Aussie Childcare Network Forum

Hi,I will be 16 in January and will have completed year 10.Is it possible to leave school and get a traineeship (certIII) or do I have to wait till I am older?I have always wanted to work with kids and I cant wait,thankyou for your help

Hi Kaitlin, I appreciate the fact that you want to start working at such a young age.Well you could start it now or get a proper training and education in child care field and then make a career in it. I think that would be the right way to go.

Luckily for you the new regs which started in January say that people under 18 can now work in a childcare centre as long as they are working under at least a diploma trained educator ...so whereas before you had to be 18 now you don't.

thankyou for your answers,i really appreciate it

i started in childcare when i first left school and have done my training through the centres I have worked for. I just finished my Diploma (not a traineeship) which was paid for by my work and was a course for people with experience within the industry. I did a 7 month course ,one night a fortnight with lots of RPL's.A girl at work is straight from TAFE and did 2 nights a week for 2 years part time for the same qualification. I am now a room leader and enjoying putting to use all my new knowledge and thinking of doing my EC as well. So sometimes you can work and train at the same time and there are benifits doing it the way I have done. Goodluck with your career, it may not pay very well but I love going to work and find it a wonderful career choice.