Recognition At OAC

Research tells us that the crucial building blocks for emotional, social and cognitive skills are put in place in the first five years of a child’s life. We also know that outside of parents, educators are one of the most influential factors in a child’s learning outcomes and overall future wellbeing.

Early childhood educators and teachers invest in years of training and formal education to gain their qualifications. Knowing our team dedicate themselves to upskilling and improving their knowledge to provide the best possible education and care for children and their families – we believe our people are worth more here at OAC. We have a range of initiatives both at campus level and organisationally that promote and recognise team members and the amazing work that they do every day.

With just over one and a half years’ service at OAC, Sonam Tshomo from our Elsternwick campus in Victoria, chats to us about the career opportunities she’s had since joining and how recognition plays a key role in her work day to day.

“I joined OAC Elsternwick for my final school placement and after this was offered a casual position which then later led to a full time Educator role, followed by a full time Early Childhood Teacher role and then my current role as Room Leader Preschool. Although initially it was the availability of jobs and future opportunities that attracted me to the early childhood sector, it is the team at Elsternwick that I get to work with day to day and the benefits offered to me at OAC that keep me here on-going. You could say that my initial 30-day school placement has turned into quite the career journey at OAC!

I really like the team here at Elsternwick, everyone is supportive and understanding. Here at OAC recognition is shared in different ways and I think it is important because it is motivating to know that your hard work is recognised by the people around you. I’ve seen recognition occur through various rewards, opportunities to serve in different roles and through acknowledgement from management and colleagues. The recognition that I’ve received has helped to reassure me that I’m working in the right role and it has helped boost my confidence (as sometimes I can doubt myself). Since working at OAC I’ve received various recognition including being appointed to Room Leader after only a short while in the ECT role, I’ve received rewards vouchers from both my Director and Assistant Director and to top it off I received an OAC Rising Star nomination 2025 award. When I’m recognised I feel very excited that people know me and my work and I then feel motivated to do even more.

When I think about others that I work with, I’d have to shout out Julia Lim – she is the hardest working and determined person I know. We worked as teammates in the preschool room last year. She goes beyond her own limit to do the best for the room.

Our purpose and HEART principles

When I reflect on our five Heart Principles here at OAC, the one that resonates with me most and is my favourite would have to be teamwork! It has always been my favourite and that’s because whilst this job is rewarding it is also challenging and it isn’t something that you can do only on your own. We need good people to work with who demonstrate team spirit and are focussed on working towards common goals. The job itself on a daily basis demands a lot of multi-tasking, problem solving, routine and risk management, so having a great and supportive team makes the job far smoother.

When it comes to our purpose at OAC this means an awful lot to me and that’s because the first five years of child’s life particularly matter and we are there for all of these children in those years almost 8-9 hours a day (which is usually during the active time of the children’s days), and we have such a big responsibility to support these children to develop, feel safe, play, experience good environments and have fun.”

If you’re keen to learn a little more about OAC life and what benefits we offer, then check out our careers website where we share the range of benefits on offer and other stories from our team members career journeys and experiences.