EDG Nursery

Biography

Merhaba (Hello in Turkish), my name is Ozlem Ocak, I joined EDG Nursery in September 2016 as an Early Years Educator.

After graduating from University of Greenwich, I decided to leave a gap year before perusing a master's degree. However, experiencing two weeks in a nursery setting I realised the fundamental role early years experiences has on all our futures and never looked back since.

I have cherished working through the Early Years Sector as a bank team member, classroom Educator, Room Leader, Floor Manager and on to Nursery Assistant/Deputy Manager. I am also the Special Education Needs and Disability Coordinator (SENDCO) for the setting continuing to support children, educators and families through liaising with outside agencies.

Following my trip to Reggio Emilia, Italy, in 2019 for a study week, attending lectures and visiting infant toddler centres and preschools the ethos has sparked a passion. I strongly believe supervised risk is no longer a risk and through risk taking we together learn healthier skills, investing in indefinite and permanent principles for our future.

I endeavor to focus on the skills - not on how children should play or learn. Playing and learning is seen as one and is created naturally. Skills is where the magic is formed through the craving of playing and learning. The more freedom and risk taking in an environment the healthier the development.

I believe children should be given the space to be confident and to keep 'trying', despite the end result. It is the process that matters.

It takes a village to raise a child and as EDG family we nurture our similarities and differences to Educate, Develop and Grow.