Teaching gong for child care director

The director of Tigger’s Honeypot Early Years, Sylvia Turner, has received a National Excellence in Teaching Award for her “inspirational leadership”.

Sylvia Turner was nominated for the Australian Scholarships Group award for community engagement by Tigger’s Honeypot parents and was one of only 12 educators selected from 698 finalists.

“She is a truly inspirational leader for the centre and the wider community,” the centre’s appreciative parents said in their nomination for Ms Turner.

Parents, grandparents, parent associations and community organisations are invited to nominate their inspirational teachers for the awards.

“To have won this award is a real honour and testament to my colleagues, the families I work with and UNSW who provide a safe space for continual reflection, ongoing professional development and creativity,” said Ms Turner who has worked at UNSW for 12 years.

“There is a lot involved in early childhood teaching. It’s all consuming, all encompassing — physical, emotional, and intellectual. It’s the whole gamut and you’ve got to do it all in the moment and you don’t know what the moment is going to bring.”

Tigger’s Honeypot has a reputation for providing best practice teaching methods, project-based learning and celebrating diversity.

Educational researchers at Charles Sturt University have used the centre as a case study—one of only six child care centres selected in NSW. The teaching methods used at Tigger’s Honeypot have also been documented by Early Childhood Australia.

“We focus on getting out in the community and being visible, we teach the children about risk-taking, rising to challenges and being considerate community members,” said Ms Turner.

Early Years General Manager, Jemma Carlisle, said the award demonstrates that advanced teaching practices and educational programs can be developed when a stable and secure professional environment is provided.

“We are fortunate at UNSW Early Years to have the privilege of retaining our staff, which sadly, is not standard practice in the early childhood sector,” she said.

“Sylvia and Tigger’s Honeypot have the winning recipe in my eyes – an inspirational leader plus high retention of qualified educators who are exposed to innovative professional development opportunities. The result is exceptional practice which benefits the children, their families and delivers incalculable gains for the wider community.”

Read SylviaTurner’s citation here.  

Media contact: Fran Strachan, UNSW Media Office, 9885 8732, 0429 416 070