Karen Sewell is the Centre Director at Goodstart Heatley – Fulham Road. She’s been at the same centre for an incredible 40 years.
Throughout her remarkable four-decade career, Karen has nurtured and given back to her community.
She joined the Heatley centre as a student straight out of school. And she’s now the Centre Director at what’s now called Goodstart Early Learning Heatley – Fulham Road. Heatley’s community-driven ethos has had a profound impact on both her team and the families they serve.
Karen’s juggled studying, working, and raising three children – but has always stayed. Her passion for working with children, her bonds with colleagues and her connection to the community keep her going.
It’s warmth and dedication that define Karen's leadership, which comes with both challenges and joys. She’s proud to call the tight-knit community of Townsville home – and finds it a great place to live and work.
Karen said: “Heatley is central to many services and it’s close to public transport. Our new Educator is loving the bus stop right at the front. Everything is close to us: Defence bases, major shops, hospitals, schools, and the university. It's quite a tight-knit community.”
Getting into early learning from school – and making an impact
Karen Sewell of Goodstart Heatley - Fulham Road in Townsville
Karen first started working at a childcare centre down the road from her house in Heatley, Townsville. She says it's basically the same place she’s been at the whole time. The centre was originally on Tyler Street where she worked for 35 years. Then, six years ago, the families and team moved nearby to Fulham Road.
“I was very young when I started in early learning,” said Karen. “I did a placement while I was at school and was lucky enough that I always knew what I wanted to do. I'm a nurturer and wanted to help children.”
To pursue her goals, Karen committed to working in the day and going to TAFE at night. A couple of years after finishing her Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care, Karen started her own family. She did go on to complete her Diploma while working full-time.
During this time, Karen was raising three children, who are now all grown up.
Karen said: “They're not in any hurry to give me grandchildren because they say I've got enough of my own at work, which is fair enough because I feel like I do. I looked after children whose children I’m now looking after. It’s very rewarding, to know they were so happy and comfortable here.
“I've actually got a lovely young lady here at the moment doing her placement. I looked after her mum, and then I looked after her. Now she's come back to do her school-based traineeship with us. She said that because she loved it so much here when she was at kindy, she wanted to come back and do her placement with us, and hopefully get a job here in the end.”
Upskilling early childhood education knowledge
Since completing her Diploma, Karen has enhanced her knowledge by doing courses on The Learning Hub. The self-development platform is available to all Goodstarters.
Karen said: “I do love to learn about things that I'm interested in. So, I've done a lot of work around topics like trauma informed practice, and brain development via The Learning Hub and external organisations.
“The Learning Hub is amazing. There are so many courses to choose from. Anything you need to gain further knowledge in when it comes to our role as an educator, you can find on there.
“I think early learning in general offers a lot of learning opportunities for educators. It's just a matter of grabbing onto what interests you.”
Creative ways to connect with the local community
Karen (right) and her team run regular community initiatives
Goodstart Heatley – Fulham Road is like a second home to Karen. It’s somewhere she’s been happy to stay so long, for several reasons.
Karen said: “Firstly, it was close to home. In the good old days when I used to ride my bike because I was too young to drive, this was very important.
“But after just a little time, my passion for seeing children grow and learn into the amazing young people we see going off to school and supporting families through this journey, has always been the most rewarding part of my role.
“My colleagues have kept me at this centre. I've always had good relationships with the dedicated and passionate people I've been lucky enough to work with. And then of course I love the community."
In Heatley, Townsville, people have each other’s backs. So, Karen’s team wanted to give their local community more than the normal service to families and children. Setting up community libraries and swaps is something that’s worked well.
The centre is fortunate to have a large community area where people from the centre and community can access. So, they run a street library with both adult and children's books, a food pantry, and a swap area for clothes, home items, recycling, and more.
Karen said: “I think that gives the community a bit of a positive feel about the centre for a start, but it also lets them connect. They'll come in and collect or swap things, give us a wave, say hello and have a chat. And I know for a fact that when we're not here, people keep an eye out for us because we do have that connection. It’s good that we can support the community and that we have that positive connection with them as well.”
Special moments and people who make it meaningful
Karen and her team get a lot back from running the street library, by facilitating interaction with members of the community.
She said: “We've got some grandparents of children that we used to have in our care. They'll come in with all their donations, get a book, and we'll have a bit of a chat about how the family's going. Those children are all grown up now, and they've got their own children. So, it's nice to be able to keep connections with them.”
And it’s not just families and former families. Many different members of the community come and use the library and swap area. It helps them connect with each other, too.
Karen said: “A man that came in one day and he got some food from our pantry, and he didn’t have anything to give. We said, ‘Take what you want when you need it, and when you can, you can give something back.’ But he said, ‘I can't really give anything back, but I do a lot of recycling. I can give you some cans.’
“So, we said that was fine and the next day he delivered a bag of 10-cent aluminium soft drink cans. While he was delivering them another man came along, excited that he could take the cans. The first man explained why he was donating them so the second man said he would bring in some food for the pantry, and he did. They both felt happy that they contributed, which was lovely.
“We’ve got a lot of young families as well as elderly people in our neighbourhood, so they'll stop and have a bit of a chat with each other and swap books and news.”
Karen can only do this thanks to the support of her team and their solid relationships.
She said: “I have an amazing team that I'm so proud of. It's been a hard time for early learning in the last couple of years. But this has only fostered stronger connections. We want to do the best we can for each other.
“The positive culture is a big, strong point for our centre team. If someone's having a bad day, someone will be there to back them up, but just as importantly if someone celebrating, we're all celebrating too!
“We had a staff member who left in the last few months because she felt like she needed a change. But she was only gone for a couple of months, and she's come back… That's how we feel about each other. We know that no matter what we're there to support each other, like family”.
Karen is looking for an Educator, a Diploma-qualified Senior Educator, and an Early Childhood Teacher to join her team at Heatley – Fulham Road.