Peter Sariana is a Senior Educator, Safety Champion and Male Mentor at Goodstart Brisbane Adelaide Street who brings utter joy to the job (with a little help from his inflatable chicken costume!)

BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE

OCTOBER 17, 2023

The early learning sector is known for its passionate people.  

Our educators, early childhood teachers, centre directors and other staff are truly invested in the education and care of our under-fives, and if you’re careful with your childcare choice, you’ll get the chance to meet, greet and bond with some pretty incredible people.  

One of these inspiring individuals is Peter Sariana, and even if you’re not lucky enough to encounter Peter in person at Goodstart Brisbane Adelaide Street, it’s a joy just to read about him!  

Peter hails from Indonesia originally, and spent a lot of his professional life working in hospitality caring for guests (and restaurants), but in his heart, Peter had more to give.  

While doing volunteer work, he became aware that childcare is a viable profession for a man, even though less than 2% of the workforce are male, and Peter realised that this was the profession for him!  

Back then, studying for a Diploma in Early Childhood was free, thanks to the government, and Peter realised that he had the interest and qualities to make a real difference in children’s lives. 

He was fortunate to grow up with five older siblings and two parents who cared for him in a devoted way, so he’s always understood how important it is for children to have fully present care-givers in their lives, whether they’re at home with Mum or in childcare 10 hours a day. 

As a parent himself, Peter remembers always making the effort to engage in pretend play with his young son – no matter how tired he was after all that hospitality work – and jumped at the chance of being paid to play as an early childhood educator. 

Peter studied his Diploma in 2018, beginning his first practical placement as part of this, and went from being a casual agency hire at Goodstart to being permanent part-time in his current role.  

And what a role it is!  

Peter is a Senior Educator, which is a unique and impactful role at Goodstart. 

He gets to develop and deliver quality educational programs for children and guide fellow educators to implement them, working closely with the centre leadership team and Educational Leader to make the centre and program the best (and safest) it can be. 

At Goodstart Brisbane Adelaide Street, Peter is Hub Leader and he says, “I don’t have to be in a set room. I float from room to room, support, educate, cover breaks, do programming, and help with compliance.” 

Along the way, he listens, looks for ways to minimise accidents and conflict, and focuses his amazing energy on the children! 

Peter loves to don his inflatable chicken costume at least once a day and have the children chase him around, and says, “Bringing joy to them gives me joy too.” 

He works on being truly present for the children in his care, and loves to make them smile and laugh as they learn.  

Really, the children’s healthy and happy development is Peter’s number one priority.  

He doesn’t want to rise through the ranks and take on high-level responsibility as a Centre Director, and his main focus isn’t money.  

Instead, he wants to make a valuable contribution to society, and genuinely loves what he does.  

Peter says, “By doing this kind of work, I have a meaningful life to make young people happy. If I'm going to be the joke that makes them laugh, well, that’s amazing and it’s beautiful.” 

Peter also understands that he can be an important person for those children without a male role model in their lives.  

He explains that, “Male educators can provide the experience of a father figure for the children in the room. It’s beautiful, I think, because male childcare workers are rare, but they can provide a lot of value in roles where they can float between rooms and give time to every child.” 

And although some families do have preconceived notions about what a male educator can – and cannot – do, or some prejudice towards them, Goodstart is really supportive of its male care-givers. 

They know the great contribution that quality male educators can make in the childcare setting, and Peter says, “Goodstart has given me more confidence about being a male educator. They support me well. We have an online meeting for male Goodstarters every three months, where we get together and talk about whatever problem we face.  

“Often, it can be families expressing stereotypical opinions. However, we just need to educate them. We are a Child Safe organisation with a lot of stringent child safety training that informs how we interact with children. And we are never alone with the children.” 

There’s certainly no doubt that Peter is an amazing educator!  

And although it took him a while to realise that childcare was his calling, looking back, he has always been passionate about making a great difference in children’s lives. 

Peter says, “When my son was about seven-years-old, a lot of his friends were from single parent families. One day we went to the park with his friend who said to me, ‘Can you be my dad for today’? I just thought, wow, this is not fair. It really broke my heart. This person is still a good friend to my son, who is now 18.” 

And all these years later, Peter feels so happy to be contributing to children’s lives in meaningful ways – in his blow-up chicken costume, of course! 

>>> If you’re looking for childcare, it’s really important to find people who will care for your child in a fun, professional and dedicated way – just like Peter does. 

KindiCare makes it easy to search for childcare centres, then tour the place and meet the people.  

And if you’re seeking a new early learning role, make sure you check out Goodstart’s job listings in KindiCare Jobs.