Claire Mayo

Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Early Childhood Education Specialisation

ClaireMayo
Claire Mayo

Last year, Claire successfully completed her Bachelor of Education (Teaching) Early Childhood Education specialisation (BEd(Tchg)ECE) at the Faculty of Education and Social Work. She had been a consistent high achiever throughout the programme. This year, because of her high grades, Claire starts the new Master of Education programme that allows entry direct from a bachelors degree.

“I never really liked school as a child. My attitude through high school was ‘get enough to pass’. I had no intention of going to university, nothing like that. My sister was very much a high achiever and … I thought, ‘Oh, I could never do that!'

“I lived overseas for ten years and worked in London for six (of those) years as a nanny. I have always been interested in early childhood and children. So (three years ago) I decided it was time to do something a bit more official — and that’s how I ended up in early childhood (education).

“I didn’t really know enough about early childhood (education) but I knew that the early childhood age group was the group I knew well and enjoyed working with. When I started doing my BEd(Tchg)ECE studies, I felt like I had found my thing.

“I work really hard and am quite committed but I couldn't have achieved as I did without the support of my sister and my friends (from my cohort). My friends and I all wanted to do really well and we made each other better. 

“I liked coming onto (Epsom) campus, being in lectures and engaging with people. I found that a lot of my experiences as a nanny informed the things that I was learning at university. Everything started to click in my mind and I was just really enjoying my studies.”