Di
My name is Di Vernon-Reade - this is not the surname that I was born with, but the name that I have gathered through my life's journey. My life journey has been like a roller coaster ride and full of many highs and some lows, but always an interesting and exhilarating adventure.
I am a positive person and view the challenges that life presents us with as opportunities to grow and learn. My Myers-Briggs personality type analysis describes me as an extroverted, intuitive and feeling person. I tend act first and then think later relying on hunches and empathy for others.
Throughout my life I have made some interesting choices, but have always been ready for new challenges and experiences. In my life, I have tended to be an innovative and creative thinker, being open to change and seeking the opportunities and new directions that the future brings.
My life story: the summary
I was born in Sandringham, Victoria as the first child in a family that was to grow to four children. I was born at the end of World War II and my earliest memories are of search light beams over Melbourne in the night and my father coming home on leave from the navy. In his time away, he had grown a full beard and I didn't recognise him, but he brought tins of ration pack goodies home to share, so I decided that he was worth getting to know.
When I was just over two and a half years of age, my father took me to visit my mother in hospital and introduced me to my twin sisters. I was amazed that suddenly my life had changed so dramatically and now seemed full of babies!! I took on the role of my mother's little helper, as she now had three children under the age of three.... even now I don't know how she coped!
During this time in my life, I became a little introspective. I had imaginary friends and often went to the bush area behind our house to find fairies. In my bush ramblings I became fascinated by wildflowers and nature.
The family moved to King Island in Bass Strait in the 1950s. My father was the manager of the co-operative store in Grassy. Ever the entrepreneur, I gathered up some used toys and second hand goods from my mother and set up a trestle table on the front veranda of the store and went into competition.
My life on King Island was an interesting experience. I attended school in a small two-teacher school with 40 other children from 6 to 10 years of age. My education in this situation was rather limited. Being a quiet and amenable child I was lucky enough to be relegated to the back of the classroom and thereby escape the chalk missiles and the wrath of the senior teacher.
However, on the weekends, my family travelled the whole island in a little Austin A40 car, exploring rugged coastlines and shipwreck sites. I learned about fishing and being prepared to clean and eat my own catch. I discovered the art of mutton birding and catching crayfish out of rock pools.
As the scheelite mine on King Island declined, my family made the decision to move to Tasmania. I now found myself living in the suburbs and attended a primary school with 400 other children and a classroom based on a group of my own age.
I found this overwhelming and in my first year in Tasmania failed miserably and had to repeat a year of schooling. But in the next three years, I took that experience on board and graduated from primary school as top student of the school.
My parents actually told me about that time that my third sibling was due to arrive and at age 10, I had a new baby brother. I guess that because my twin sisters were so close to each other, I formed a special relationship with my brother. Still in touch with nature, I would take my little brother on adventures to build bush cubbies and tree houses and cook out in the bush.
My high school years were exciting times - rock and roll was the new dance craze and amazing inventions like television brought a wider national and international perspective into our home.
On graduation from High School, I found my career opportunities limited. Girls tended to work in the local shops or factories or could choose between nursing and teaching. My family did not have the financial resources to consider a University education in the distant capital city, so for me the direction was a College of Education.
My first marriage was unexpectedly early and my career path changed from education to motherhood. I married and gave birth to twin boys, one of whom was quite severely disabled and died at age 5. This was a difficult and demanding time, which I only survived with my parent's unconditional support
The stress on my marriage, combined with the influences of the time resulted in separation and divorce. In my rebellious years, I became a peace protester and discovered the new concept of feminism fostered by the writings of Germaine Greer.
After a series of interesting life style choices, I met and married my current partner and gained a blended family with two young stepchildren. They have grown into wonderful young adults. My stepson is a music teacher and composer, while my stepdaughter is a solicitor and about to give birth to her first child. My own surviving son is an event organiser and has enhanced our lives with two beautiful grand daughters.
So life, for now is well balanced and secure and I believe that I saved my best relationship until last. My partner and I have been together now for over 20 years and have built a successful accountancy practice.
Together we have a comfortable life. We have recently purchased a house in South West France, which we plan to renovate and we look forward to moving into a part time retirement phase.
My occupations
Kindergarten teacher
For my first employed work, I went back to school with my son and became a Kindergarten Teacher in a single unit kindergarten. This was an empowering time, as I had sole responsibility for managing a small school.
During this time I travelled interstate on educational fellowships to research new directions in early childhood education. I wrote various submissions and gained government funding to develop at that time innovative programs- parent-child playgroups, a toy library and an attached childcare facility.
Early childhood advisor
In this role, I had responsibility for early childhood teachers within the north of Tasmania. I visited schools and other early childhood facilities sharing ideas to promote early childhood principles. As the chair of the Kindergarten Teachers Association of Tasmania, I developed a professional development program for teachers and lobbied governments on matters concerning the wellbeing and interests of young children.
During this time I also wrote a series of documents based on child development, play and the value of parental involvement of children's education. I also began trials of Early Intervention Groups involving parents in understanding and supporting their own child's learning.
Special education teacher
From my role as Early Childhood Adviser, I was employed for two years in a Special Education facility working with intellectually challenged children aged from 6 to 18 years of age. This was a challenging time, but extremely rewarding. With a parent who was also a practising artist, we developed an art program based on giving intellectually challenged children the chance to achieve through the art and creative craft experiences.
Senior teacher and acting school principal
During this time, I climbed the education promotion ladder, from taking on the position of Senior Teacher to an Acting Principal role. This gave me the opportunity to develop innovative programs within schools including Student Enterprise Groups and a School Discipline policy based on students, parents and teachers working together to promote a safer school environment.
Partner in an accounting practice
A mid life change of direction occurred when my partner decided that he had had enough of corporate employment and decided to start an accounting practice from scratch.
After working on his own for two years, my partner decided that he needed an office assistant. Since I had been working in my after hours teaching time to support him and ever ready for new challenges, I applied for the position.
This began a whole phase of learning new skills and a new direction in my life. Together, over a 20-year period, we have built a strong and viable practice. My responsibilities include the overall management of the practice, combined with interviews and completion of tax returns for individual and small business clients.
During this time, I maintained by link with education in accepting a voluntary position as a community representative on the board of the Ethics Committee for the University of Tasmania at Launceston. In this role, I have input into the ethics and appropriateness of thesis applications.
Guide leader and national Board member
This too was a voluntary occupation and provided a link between my belief in the value of informal education to the benefit of girls and young women. I spent over 40 years as a Leader of youth members and as a member of the national board of Guides Australia.
As the Australian Program Adviser, I was responsible for developing programs for youth members aged 5 to 18 years. The challenge of this position was to develop a new direction for Guiding and to move the organization from the traditional adult directed model to a girl focussed approach based on girl empowerment in planning, organising and evaluating their own programs and activities.
As the key person involved in leading this change in perspective, I faced many challenges in overcoming a resistance to change from adult members of the organization. Through travel to all states of Australia, I conducted workshops to assist adult members to understand and appreciate the need for a different direction and to administer the development of associated materials. Resources developed include those to support self-esteem, personal safety, finance management skills, aboriginal reconciliation, respect for all cultures and environmental issues.
My position on the national board of Guides Australia also presented opportunities for increasing my understanding of international issues. I represented Australia at several international conferences and developed a deeper understanding of the global issues facing girl children and young women.
My proudest accomplishments
The opening ceremony of a new child care centre
After several years of writing submissions and working with architects and builders, it all finally came together with the opening of a new child care centre. The centre was developed with a focus on family and community involvement and represented a shift in direction from the centre based model. In later times, I would go on to establish a second child care centre, however, the first centre established gave me a particular sense of achievement.
The special education art exhibition
Through providing a wide variety of art experiences for intellectually disabled children, we identified a combination of advanced motor skill development combined with the naivety of the very young child. An exhibition was organised, where each artist's work was framed and presented to the public in a local art gallery. The sense of personal accomplishment and self-worth exhibited by the students involved makes this one of the most significant moments in my life.
Guides Australia: Girl Recognition System
The system of awarding badges for individual challenge had not changed substantially for almost 100 years and were based a reward system where adults decided girl achievement. The shift from the adult to the girl involved the development of a whole new range of creative designs based on girl input, together with resource materials based on girl decision making and personal achievement.
The Girl Recognition System was launched in July 2000 and has been enthusiastically accepted by both girls and leaders. A leader of a special unit commented that because of disability, the girls in her unit had never been able to achieve the required clauses of the old badge system, but through making their own challenges had achieved personal success.