Melissa

My Summary

My Experience

My most recent job was working with two children aged 2 and 5.
I began the role when the youngest was only 9 months old so I was really able to follow the developmental stages as he learnt and grew and adapted my interactions with him as well as new ways to support him in his learning.
Getting to stay and really create a connection with a family over a year and a half time period was a such an incredible, heart-warming opportunity. And it's safe to say it's taking some getting use to without them. But i'm looking for another family who feels i might be the right fit for them :)
My roles included:
- Creating activities for the children
- Potty training
- Day outings
- Cooking meals
- Helping the eldest with her homework

Playwooden CIC:

I have been working within this community-based play project since last summer, spreading the vision through festival workshops.

Playwooden is an ethical and ecological company that nurtures the explorative side of creative learning though the use of wooden games and unstructured activity. The games are all made from recycled materials, through which we promote environmental awareness among other key ideas such as; team building, communication and mindfulness.

I am currently working within the developmental team to create sessions viable to bring into schools for after school clubs and summer camps. I strongly feel a passion for the pure potential of play learning.
· Holding space for large numbers of children to interact and learn together. Another aspect of this project is intergenerational learning, so during the play sessions, engaging both children and parents was a bridge i connected.
· Teaching children how the games work. Explaining rules, whilst allowing freedom for self-taught learning.
· Creating activities with the materials and games available as a way of exploring group communication and larger interactions.

Forest School:
During my spare time I've begun volunteering at a forest school activity morning. This really supports my interest and learning into play-based learning as the sessions are completely child-led, following and shaping the session around the children’s ideas. This is a group of children all under the age of 5, but I have also begun working

with the same playworker as she transports this concept into the school environment with children aged 8-11. This session has more structure for the older children with the activities being explained and led, but the same ideas carry through of out-side, play learning, taken from the natural environment.
· Assisting a group leader creating activities.
· I am aiming to begin my own training in Autumn.

I was working a few days a week looking after a small 6 month old little boy. It was honestly such a heart-warming experience, Bristol is such a vibrant city and there is so much to do with young children of all ages! We went to a number of sensory classes and playgroups and it was amazing to see ho much he learnt and engaged with each activity. We also spent most of our time outside, and watching him learn and interact with everything around him taught me so much about what i can learn from my environment.

The other child i looked after was another little boy (aged 5). He was home-educated so my role was to create fun educational days for us. We also spent most of our time in the forest together, getting lost in our make-believe world and both learning so much without even realising.
I would take him to home-ed meet up groups to interact with other children and once a week to swim at the local pool, the rest of the time was directed by our imagination.

Before that i was working as a nanny in Italy last summer. I moved there to live with my boyfriend and whilst there I found a job looking after two children aged 9 and 12. It was a massive learning experience as i had to communicate with them in a language i was just learning.
My main role was to take them on their activities of the day and teach them english. To do this i tried to make it as fun as possible (the last thing children want to do in the summer holidays is more school) by creating games and treasure hunts to make the learning more enjoyable :).

But I've always enjoyed spending time with children as I'm from a large family (my dad is one of 12!), so looking after younger cousins is something i have done from a young age, so the handling and being around young children is something i feel very comfortable with.

This lead me into considering to work as a primary school teacher, so i then volunteered in these areas to explore this interest.
I first volunteered as a classroom assistant for reception class at a small primary school in my hometown (Bath). I mainly observed their learning and helped some of the children with their reading and other activities. It was a small class so i really got to know some of the children and i learnt a lot about finding new ways to assist children with all different abilities.
I then started volunteering as a activity assistant at Bath City Farm. This was one of my favourite experiences as i got to work with children outside, in nature teaching them about where food comes from and working with animals together. It was great to see how children of different ages got involved in different ways as the group ranged from 3-10, so it meant i got to develop this understanding over a wide range of ages.

My Qualifications

A-Levels
Biology - C
English literature - B
Geography - B
Psychology - B

GCSE's
(I have all twelve, avaliable on request)

My Availability

I am free Monday - Friday, from the morning to the evening. I'm looking for as much as 4 days a week

My Fees

• Babysitting from £10.00 per hour

£11 per hour