Evie Dewes

Evie Dewes was in the first class for the New Zealand Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care at UCOL Wairarapa, and now she’s excited to start her first fulltime teaching job.

Evie had always wanted to work with children in some way. While in Year 12 at St. Matthew’s Collegiate School she decided that early childhood education was for her.

“I want to help bring up the next generation and provide them with a great learning environment,” says Evie.

The thing Evie enjoyed the most about her time at UCOL was getting to know her lecturers and classmates and how supportive they all were.

As part of her studies, Evie completed practicums at two local early childhood centres. The experience was valuable as she got to learn more about preparing activities for children and how centres have their own philosophies that they follow.

While working towards her diploma, Evie decided that she wanted to take on further study, so UCOL staff worked with Te Rito Maioha to cross credit her course towards a degree. This allowed Evie to smoothly transition into the second year of Te Rito Maioha’s Bachelor of Teaching (ECE).

During her degree studies, Evie did relieving work at BestStart centers in Hamilton and Taupo, and at a privately-owned Taupo centre. This ultimately helped her secure a fulltime job at BestStart Richmond Kindy after she graduated.

Now a fully qualified teacher, Evie is excited about what the future holds and is excited about getting fully registered

“The best part about working with children is that every day is different.”