Senior infant educarer plays large part in little ones’ lives
Senior infant educarer Farhana Mohamed Hassan has always gone the extra mile for her pupils.
Ms Farhana, who teaches at PCF Sparkletots Preschool @ Pioneer Block 987D, received the Outstanding Early Childhood Educarer Award last Friday. She was among 25 exemplary pre-school educators and centres who received the ECDA Awards for Excellence in Early Childhood Development.
She told The New Paper: "I feel very honoured to receive this award and to be acknowledged that I have the ability to inspire other educarers and be a role model for them."
The Covid-19 pandemic did not stop the 34-year-old and her colleagues from providing a holistic education for their pupils, where they created videos for infants to take part in activities with parents at home.
"I find that with the younger ones, we are the first teachers in their lives and there is so much we can teach them," she said.
Her passion for working with young children began when she was a Sky Nanny - a flight attendant with special training in assisting families - with Gulf Air, in 2006.
She later made a career switch in 2010 earned a Certificate in Infant & Toddler Care & Development from SEED Institute before becoming an assistant teacher at her current pre-school in 2011.
She also took up baby yoga and baby massage courses with SingTrain Academy in 2018 and later developed a sensory path activity to engage the children.
She said: "The sensory path helps the infants to focus for longer periods of time, which is part of cognitive growth. The touching and exploring textures also help their motor skills."
Her job is not without challenges, as she has to differentiate the children's needs when many are crying at the same time, for example.
The mother of three said: "Being a pre-school teacher made me a better mother as I get the first-hand experiences on child development and child behaviour at work.
Her advice to fellow educarers? "Do not stop learning and keep on upgrading yourself. There is always something new for us to learn."
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now