Kathy McCabe

Job Title: Lecturer in Early Years 

Department: Health & Social Care and Access 

Previous Roles/Industry Experience: Primary School Teacher 

Benefit(s) of learning from an industry expert:  Having worked in the Early Years industry for 20 years, I can share a wealth of knowledge within education. Students enjoy my stories from different settings and areas I have worked in, which helps consolidate their learning within areas they have little or no experience. Another benefit of being taught by an expert is, we will enhance your employability skills as we will prepare you for placement and employment during class and embedding additional courses to support your professional development, e.g., Food Hygiene and First Aid. 

Tell us why students should study your course/subject area at Northern Regional College: Early Years is one of the sector's most rewarding and growing industries. Childcare is a great stepping stone to work in a range of settings or in a chosen profession. Our courses allow students to work or attend placement alongside their programme. The childcare programmes enable all our students to be workforce ready upon completion.  

As an advocate for FE colleges, I left school after GCSEs and came to Northern Regional College to study Childcare. I completed my Level 2 & Level 3 Childcare at the College and progressed onto Level 5 HND in Childhood studies. Successful completion allowed me to apply to primary teaching, where I went to Liverpool Hope University to complete a BA (QTS) in Advance Study of Early Years. I taught in primary for eight years and have done a complete 360 u-turn back to teaching in FE. There is no set path to achieve your end goal; you need dedication, determination and commitment.  

“Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds Peace.” 

Most rewarding part of your job: The most rewarding aspect of my job is seeing dedicated students flourish and grow within our courses and secure employment or progress to level 5 or university.  

Most memorable moment at Northern Regional College: A shining point for me was when I nominated Ryan McAuley for the Diana Award, which he won and went on to achieve the British Education Award for NI.