Marlene retires after 17 years working with Playgroup in Ngukurr

Marlene Andrew tells her story of working with Anglicare NT Playgroup. 

I started with the Freshwater Playgroup in Ngukurr in 2009. Back then I didn’t have a job, I was a mum and I was a very shy person. 

I remember one day the Anglicare NT ladies came from Darwin to Ngukurr to find people to run the playgroup. They were asking around and came and asked me if I was interested.  

I had an interview and I was really shy. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, but within a few weeks lots of stuff came to Ngukurr in a big container and we opened it up and saw all the toys and things for the playgroup.  

We had meetings and things were explained to me, what the playgroup was going to be like and how we were going to be working with children. At that time, within my own self I didn’t know head or tail what to do and it was a very new experience for me! 

The community wasn’t interested at first  

We had the opening at the church because we didn’t have a venue then, so we asked the reverend if we could be based in the church. There were four of us ladies working, I was one of them with Jasinda, Julie-Ann and Mercy. I had my little girl, and Jasinda’s little girl, and they were the only ones at the table. Nobody else came at first.  

When people didn’t come on the first day I was thinking two things. I wouldn’t give up and I would come to playgroup each day and set it up and put the stuff outside on the lawn at the church. Maybe one or two would come along with their child. 

Then they started coming  

Every day outside the church we put the colourful mats down with the colourful toys. It was because of the colours the little kids were interested and they wanted to play and be a part of learning. Even if it was just for 20 mins, they still came.  

It was scary but I channeled my thoughts and said, alright I’ll do this for my little girl because she is here every day with me. I put the word around town to the other ladies, even when I wasn’t at work I would talk to parents at night telling them about playgroup. I got the message around, and we started to get more and more parents to come.  

Professional growth and learning  

I’ve learned that a child is learning from when she is still in her mum’s tummy, and that playgroup is a place where you as a parent can be sitting and guiding your child for learning in the early years. You’re teaching that child something that they are going to treasure and is going to mould that child’s life.  

At playgroup, Ngukurr culture is included all the time. Like in the dry we take the mums out to the bush to collect bush medicine and tucker. We boil up the medicine in big tubs, then cool it and the children jump in the water and bathe in it. It was fun, but it was also healing for kids to be bathing in bush medicine.  

 I travelled to the We Grow Them Up Forum, to learn about keeping our children safe from violence, bullying and sexual harassment.  

When I was part of it and I heard how we should be working with the children and helping them to learn. It hit me so hard because of how I had been with my other children. I was a person who didn’t know about the importance of a child. It was all new to me.  

I went to trainings over the years, sometimes in Darwin, in Gove and Alice Springs and decided it was time for me as a parent to open up and get rid of the negativity I was a part of. I started a journey of learning about being a good parent, working alongside my little girls as she learns. I decided I was going to give her everything to help her become a better person in life as she gets older. I sacrificed my life in a positive way, and I made it happen because I wanted to help my little girl. I wanted to make to changes in what she learned from me as a parent.  

We go about our everyday lives using those lessons from playgroup 

I believe we have to act like that, not just in the playgroup but in the community also. We go about our everyday lives using those same lessons. This is the same for when children are out bush, and parents are teaching them the important things in life to live and grow. 

Playgroup is a place for parents and children to learn together. It’s a place where children can be taught how to live life calmly and happily. Sometimes playgroup was a place where parents came because of things they were experiencing at home, and they trusted the playgroup staff. They opened up about their personal issues, like being abused at home.  

I’ve learned that family has to look at the positive things, not the negative things. The things that are going to help their child be interested in learning and really want to be there. It takes courage to take the negativity out and let the positive in. You gotta fight your way to be the person you want to be. 

These days  

I’m retired from playgroup now, which is run out at the Gulaman Centre in Ngukurr. Playgroup works together with Family as First Teachers (FaFT) – we are combined.  

At times playgroup was a hard place to be in the community because there are things that happen. I tried to put that aside when I was working because I wanted to be a mother and worker. I had to think when it was really tough that it wasn’t about me, it was about my little girl who was with me the whole time. She is now 17! 

For me, playgroup has changed my life to be the person I wanted to be. I am very happy with my career. There are strong staff at playgroup Ngukurr now and I wanted to make sure the new staff were strong before I retired.

Marlene