Joining in 2000, Kim Gobey worked as a lecturer and course director in the health & social care and early years department for many years, teaching in both higher and further education. She organised and led many trips and placements, including Finland and Paris. When she retired in 2014, she left college for the last time on the back of a motorbike.
What made you join Eastern Education Group?
After working many years in the early years sector, I came to teach at WSC because I wanted to share good practice with students and their work with the young children. I joined back in 2000, and Dr Ann Williams (now Ruthven) was the principal. Back then, the college was a lot smaller and didn’t have as many buildings, nor a higher education (HE) department. Once the HE department was up and running, I spent half of my teaching time there and the rest in further education.
Do you have any special memories from your time with us?
I was course director for Early Years Childcare and Education and taught on levels one through five. In addition, I was a PGCE mentor to several including, Rachel Simons, Laura Mitchell, Teresa Jarvis, Carole Sweeney, Kate Shand and Sue Stagg. They were a wonderful team and we have many special memories of this time.
Every year, I took students for work experience in London schools and nurseries. This was a valuable experience because it provided a much more culturally diverse working experience for the students and was not only a memorable highlight for them, but they could also include this on their CVs. We all stayed in the Picadilly Hostel, which provided easy access links to the tube stations and various locations. I remember walking miles and miles through the streets of London to find the schools and nurseries where the students were on placement. This improved my knowledge of travelling around London! During their placements, I had to complete observations, which fed into the student final qualification success. The Early Years settings often commented that they would like to keep my students but, of course, they all had to come home to their families.
Twice I planned and organised for students to complete three weeks work experience in Finland. This was an amazing opportunity to work in a situation where the language was unknown and to experience the Early Years provision in a different country. At that time, during the early 2000’s, Finnish schools were very advanced in their online communication with parents. Now, the UK appears to have caught up. When the first group arrived in Finland with very large suitcases (several being pink!), we clambered on to the train and had to navigate several steps up to a higher part of the carriage. We finally sat down when the guard came along and informed us that we were actually in the first-class carriage! I said that we would move, but after seeing all of us and the suitcases, he told us to stay where we were We all found this very funny.
I also took groups of students to Euro Disney in Paris. Although this was an education trip to learn how Euro Disney supports the needs of young children, it gave the students time to have fun in the park.
All in all, I enjoyed my years teaching at West Suffolk College and have many happy memories. When I retired, I left college on a motor bike ridden by Paul Norris, who was also part of the Early Years team. I have not been on a motor bike again! That was my swansong.
Are there any family members who have connections to EEG?
My daughter has been teaching beauty and holistic therapies in the college since 1999. Although we were there at the same time, we had to make appointments with each other to meet up for lunch as we were both so busy.
What did you go onto to do after College?
I left college to retire, where I was fortunate enough to enjoy travelling around the world and continue to take many cruises.
Is there a message you would like to share as we celebrate our 100 years of history?
My message is: RESPECT
R – Respect for self and everyone.
E – Engage in studies to gain the maximum learning potential from your course.
S – Support others on the course.
P – Prepare effectively for your studies.
E – Enjoy learning.
C – Concentrate.
T – Think for yourself and don’t worry if you make a mistake because we can all learn from our mistakes.
