Amy Cooper

Background

About Amy Cooper

At Just Be Kids, my role centres around ensuring that excellent physical, social, emotional, and intellectual support is given to every child that attends the nursery. I work closely with the children on a day-to-day basis, interacting with them across a number of settings and scenarios. I promote the children in child-centred learning and play, providing guidance and support when necessary. Building strong and trusting relationships with the children and their families is of the utmost importance, and is something I ensure I consciously nurture each and every day. I must be flexible in my role, taking on extra duties such as cleaning and domestic tasks when required, which demonstrates my adaptability and hardworking nature. I am in continuous communication with my team, as this ensures that every child is given the highest level of care they need from every member of staff. As of October 2024 I completed my modern apprenticeship in Social Services Children and Young People, achieving a Level 7 SCQF certificate and becoming a fully qualified early years practitioner. In June 2022, I graduated from the University of Glasgow with a First Class Honours degree in English Language and Linguistics. Throughout my undergraduate degree I had to meet numerous deadlines, with many of them overlapping. This meant that I had to plan my work in advance, ensuring that I prioritised responsibilities appropriately. I also had to remain vigilant as deadlines sometimes changed, and could consequently have knock-on effects on other deadlines. My volunteering with Paper Airplanes also took place during my final year at university, which shows that I can balance responsibilities effectively, as I was able to maintain the same level of academic achievement I was reaching before taking on this additional role. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the third year of my course was taught entirely online; this meant that I had to adapt to a rapidly changing environment, as well as hone my IT skills in a short period of time. I became very familiar with Zoom and Microsoft Teams, as well as Office programmes such as OneNote. Furthermore, my undergraduate dissertation included extensive work on Microsoft Excel, such as the input of vast amounts of data and the creation of tables and graphs. This shows that not only do I have excellent IT skills, but that I am a quick learner who is able to adapt and flourish in unpredictable circumstances.