Brand Tas

Kara grew up the eldest of seven children, all of them born in a seven-year window. In many ways she helped raise her siblings, and they remain incredibly close. The family started out in Wilmot, southwest of Devonport, present-day population 287. When Kara was six the house caught fire, and they had to move, first to Ulverstone, then to other towns around the North West. They were living in Kimberley, just off the Bass Highway, when her 15-week-old youngest brother became gravely ill. Her parents went with him to hospital in Melbourne for four months. “They nearly lost him,” Kara recalls. “Watching him grow up, the struggles my family have been through, it’s helped me with my own kids.” Her life with her siblings were some of the earliest experiences of what Kara describes as “my calling.”

Kara started babysitting when she was in Year 8. In Year 10, she wrote down her career goals. “I found this book the other week,” she says. “It had all my goals in there, and my first goal was actually childcare, midwifery, or individual support.” She thought maybe she shouldn’t be so certain of a career path, but by Grade 12 she knew. Her whole life had been around children. It was who she had always been and who she wanted to be.

Then, when Kara was 17, she had her first child, Toby. “I dropped out of school early,” she explains. “I held back and parented until I had my third child. When Toby went to childcare, I stood back and watched and started to pick up what I felt like they were lacking.” Even with three young children of her own, the experience galvanised Kara. Seeing the support she wanted for her own children, she wanted to become that support for other families. Kara doubled down on her education, completing a Certificate III and Diploma in early childhood education and care within two years.

“I chose childcare because I wanted to help support and shape children’s first five years. It’s the most important part of a child’s development, when brain structure and memory and everything starts to come in.” Kara speaks with authority and grace about the importance of the first 1,000 days, the time from conception to two years of age. Her excitement is infectious. “If a child has that one person in their life, it’s a support for the rest of their life.” Kara is working passionately to create a community full of “that one persons,” a web of support for all children.

Kara was working as a casual assistant at a family day care service in Sheffield, where she now lives, when crisis struck. The owners had decided to close. “My goal was to fight. I didn’t look for any other jobs because I was determined. We had to keep this open for the community. Otherwise, the families would literally have had no support.” With some help, they made contact with Tasmanian not-for-profit early childhood service Adventure Patch. Kara, her colleague Tina, and the Adventure Patch team worked together to keep the service running. It closed on Friday and reopened the following Monday as an entirely new business. “If Adventure Patch hadn’t picked us up, it would have just closed. We would have had nothing,” Kara reflects.

“I love Tasmania,” Kara smiles. “I’ve always said I’ll never leave, especially Sheffield. The community is like one big, happy family. It’s inviting. We’ve got the mural park, we’re under Mount Roland. You’ve got mountains and rivers. You can take your children out to the bush, and it’s safe here.” Adventure Patch Roland View, which Kara now manages, is like all of that in miniature. The service feels like a home, with art and plenty of space for outside play. There is an abundant garden, which the kids help plant and look after. It is clearly a space they cherish. All of it is stepped in the educational philosophy of Kara and the team, and their unwavering commitment to providing the best in early childhood education and care.

The team at Adventure Patch Roland View work in partnership with families, talking to them about their day, working through challenges together, and letting them know that someone is always there for them: “We’re there to support parents as well as children, because you’ve got to have a happy mum to have happy little people.” For parents returning to work early, the team makes sure to share photos and updates about their child’s day. If a child has a hard time with drop-offs, the team follows up with the family to let them know how they’re going once the family leaves. There is a whole ecosystem of other supports, and the team has connections with all of them, from the Community House to local schools. Relationships are based on trust, empathy, and care.

Kara draws on the richness of her own life experience to support families. “If a young mum comes in, sometimes she might feel that we’re going to judge her. I often use me as an example,” she explains. “My family struggled with poverty when I was growing up, and there are parts of my childhood where I’ve worked to be the support we were missing. I was a young mum. I always wanted a big family, but I struggled to get pregnant, and I can’t have more kids now for medical reasons. Two of my children have disabilities. I’m not ashamed to bring my experience into it. And if families need referrals to other services, I’ve been through it as well.”

I probably would have dropped out in Year 9 or 10, and then I had this teacher. When I enrolled in my Bachelor of Education, I messaged her and said, ‘Thank you so much for your support when I was going through high school, because you gave me the confidence to do it.’

Now, Kara is entering the next big moment in her life. She and her husband worked in partnership to change their home life to be able to support their children. They were both working full time, and they made the decision for Aaron to move to casual work and take on a major caring role, doing school drop offs and caring for one of their kids full-time. “My husband is amazing,” she says. “What helps us is that we talk about everything, we don’t go to bed angry. It’s hard sometimes, but the hard is good, because if you bury it, you can’t get to where you need to go.” Their teamwork has enabled Kara to pursue a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Teaching), focusing on working with children up to five years of age. “I’m in the best career that I love, and I got to a point where I was like, ‘what more can I do?’”

When Kara was in high school, her one person was named Jillian. “I probably would have dropped out in Year 9 or 10, and then I had this teacher. When I enrolled in my Bachelor of Education, I messaged her and said, ‘Thank you so much for your support when I was going through high school, because you gave me the confidence to do it.’” Kara helps to create the village that carries families through the ups and downs of raising children, that gives them the confidence to seek help and become who they dream of being. “I never thought I’d go to university,” she reflects. “Where I come from, I’m the only person on my mum’s side of the family to even think about going. You can have so many people tell you so many times you’re not going to do something, but if you put your mind to it, you can. You can achieve what you want to achieve. Everyone educates differently, and every service is different, but what’s important to me — whether it’s the mum, the nan, or the child — is to be that one supportive person in someone’s life.”