the uniqueness of a small service and being able to cater for every childs needs.”
Jill – Daycare Educator
Certificate III Early Childhood
6 years experience
“I am a mother to five amazing children, two boys and three girls. We are a very active family who love salt water. I believe every child is unique, an individual and they all have their own way of processing moments of every day life.
I completed my Certificate III in Early Childcare in 2007 and began working in an industry I have a strong passion for. I have worked with children from 0-6 for many years and I still enjoy it as much as when I started.”
Leigh – Daycare Educator (Toddlers)
Diploma of Children Services
20+ years experience
“In my 20+ years in the early education industry, most in long day care, I have worked as an educator, room leader and 2IC. This started with a Certificate III and then Diploma in Children’s services.
Since starting at Merewether Day Care in 2023 I instantly felt a sense of belonging. Getting to know the other educators and all the children and families has been a very smooth and enjoyable process.
I believe through play based learning the children will develop age appropriate skills and through family grouping they can learn from each other about kindness and the courage. With this also comes the confidence they need to try new things and develop friendships which will set them up for positive relationships as they move on from MDC.”
Lariah – Daycare Educator
Certificate III Early Childhood
6 years experience
“I started working in childcare in 2017 and completed my Certificate III in 2020. I began working in a family day care before moving to a centre with over 100 children, floating between toddlers and nursery. After 2 years I started to realise that large centres were too chaotic for myself and I didn’t feel valued. I then decided to take on a nanny job for a family, that I have continued to work with for the past 2 years.”