Early learning in the world’s last paradise: Tokasa Thompson’s story

Lord Howe Island is a place renowned for its natural beauty and biodiversity. With a small permanent population and strict limits on tourism, the island is a haven for animals and people alike. 

 

For resident Tokasa Thompson, it’s not only home, but also a place where pursuing her journey as an early childhood education and care (ECEC) professional has been somewhat of a challenge. 

 

With the recent opening of the island’s first preschool, we connected with Ms Thompson to learn more about life on the island, her career journey, and the support she received from Macquarie Community College which allowed her to fulfill her ECEC dreams. 

 

Island life 

 

We asked Ms Thompson to paint us a picture of life on Lord Howe. 

 

“It’s really cool and relaxing,” she said. “It’s like my home in Fiji, where people aren’t worried about how they dress or whether shoes or clothes match. People ride bikes and walk, there are no streetlights, people are friendly and wave to each other.”

 

With beautiful beaches, and pastimes like snorkeling, fishing, bush walking and hiking, the island is a serene place, if not a little isolated, which makes goods and services expensive because everything is shipped or freighted in. 

 

“Most of the women work because it’s very expensive,” Ms Thompson explained. “I work to support my family as a mother and grandmother, and spend lots of time in my garden growing  avocados, bananas, corn, and sweet potatoes; we try to be self-sufficient.”

Being remote means paying expensive airfares back to the mainland for services like medical and dental, and that ordering online can take a long time, with planes not always coming as planned. 

 

“We pay a price to live on a beautiful island,” she explained. 

 

A dynamic duo 

 

Ms Thompson is one of two employees of the new preschool, which has been a long awaited addition to island life. 

 

For many years, there was interest in having an early learning service on the island, however no-one put their hand up to take on the responsibility of working in the service, which needed a trained early childhood teacher, and a second educator to work as an assistant. 

 

“I was asked if I was interested based on my background with children, but I had to think about it as I was retired and didn’t want to study anything too intense,” Ms Thompson said. 

 

Ultimately, she decided to take on the challenge because she knew it would be an asset to her community. 

 

When news of the new preschool was confirmed the community were thrilled. 

“The community was so happy when they found out I had started the course and returned to the island to begin working at the preschool,” Ms Thompson said. 

 

“The parents were so happy on the first day and happy to receive the relief as they were all working parents, and the kids were excited for it to start.”

 

“One of the young girls kept talking about going to preschool to her mum and getting all dressed up for the first day. The kids were smiling, and the parents were happy to see the kids happy.”

 

The community, she said, feels “very lucky” to have access to preschool. 

 

Returning to study

 

“I came to Sydney and applied to do the Certificate III in Early Childhood course, which included writing essays to get into the course, which almost made me want to give up,” she continued.

 

“Everything was online, and I was terrified and nervous about holding the class back because I was still learning to use the technology. However, my online teacher could see I was struggling and would provide extra one-on-one support on navigating technology.”

 

While Ms Thompson has vast experience with children, through being a mother, grandmother, and invested community member, there was still a lot to learn.

 

“I understand now how important it is to learn about legislation and policies, respect parents and coworkers, and maintain privacy,” she said. “It’s a very important responsibility to learn how to keep things private in a small community. I am learning more skills, policies, and procedures, particularly around child safety.”

 

One of the standout elements of her training was learning how to ask children open-ended questions, and extend the conversation, using words to encourage them, opening the child’s mind to extend their thoughts and teaching them to think for themselves.

 

While she loved learning new things, being in such a remote community and having to fly back to Sydney for practicum placements, and being away from a family, was a challenge. Travel to and from the island is expensive, and relying on online learning components can sometimes be a barrier. 

 

Ms Thompson valued the community she built at Macquarie Community College, saying that “all nine ladies in the class shared the same view and looked forward to the class.”

 

“They have a high standard for the course, and I am proud that I went there. I would do my diploma with them,” she said.

 

“I would recommend it to anyone, specifically mature-age students, it is the best place for mature-age students.”

 

Learn more about the preschool here. For information about Macquarie Community College please see here.