Children develop significantly before the age of five – so the people they are supported by in these early years have a vital part to play.
Early childhood educator Josephine helps young children flourish in her role working in an early childhood education centre.
“My favourite part about working in the industry is the children,” she says.
“I just love being with the children and seeing them thrive. It's just fantastic to see them grow and achieve lots of goals.”
The 54-year-old had previously worked in education, mostly with adult learners, but was seeking a new challenge.
She came across the opportunity to undertake an early childhood education traineeship and, through the program, gained work with Jindi Woraback, a centre in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
Josephine completed her traineeship with flying colours – and has even been nominated as a trainee of the year.
Educational leader at Jindi Woraback, Sarah, says she’s taken really well to the job.
“Josephine is probably one of my most excelling trainees,” she says.
“She's just got this motivation to work and to learn and has the ability to take on opportunities and take chances and risks in her learning and also with the children's learning.”
The traineeship program that Josephine completed is now open for you to register your interest.
Let’s take a closer look at whether it could work for you.
What is an early childhood education traineeship?
To get to where she is, Josephine took on a traineeship through the Victorian Early Childhood Traineeship Program.
She says one of the key benefits of the program is that it allowed her to earn a wage while she trained.
“I wanted to undertake the traineeship because I could study and work as well,” she says.
“I worked full time here at Jindi Woraback, and then every second Friday, I spent the whole day at TAFE on campus, attending classes there, and every second Wednesday night, two hours doing the training online.”
She says it was a good balance of work mixed with online and in-person study.
Being able to put what she was learning into practice straight away was also really helpful.
Sarah at Jindi Woraback this really helps to speed up learning.
“I think it gives the trainees the experience of what it is to work with children and with other educators,” she says.
“It allows them to see on-floor what children's development milestones are like and also what it means to work in teams.”
The qualification you will gain through the program – whether that’s the Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care and/or Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care – is currently being offered free through the Victorian Government’s FREE TAFE initiative – so you won’t pay anything for your studies.
What support do you receive in a traineeship?
Josephine says she found the traineeship program really supportive – and received plenty of guidance from her teachers and mentors at TAFE and leaders at her centre, such as Sarah.
“The training was good to get all the support needed,” she says. “It was really good if I had any issues; I’d talk to my trainer about it, and she was really helpful for us – was there for you any time.”
Sarah says her role in the program is to support trainees as they build their skills within the centre.
“I would support Jo by meeting with her at the end of the week to see how her week’s gone in the room,” she says.
“And also give her a resources folder of areas of learning, for things like child development and play spaces and how to incorporate that in her learning, as well as her time in the workforce.”
Ready to take on your Diploma?
If you’ve already completed your Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care, you can easily progress to your Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care within the traineeship program.
See Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care for more information about traineeship.
How to register your interest
If you want to help young children grow and thrive like Josephine, an early childhood education traineeship could be the perfect career move.
There is huge demand for educators across Victoria at the moment and employment opportunities in the sector are only expected to grow, so it’s a great time to get involved.
Register your interest in the program and fill out your details. Our friendly coordinators at Chisholm will get back to you soon.
