Rebecca Dempsey

Rebecca Dempsey studies on our Foundation Degree in Early Years and Education by distance learning, and works at a nursery, where one of her presentations was recently attended by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Where and what did you study before you came to ARU?

I've been working as an early years practitioner for over 10 years, and did my Level 3 in childcare and education at a college in Hertfordshire, near where I live. Then I decided to further my learning three years ago.

Did you always know that you would go to university and, if not, what changed your mind?

Kind of! I fell into the private sector part of childcare and, once I got a job, just continued down that path. But I always knew in the back of my head that it wasn't the end goal for me, and that I wanted to continue my studies. It was only when COVID happened that I put all my ducks in a row and decided to just go for it.

I feel like once you've started working somewhere the years can just go by, because it's full-time, and a nursery setting is very intense. There's a lot to fit into 40 hours a week, and it does become your life. But my manager told me: “I feel like you can progress, you can do more with this.” So I had the support from her. It was more about getting the confidence and finding the time to do it.

Why did you choose to study at ARU?

It was just the best fit for me. I had a look around a few universities online and it just looked like the best fit in terms of time management, and the progression the course would take me on.

What do you hope to do when you graduate?

To be honest, that's something I still need to think about. At the moment I’ve been focusing on submitting my assignments. My last one was due today actually – I just got it in this morning.

I'm quite interested in the top-up at ARU, and I think I’ll pursue that next. It goes into level 6, so just higher than what I’ll be gaining from the foundation, which will give me level 5. It just opens more doors for me. I don't have to do it – particularly because once I have my level 5 that enables me to go into management or deputy management, which I’m interested in as well.

What inspired you to get involved with teaching in the first place?

I remember when I was a child, I used to play teachers in my my sister's room with her. I used to make her be the student and I was the teacher, and I would have my own little board that my parents had bought. Then I'd line up my younger sister and loads of teddy bears, and create a register!

So I've always had an interest in teaching, and young children as well. I think they offer so much to the world – their innocence and their bright eyes. It just makes your day better when you can go into a nursery and they say something funny and sweet, even if you're in a bad mood, in that way only children can.

What's the most valuable thing you’ll take away from your course?

I think the extra knowledge that you gain. Basically, it allows you to look more in-depth at different areas of childcare. We did a whole topic on outdoor play for one of the modules, and that allowed me to change a lot of the outdoor area in my setting, because I realised we weren't using it to its full advantage.

I incorporated a quiet corner that was specially designed for children with additional needs. Sometimes they get over-stimulated or under-stimulated in a large garden, especially if there's nowhere for them to go and regulate. So we got a tent and put sensory materials and soft textures underneath it with some books. So not just children with additional needs, but other children can go and relax in it when they want to. This module allowed me to look outside the box, and it's been very effective because the children have really enjoyed it and the staff members as well!

Which aspects of your course have most helped your career development, and why?

I'm not very tech savvy, because obviously I work with children day-to-day and we don't get a lot of time to use computers. I feel the course has taught me a lot about how to do that. We’ve learned to use PowerPoint and things like Teams, where we have meetings with different people. That’s also allowed improved my confidence, because I’ve been speaking in front of people I don't really know.

Writing styles as well – I haven't been doing any form of writing because I've been in work for so long, so I had to work out my essay style and how I wanted to come across. So that was a big learning curve for me, and I think it's been really helpful. Even on a day-to-day basis with things like emails and communicating with parents. We have a lot of that back and forth, and it’s helped me sound more professional.

What piece of advice would you give to other students hoping to get into early education?

If you’re studying, I’d say: don't panic. Don't stress. There's always somebody you can talk to. The tutors are always on-hand and have been very helpful when I needed them. I would recommend doing the tutorials because it's definitely beneficial, especially if you're struggling. And just make sure you manage your time so you don't get overwhelmed.

I would also say that with some nursery settings, you have to make sure that they’re willing to support you in terms of progression and you're not just being used to fill in the numbers. Obviously it's private sector and they can pay what they want. So check that you're working somewhere where there’s room to further whatever it is you want to do. If you have somewhere that’s willing to support your progression, that's the best thing.

What’s your favourite thing about studying by distance learning?

The best part of distance learning is obviously you can do it on your own time. There is flexibility if you have other commitments. I've had work commitments that I couldn't miss out on, so I've had to miss the lecture, but it's fine because it's recorded for you.

And if you need any information or help, you can just e-mail your tutor. And also, the other people on my course have been really great, because they're all in the same boat. Most of them are working in nurseries so they all understand how it is.

I really feel I’m part of a community still. Everyone's submitting today and they've all been wishing each other good luck. You know, “last push through, we've all got this.” Which is really nice considering you don't see each other in person. It's good to have that support.

What projects have you been working on, both on and off the course?

On the course, we've just submitted our work-based learning module, which is the one about outdoor play for children between the ages of three to four with additional needs. So that's something ongoing in my nursery too now, that's been really beneficial.

I also had another module about comparing two different aspects of the curriculum. I did Reggio Emilia and Montessori. We're not a Montessori nursery, but my manager is Montessori trained so we do follow a lot of that curriculum in terms of free-play, creating separate areas, or using natural resources. So I felt like I had a lot to talk about on that.

Then obviously we had the big one, which was my presentation on sustainability, for which I had the pleasure of the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan attending the nursery. It was honestly just a stroke of luck because I was struggling to think of something that wasn’t just recycling or the standard stuff you can do. So my manager said “All right, we'll have a think about it,” then literally a week later she came back and said “You won't believe this, but we've been selected by by the Mayor to do a cleaner air campaign to do with ULEZ.” So I was very, very lucky with that!

He was really lovely as well – very warm with the children. We had a large tuff tray in the garden which was filled soil and seeds, and we gathered the children around that while everybody else stood back. And when we started the activity, that's when the mayor arrived and joined in. He got down to their level, and was touching the soil without wearing gloves or anything. He just got stuck into it, which was great.

And it wasn't just him – we had the media there as well. They filmed it, and we were on the news for about ten seconds, which was hilarious because they were there all day. We also had people like climate change campaigners and influencers as well, and a woman who, sadly, had lost her daughter to poor air quality in London. I don't know if it was the first documented case – it happened around 18 years ago – but she she came to the nursery as well, which was obviously very, very important.