December 7th, 2023Take a seat Verna: preschool teacher celebrates half a century

Kinder educator Verna Baker celebrated 50 years of teaching at the Daylesford Preschool with a large
gathering of parents, children and friends and family recently.

Verna was presented with a garden seat made by Marty Hull, which has been placed under a tree at preschool.

It is inscribed with the words: “Verna’s garden seat, 50 years educating children in early childcare in the Hepburn Shire.”

Over her long career, Verna has helped more than 4000 children with their first early years in education.
Verna, who began working at Daylesford Preschool as an assistant when she was 18, said every child was special to her.

“It was always my dream to work with preschool aged children. I have so many lovely stories to tell over my time working at Daylesford Preschool, Hepburn, Trentham and experiencing relief work with the mobile kinder, which operated at Glenlyon, Franklinford and Mount Prospect, Creswick and Clunes in the Hepburn Shire.

“Working with children brings a lot of happiness and rewards to me, especially when I bring my baby
farm animals from my farm at Basalt for the children to understand how to care for them and to learn about their surrounding environment.”

And while many people would see the 50-year mark as time to retire, Verna has no plans to leave her workplace. She continues to enjoy her work at Daylesford Preschool and was “very proud” to reach her goal of 50 years as a educator.