The principal of a long-serving North Belfast nursery has spoken at the privilege and joy she feels being able to teach at the school.
Brefne Integrated Nursery School opened in 1956, and was originally based on the Somerton Road, where it was a nursery for children in care.
Over the years, as the numbers of children in care dwindled, the Education Authority took over the school and it moved to its current site on Salisbury Avenue, where it has been teaching generations of local children.
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Victoria McGimpsey has been principal at Brefne since 2016, and is one of only a handful of principals who have been at the helm of the nursery school since it opened 66 years ago.
She told Belfast Live what she loves about her job, and why Brefne is such a unique nursery school.
"We're a 26 pupil class, one class, one unit, and we're full time so 9-1 every day," Victoria explained.
"We're one of the smallest nurseries in Northern Ireland, there are three one classroom nurseries left. We're also the first nursery school in Northern Ireland to transfer to integrated status.
"Due to us being so small, we have that luxury where we can develop relationships over years with parents and families. We have children who are maybe seventh or eighth in the family coming through nursery here, and we also have pupils now coming back who were pupils themselves."
Last year, Brefne became the first nursery school in Northern Ireland to transform to integrated status. It came after the school began to explore integration in 2018, and after the parental vote was secured in 2019-20.
Mrs McGimpsey said although they're at the beginning of their integration journey, the nursery has already seen benefits from the change.
She said: "The integrated process is definitely a journey, it's not something that changes overnight, it takes a long time and we're very much at the start of our journey with integration. We were so pleased to get the parental vote back in 2019-20, then it took about a year to write the development proposal.
"The Education Minister, Peter Weir at the time, then approved the proposal and we became the first nursery school to transform to integrated. I think the relationship with the parents and the community has been the biggest change.
"The nursery is naturally quite integrated because of the curriculum, but we're now very proud to demonstrate and highlight how inclusive we are, and how we cater to all children and their uniqueness.
"Working with people like the Integrated Education Fund and NICIE, they helped us create our rainbow room, and through their funding we've just received our Makaton friendly status as well as a school."
Day to day, Victoria said her main motivator is the children at the nursery, the great team of staff they have, and the great community around Brefne. She said they're always striving to make sure the early years of the children's lives are filled with good memories.
"It's always a busy classroom, it's always on the go. The children's curiosity, their sense of wonder, the excitement they come in with every day is just fantastic, it's fantastic to be part of it," she added.
"You could be having the worst morning ever and you come in here, and you have a smile on your face for the majority of the day. It's a real sense of community here at Brefne.
"Our team, our staff and governors, are all absolutely fantastic and very supportive, very passionate about Brefne and they're very passionate about their job. I think my favourite part would be that, the people we get to work with.
"Working here is full of so many miniature moments that create memories, we always say, especially teachers and staff in early years could write a book on what happens every year, and what the children come in with. They can turn a simple cardboard box into a pirate ship or into a tunnel that goes through into a different world. It's all those little miniature moments that create lovely memories.
"Our main motivator is the children and the community we have around us. It's our passion for early years too, these guys are only three and four, and the first five years of their lives are so important, and we get to be part of that for a whole year.
"It's such a privilege. That really keeps us motivated and keeps us passionate about what we do."
Video by Belfast Live Videographer Harry Bateman.
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