Starting A New Career In Childcare - Diploma or Degree?

[OlgaT]

Hi,

I would like a word of advice and tap into your knowledge please

I'm looking at going back to working after having three children (10, 8 and 4) and looking to start a completely new career for myself.
I do hold a Bachelor degree in unrelated field, I can't decide how to proceed.
Our children are more independent now with the youngest starting Pre-school (3 days a week) so I can find some time to study. In saying this I will need to be available if they're sick, and for school drop off/ pick up as my husband often away for three weeks at the time and we don't have much support.
So I look at studying instead of the traineeship.
I see that I can do a Diploma of Early Childhood (2 years self-paced) or Master of Learning and Teaching (Early Years - up to 8 y.o, 18 months to 2 years to complete). My goal is working with special needs (ASD) children. As my son is on the spectrum I know how challenging it was find a suitable care with knowledgeable educators. Essentially I want to become a manager/ director of such place but I also want to know the ropes.
What qualification/s would you recommend? I will try to compare the subjects to see if any of the Master program covers Diploma subjects. Your thoughts will be highly appreciated.

[Lorina]

It sounds like you’ve thought this through really carefully, and that’s a great start. If your long‑term goal is to move into a manager/director role while also having the skills to support children with additional needs, the pathway you choose should balance both practical experience and recognised qualifications.

A Diploma of Early Childhood is the standard entry point into centre leadership and gives you the hands‑on grounding in programming, compliance, and daily practice.

A Master of Learning and Teaching (Early Years) builds on that with deeper theory, research, and leadership skills, but it’s heavier academically and assumes you already understand the basics of early childhood practice.

Since you’ve got a bachelor in another field, you could go straight into the Master if it’s ACECQA‑approved, but you might find the Diploma gives you more of the “ropes” you mentioned the nuts‑and‑bolts of running a room and working directly with children. Some people even do the Diploma first, then the Master later, so they’ve got both the practical and the academic bases covered.

,
Lorina