Karen McKay being presented with her OAM by Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of NSW
by Barry de Silva
From nurturing curiosity to preparing children for school, Karen McKay spent 43 years laying the foundations for Camden Haven’s youngest learners. Her lifetime of service has now been recognised with the Order of Australia Medal. A recognition she humbly accepts not just for herself, but for her colleagues across the sector.
“I am a little uncomfortable about the award,” Karen admits. “There are many practitioners in the field who are equally as deserving. I accept it on their behalf as well as my own.”
Karen spent an extraordinary four decades as Director of St Joseph’s Early Childhood Services, from 1980 to 2023. Over that time, she helped shape the centre into a place of quality education for generations of local families.
“There are many practitioners in the field who are equally as deserving. I accept it on their behalf as well as my own.”
“I’m proud that we retained our ability to serve the community in line with its needs,” Karen reflects. “The centre started as a sessional preschool and morphed over time into a multi-functional service that provided several different types of education and care required by families within the Camden Haven.”
While Karen admits it’s hard to recall exactly what first inspired her to pursue early childhood education, the impact of her mother, a primary school teacher, and a desire to work with younger children clearly influenced her path.
Karen believes that what set St Joseph’s apart was its relationship with the local community. “My greatest pride was engaging with generations of families who chose to send their children to our centre.”
That community spirit extended to her day-to-day work, where her tireless advocacy for early learning often meant stepping in and helping with teaching, management, and coordinating with government departments and local authorities.
“Whatever needed doing, whatever gap needed to be filled, I did it,” she says, with one exception. “Except for vomit – I’m not very good with vomit!”
“Whatever needed doing, whatever gap needed to be filled, I did it.”
For Karen, quality early learning starts with believing that all children deserve the best start in life, and that families are central to the learning process. “Education is not just about rote learning cognitive facts,” she says. “It is the role of services to work with families to provide the best possible outcomes for each child. My role was to ensure that we had great staff, the financial resources, and the passion to deliver those individual outcomes.”
Although she spent 18 months preparing for retirement, Karen admits she misses the daily connections, but knows the service is on a new and different path now, as is she. That new chapter sees Karen volunteering in the dementia wing at her father’s aged care facility, where she cares for the garden each day.
“This gives us time to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air and time together,” she says. “Dad was heavily involved with the gardens at St Joseph’s for many years, so I guess this is my time to give back to him and the other residents who enjoy helping out…or mostly watch me work while they have morning tea!”
Whether in a childhood service or garden, Karen’s nurturing presence continues to shape lives in quiet and meaningful ways.
