By Viki Johnson

When did you last look at your Ministry through ‘fresh eyes’?

One of my idiosyncrasies is to walk into my Centre as if it is the first time I’ve ever walked in.

Things I spot are the weeds at the front gate, the notice that expired last week, the two staff members standing in the entrance way talking and the child with lunch on their face. Not that I want to be paranoid but this is what new parents judge us on. I’m sure the staff are discussing something important and the notice was just overlooked, the two year old escaped face washing and a teacher is about to clean her up. However, it is a timely reminder to always be prepared and think about how others perceive us.

This has really come to light since I employed a new Manager. She is bringing new ideas, concerns and all sorts of things that have been overlooked, ignored or simply not recognised. It has been very refreshing, once I got over taking all comments as a criticism.

I had made a huge assumption that everyone had the same standards and expectations that I had. Although most of our teachers did have great standards, some people had relaxed and lowered the expected standards. When I wandered through the Centre everything looked great; it wasn’t until this new Manager started to work on the floor that she found a few gaps in some of our practices.

We have made a number of great changes and really improved the Centre. It has been wonderful to see our seven year old Centre through fresh eyes and then being able to implement changes to ensure our children, staff and families get the best environment to grow, learn and develop.