At Shine Bright’s Neangar Kindergarten, Jan Foley’s mornings begin the same way they have for decades – small arms around her waist, excited voices calling her name, and a gentle routine that turns even a simple greeting into a lesson in belonging and respect.
Below: Jan Foley at Shine Bright’s Neangar Kindergarten
“It’s so lovely at the start of each day when the children come running up to me and put their arms around me. I say good morning to them, and they say good morning back – even greetings are a learning moment and it’s the perfect way to start a day,” Jan says.
This small daily exchange captures what Jan has offered across 50 years at Neangar Kindergarten and to Shine Bright in its various iterations: warmth, steadiness, and a belief that learning is built, moment by moment, on connection.
This year Jan is celebrating an extraordinary milestone: 50 years in early childhood education and 50 years at Neangar Kindergarten. For generations of children – and in turn their children – Jan has been a calm, creative presence at the start of kindergarten life, shaping capable learners and reassuring families with the quiet confidence that comes from a lifetime of dedication to her chosen profession.
Watching Jan teach, what might surprise you isn’t a single activity or beautifully set-up space, but the way she holds the needs of many children in her mind at once.
“The demand for your attention is constant. Children find it hard to wait their turn and you are constantly making decisions about where your focus should be,” she says.
The building in which Neangar Kindergarten began.
Neangar classroom in the early days.
After fifty years, Jan still describes her fondness for the work she does with the same word she uses for a child’s breakthrough moment: rewarding.
“It’s especially rewarding when I have parents I taught who are now bringing their children to the kinder,” she says.
“Having that long-standing interaction with the families is so fulfilling. I think families feel comfortable knowing what they will get with me as a teacher. Sometimes families are explicit about coming back to Neangar because I am still here, and that’s very special. Parents who have had a good kindergarten experience want their children to have the same positive experience,” Jan explains.
Below: Neangar through the years with Jan and colleagues depicted.
Falling into the work and finding a calling
Jan’s first day in an early learning setting didn’t arrive with a neat, prewritten plan.
“When I first started, I had no formal qualifications,” she recalls.
“I got the job at Neangar Kindergarten through my cousin’s wife who had a child at at the service, and they were looking for an extra person. That’s how things worked back then,” she said.
What came next is the kind of long career commitment that rarely occurs now.
“I always wanted to do mothercraft nursing, so I fell into this job, but I also had an interest in caring for children,” she said.
When Cert III was introduced, Jan completed an equivalent “grandfathering” course – keeping her practice current while staying true to the instincts that brought her to the classroom in the first place.
What Jan has carried into the classroom from the beginning is the joy of making – an educator who thinks in creations, textures, and possibilities. Creating amazing activities for the children is still at the heart of her day.
“I love creating play spaces for children and building on their interests and extending their learning. One-on-one time with children is especially enjoyable and rewarding. I love following the lead of a child,” she said.
After so many years, Jan has a deep well of ideas to draw from without ever losing the delight of doing something new. From painting gumnuts to making Easter hats, she’s always finding a way to turn curiosity into learning, and a simple material or object into a shared experience.
Looking back, Jan doesn’t describe an intention to stay at Neangar Kindergarten or in early learning for fifty years, but she does describe recognising the fit and says she could not see herself doing anything else. She is also glad that she embarked on her profession without rigid expectations.
“I didn’t really have a preconceived idea of what the job might entail. This is probably a good thing because it meant I was open-minded with no set expectations about what it might be like being in a kinder every day,” she says.
When reflecting on her time as a kindergarten educator, Jan makes several observations.
“I think we used to have more connection with families. I remember in the 90s, parents and staff even formed a netball team!
“There was more freedom for the everyday interactions that turn a service into a community. Things like shared lunches, informal conversations at pick-up, and the kind of partnership that helps children feel safe.
“I still remember a parent who was a police officer bringing his car into the yard so the children could wash it—while he sat nearby in the sandpit, enjoying the moment as much as they did. His child who attended the kinder was autistic, and it was my first experience supporting a child with additional needs. You learn through things like this,” Jan says.
With another family – four boys, including one who was autistic and three with Asperger’s – Jan and the team visited the children at home. Watching an expert support worker in action taught them what consistency can look like in real life. They brought that learning back to kinder, adapting the environment so it felt familiar and predictable. It’s the kind of behind-the-scenes work families don’t always see, but children feel it immediately: the relief of continuity, the confidence of being understood.
Love of the profession: the joy is still in the room
Ask Jan what she loves most, and she answers without hesitation: “The children themselves.” It’s their individuality that keeps her inspired.
“I love their personalities—they are all so different. They are so innocent and we are privileged to teach them and care for them at a very special age.”
The affection is mutual—and often beautifully direct.
“The children often refer to me as grandma. When I ask why they call me that, they say it’s because I have grey hair,” Jan laughs.
Jan is just as quick to name what makes Neangar feel like home: the people around her.
“I also love working with my colleagues at Neangar. We are all so supportive of one another and understand one another well. We try to nurture an everyday culture of care that mirrors what the team works to build for children,” she says.
Jan believes that even on difficult days, children have a way of giving something back, often through trust. Jan remembers a child who arrived distraught and unable to separate from his mother. With time and calm reassurance, the tears eased.
“I was able to soothe the child and he quickly became happy to stay and wanted to sit with me. Those moments when you turn a situation around are very validating and remind me that I’m doing what I should be doing,” she says.
A “good day” in Jan’s classroom isn’t quiet – it’s alive. It’s the day when the full team is there, children are “busy and happy,” and educators are fully present in the play.
“A good day for me is when there is a hum in the room that you can feel. It can be a soft or loud hum – but there is lots of playing and fun. Sometimes we forget that it is actually our job to have fun,” Jan says.
Change over time: what’s new and what’s not
Across five decades, Jan has seen enormous change.
“The demand on documentation is the biggest change,” she says.
“We are also more restricted in what we can do with the children in terms of both activities and personal interaction. Time itself looks different too. Children used to come to kinder for 2.5 hours—now it’s 7.5 hours,” she said.
Jan says she notices that busier modern lives can sometimes mean more is done for children and that can sometimes show up as impatience or dependency. In Jan’s room, independence is taught with kindness and partnership. For example, if a child struggles with shoes, she might do one and encourage the child to do the other.
“We work as a team. When a child says they can’t draw something, I nudge them toward practice and remind them that adults practise too—and that’s how we get better,” Jan explains.
There are lighter moments that say everything about the bond Jan builds with the children in her care. She explains that she once heard from a parent that a little girl woke up one morning and asked her family if Jan could come for a playdate and a sleepover. It’s the kind of comment that makes a team smile, and a teacher quietly proud: a child naming safety, trust and affection in the simplest way.
Curriculum has evolved too. “It used to be more structured,” Jan says. “Now it’s more about following the interests of the child.”
For Jan, that shift aligns naturally with what she has always loved: noticing what a child is drawn to, then extending that curiosity into language, problem-solving, creativity and confidence.
“One of the really positive changes in the past fifty years is that there is more expert knowledge now in knowing how to care for children,” Jan says.
“We are better at noticing things, especially underlying issues, and there are more resources for dealing with issues. We have a team with differing strengths, and the children benefit when educators bring their shared knowledge together,” she says with pride.
Above: in 2002 the new bike path at Neangar was opened.
What hasn’t changed: attention, manners, and Jan’s passion
With so much change around her, Jan is clear about what has stayed constant.
“My passion for the job has not changed,” she says. Although she is quick to add that more has changed than not.
“What remains at the centre, regardless of the decade, is what children ask for in a hundred different ways: your attention, your listening ears – as we say. Children need you to interact constantly and understand them,” she said.
Jan also holds fast to the small social lessons that shape a child’s world. If a child asks for something, she’ll encourage them to add the words that build respect and empathy.
“If children ask for something I’ll encourage them to say please. Good manners never go out of fashion! Language matters and being civil to one another,” she says.
The support that sustains a career
A fifty-year career is built on love for the daily needs of the job – but also stamina. For Jan, the hardest part has been energy requirements associated with long days, which she says is hard for anyone.
“But I’ve still never considered doing anything else,” she says.
Jan credits the people around her – especially a strong team – for making longevity possible. Her advice for enduring in the profession is practical and generous: have colleagues you can talk with at the end of the day, name your needs and concerns, and make use of support when it’s offered.
“Through Shine Bright, staff can access the EAP, and reflective practice can be a useful tool. Even someone outside of work is a good resource for debriefing on the day,” she says.
Above: Jan in 2026, still passionate about caring for children and sharing her decades of experience.
Memorable moments
Over the years, Jan has collected the kind of stories that become part of a service’s folklore. She once worked with a colleague named Bev – together, they were affectionately known by the children as “Bread and Jam.”
And then there are the moments that make time feel suddenly visible. On one Open Day, a grandmother arrived with a mother and child and said, “You taught me.” Jan still remembers the shock – quickly followed by laughter when the grandmother reassured her she was a very young grandmother.
When Jan returned after a triple bypass about seven years ago, visiting at Christmas time, a little girl looked up at her and asked, “Jan, did you get a broken heart?” Jan answered gently: “No, it was just a bit sick.” The child’s question has stayed with her – not for insight which was extraordinary, but for what it revealed about a young child’s empathy, and how carefully children watch and care for the adults who care for them.
Congratulations, Jan—and thank you…
Fifty years of early childhood education is an extraordinary gift to a community. In every greeting at the door, every carefully prepared play space, every calm moment helping a child find their feet, Jan has shown what it looks like to teach with heart and to lead with care. Neangar Kindergarten and Shine Bright is richer for her presence, and generations of families carry a little of her kindness with them long after kinder ends.