Kim, baby sitter in Dundee DD1

Hello,
My name is Kimberley ; I am twenty-two years old from East Kilbride, a town near Glasgow. At home I live with my parents, my mum being a foster carer and my dad, a computing engineer. My twin brothers who are thirty-two years old are married and my older sister is twenty-seven and younger sister who is nineteen. I have four nephews and two nieces who I often look after.

Since leaving school in 2012, I attended college for two years to first of all complete my NC Early Education and Childcare. During this course I attended a nursery two days a week looking after children aged between three and five years old. I then took a gap year and was a live-in au pair in the south of Spain in a town called Roquetas De Mar. For nine and half months I looked after a seven-year-old girl called Carlota. I was responsible for accompanying her, planning activities and speaking solely in English in an attempt to improve her English language. When Carlota attended school during the day, I volunteered in my host mum’s nursery for zero to three year olds. This allowed me to develop my Spanish and also assist with these children’s learning. I found this experience an eye opener and it has allowed me to develop into a more outgoing and independent person who is always looking for a new adventure. Last year I qualified with a HNC Early Education and Childcare and gained my Higher English at an evening class. As well as attaining a grade B in my graded unit I was able to attend my placement two days a week in a Primary 1 class. I was able to engage in this placement extremely well and even felt like a part of the staff team. This was the first experience where I felt respected and looked upon as a teacher by the children, leading this to be a very rewarding experience.

Currently I am studying MA (Hons) Primary Education at The University of Dundee where I am going into my second year. In my first year I was able to a my first six-week placement in a Primary seven class. Here I was responsible for supporting the teacher with the day to day teaching of the class, as well as planning my own lessons. I had two full days of sole charge of the class at the end of the year, where I had to use the skills I have already learned from my previous childcare experience combined with the knowledge I have gained from engaging with both the teacher and the class itself. In my spare time I enjoy socialising, going to the gym, going swimming and I have also joined the university trampolining club. In the summer I spent seven weeks interrailing with my friends across Europe and I have just arrived back from three weeks travelling around Thailand, these both were amazing experiences that I will never forget. In the future, I would like to travel to more places further afield and learn about new lifestyles and cultures. I have also been driving for 3 years and own my own car.

Overall, I feel that I am an outgoing, enthusiastic and caring person. I can work well on my own and also well as a team. I love meeting new people and broadening my horizons by working with a diverse variety of people from differing backgrounds.