Mrs Brooke Paans joined our School community 13 years ago to co-ordinate our Before and After School Care program. In recent years Mrs Paans’s passion for education has developed as she has been working with our youngest students who are part of the three-year-old Little Grammies Program.

My childcare career started back in 2000 when I completed my Early Childhood Education and Care Diploma and began working at a child care centre. During my career, I have worked for three childcare centres, each one providing me with different opportunities.

I worked with children from the ages of six-weeks up to 12 years of age. I realised early in my career that I had a passion for educating and caring for younger children. The way you get to watch their personalities develop, and their curiosity about the world around them, inspires me.

I joined Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School in 2008 as the Before and After School Care Co-ordinator. In 2018, I had the opportunity to take on the role as the Early Childhood Educator for the newly launched Little Grammies program for three-year old children.

When I started at the School, I was lucky to work with a director who had previously worked in a Reggio based education centre and together we changed the way the centre operated, adopting a more play and enquiry-based approach. This approach to programming inspired me to want to learn and teach in different ways.

My favourite thing about the School is the grounds and surroundings. I grew up on a large rural property and love to be outside in the environment. I love the way the School offers children the chance to experience this.

The Little Grammies program and being able to learn with the children has definitely been a highlight for me!