Franklin Kindergarten Association - Hsiu-Ying Su and Nicky Nicholls (Employee)

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With three children of their own and a kindergarten full of them at work, two Pukekohe women have created a working arrangement that suits their employer and their families.

Nicky Nicholls and Hsiu-Ying Su have been job-sharing a kindergarten teacher’s role at Pukekohe Central Kindergarten since October 2007 and find they have more enthusiasm for work and for home as a result.

Hsiu-Ying had been teaching full-time at the kindergarten for about a year when her husband became ill last year. As he had been looking after their three-year-old daughter during the day while working from his home office, Hsiu-Ying needed to create more time in her own day to care for her daughter.

She talked over her problem with Nicky who was then doing part-time administrative work and relief teaching at the kindergarten. Together they came up with a job-share suggestion which involved Hsiu-Ying working 0.4 of full-time and Nicky 0.6. “Nicky and I suggested the idea to our head teacher, Sarmila, and this proposal had Sarmila’s strong support. She then put forward this idea to our three Professional Practice Managers to get their approval. The Association suggested that we could try it out for two terms,” says Hsiu-Ying.

For Nicky, the arrangement works perfectly. She has two children at primary school and wanted to work a few more hours while fitting her work around school times. She works mornings so her husband drops the children at school and their grandmother picks them up. Most days, Nicky is at home by the time they arrive.

Both women say that kindergarten teaching inevitably involves working longer hours than they are paid for but they are more than happy to put in the extra effort. “I couldn’t have gone back full-time,” says Nicky, “so this is perfect for me. I don’t mind working a bit late every day.”

Hsiu-Ying works afternoons and is enjoying having more energy for her work. “It’s really empowering for me and good for my own well-being and for my family’s well-being. I enjoy it more than full-time because I can do better quality work. The more I enjoy doing it, the better I do it which gives me a real sense of achievement.”

The two women sometimes catch up with each other between shifts and all the kindergarten staff meet on Thursday afternoon when they share information and attend to administrative work. Hsiu-Ying and Nicky say there are no problems with continuity or communication, possibly because they are so well settled in the community and at the kindergarten. Nicky says that knowing all the children has made the transition to working more hours much easier.

As well as Nicky and Hsiu-Ying, the kindergarten employs one full-time teacher and the head teacher. Both are supportive of the job-share arrangement, saying it’s good to have the different input and more ideas that Nicky and Hsiu-Ying together bring.

Hsiu-Ying completed her kindergarten teacher’s registration earlier this year, something she says she couldn’t have done while working full-time. One of her new goals is to do a course on working with bilingual children so she can be more supportive in a multi-cultural environment.  “I’m setting myself other professional goals because that’s how I keep myself motivated and improving,” she says.

While Nicky is very happy with the job-share arrangement, she’s looking forward to when her children are older she can go back to full-time teaching.

Pukekohe Central Kindergarten is managed by the Franklin Kindergarten Association which won and EEO Trust Work & Life Award in 2007.