My name is Cristina Farcaș and since the summer of 2014 I have been the Scout Girl of the Avenor Team. “Scouting and scouting around”, I found in Avenor an engaging environment for my goal: “The most worthwhile thing is to try to put happiness into the lives of others. Try and leave this world a little better than you found it!” – (Lord Robert Baden-Powell, founder of Scout Movement).

The practice of non-formal education, both with children and adults, is the one which gives me daily energy and creativity. I discovered this thanks to my scouting experience in 2004. Now, I have over twenty years’ experience working with children from 2 years old and with adults, leaders and other trainers. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Public Relations, graduating from The National School of Political and Administrative Sciences, and a National Certification as a Trainer of Trainers. My greatest assets from my background are related to autonomy, risk play and relationships. 

In Avenor, I am learning continuously and I nourish all of my talents and experiences in a value-based community which I am thankful for. Here, I have developed myself especially through the teaching activity in the classroom next to the children, but also by being involved in the continuous professional development process, through opportunities such as: Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Teaching Certification, Project Based Learning (PBL) workshop in UK, Differentiation workshop, Effective Class Management, Forest School approach training, Early Years Conferences, Certificate in Advanced English, Making Thinking Visible by Harvard University and many others.

Throughout the years, I also had the chance to create and develop innovative large scale projects within the institution like: Avenor Summer School, Mentorship Programme, Learning Outside the Classroom (LOTC) framework for nursery, Performance Management Tools, Distance Learning Framework, programme for mothers and toddlers up to 2 years old amongst many others. ‘Small steps for great journeys’ as I like to call them.

I am looking forward to finding the best learning ingredient of the new generation of children which seems like it brings a switch of perspective. Of course, I will continue to enjoy motivating an outstanding team of teachers and being part of the co-creation process at all levels of the Avenor community.