Early Intervention Teachers - Sue Thomas

Her background

Sue Thomas can trace the start of her special education career to the year she began primary teaching.

Primary teaching quickly led to more study and several years teaching in the early childhood education sector. Eventually, while her children were small, she decided to pursue a long term interest in special education.

Today, she’s an Early Intervention Teacher with the Ministry of Education in Takapuna on Auckland’s north-west.

“I really love what I do. I’m a practitioner and always will be. I’ve built on my experience and taken all the learning opportunities that have come my way. I have developed a great career that I enjoy every day.”

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Her story

Having the opportunity to keep learning is one thing Sue Thomas likes most about being an Early Intervention Teacher.

She should know. As an early intervention teacher, Sue has added to her teaching diplomas with a diploma in early intervention and a Bachelor’s Degree in Education – as well as taken up a range of professional development opportunities.

She’s trained in behaviour management, in traumatic incident management and supporting the education success of Māori and Pacifica learners.

Autism has also been a focus of her training, through professional development courses on the Picture Exchange Communication System and the Relationship Development Intervention model.

On top of that, Sue has provided and received supervision and participated in projects, as a lead practitioner, that aim to improve the Ministry’s early intervention, behaviour, communication and high and complex needs services.

Right now, she’s part of a committee organising an international conference looking at assessment practice.

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The rewards and challenges

“Every time I help a child move successfully from early childhood to school is a highlight,” says Sue.

“For me, that means settling a child into the classroom, ensuring the teacher feels confident to teach and access further information and support if she needs it. It means the teacher feeling thoroughly informed about the child’s needs and the family feeling it’s not a huge deal to take their child to school each day.”

On the other hand, says Sue, the paper work can be a challenge and it’s easy to over do it, particularly with long distances to travel.

Yet, she says, with the right experience and training behind you, it can be an incredibly rewarding career.

“My advice to people interested in this work is come on board and be prepared to learn. It’s a good idea to start as, say, kindergarten teacher, then keep training, do post graduate work in early intervention and special education and develop your career gradually over time.”

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Her future aspirations

Looking ahead, Sue is more than happy to keep building on her existing knowledge and experience as a practitioner – especially while she still feels so passionate about what she does.

“You need a real passion and interest in special education to do what we do. You need passion to do a good job for the children and for the families we work with. You have to want what’s best for them in all aspects of their lives.”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned about this job, the more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it.”

Want to speak to someone like Sue about a career as an Early Intervention Teacher? Give us a call on 0800 622 222 or email special.education@minedu.govt.nz [no spam]