Aussie Childcare Network Forum

I was just reading through some of the past comments regarding the best options for study or other people’s experiences. I wanted to comment on mine:
I am currently doing my Diploma as a traineeship through an independent childcare centre. The bonus of doing this is I have the support of the people at my centre, I'm allocated study time and my trainer assesses me on a regular work day (no placement required).

One of the ways my traineeship various from other of the larger chain centres is that I have paid for my course and am technically employed through a traineeship organisation and my centre is the host employee.

This bonus of this means I am not locked into staying at my centre on completion of my diploma - although they did ask for a verbal commitment that I wouldn't get my training then leave. This is what worried me about completing this at a larger chain centre that pays for the course, you can be locked into working there for a year or more AFTER you complete your study or if you leave you have to reimburse them for your study, which I’m certain you probably have no way of knowing if you’re being ripped off or not.

Of course the downside is I get trainee wages and had to pay quite a large amount for my course in one lump sum when I first began (less then $900 though), then I pay each year I am still completing my study. This year it cost less than $50. I guess the first payment included the costly 18 books. So if I keep on top of my study and am finished by the end of the year I won’t have to fork out any more money and next year I’ll be on regular diploma wages (though still not the best hey!).

Some other points to include about being technically employed by a trainee ship centre is that if my current place of employment for any reason decides to let me go is that the trainee ship centre has to find me a new place of employment until I complete my study.

This brings me to the study itself, I’ve never been big on study. I really enjoyed my certificate three as I did this in the classroom over several months, I really enjoyed the interaction and constant support from the teacher, and the 15 or so people in the class.

I find contact with my trainer rather slow, she can take a week or two to get back to an email. Of course this may not be the case for everyone, as each trainer is going to be different. I personally put it down to the fact that she has 80+ students she has to reply to, visit at their place of work and correct assessments. Completing my diploma in a classroom wasn’t really a viable option for me at the time I made the decision, as it would have required a massive lifestyle adjustment that I wasn’t up for.

Being half way through my studies I’ve reflected on what I would change (if I had one of those time-turner devices from Harry Potter). I do think doing my diploma as a traineeship might not have been the best option for me.

Doing it as a traineeship has meant the majority of my assessments require me to study particular children , their skills and abilities, and set up experiences, which working in a busy centre I find it really hard to get this done. My allocated study time generally doesn’t suit for these type of things. I much prefer the questions that I can research in the books and the internet as most of my study is done at home.

What I’m saying is I would have like to have chosen to do it by correspondence, separate from my employment (still working in childcare though - hands on experience is so important). So that the majority of the course work is completed from finding answers in the workbooks or doing research on the internet. And using the experiences I have in the workplace to support this and give me ideas. I do realise this would have meant completing unpaid placement along the way but I still would go with this option if I could step back 8 months in time!

Thanks for reading, I found it very sad to read that others have had extremely negative experiences with their studies and I hope my story will show the pros and cons of doing study as a traineeship. A lot comes down to personal preference and finding something to motivate you to keep going.

Thank you for sharing your experiences, no doubt it may come in very handy for someone unsure of which way to proceed.
Like you said the biggest thing is that it is personal and anyone undertaking ANY study needs to figure out what will work for them as what works for one person may not work for them.

Thanks for the responses. Wow must have been fantastic to get your diploma done so quickly L.A., mine will take me about 18 months! Just to correct I do actually get study time included in my diploma traineeship, because I am employed part time I get an hour and a half a week, when I said it doesn't suit for doing obs and setting up experiences etc perhaps I should have elaborated. I said this because there are only certain children I am allowed to focus on in my studies (signed permission from the families) and the children aren't always attending during my varying study time. I still utalize my study time and do what I can, it just means I spend time during a regular session doing these things, I am lucky that my centre is quite supportive and understands as they have quite a few people studying