Questions reg starting Diploma plus others

[neetlee44]

Hi I'm new to the forum.. I am a stay at home mum, I have 3 kids and I hope to do my Diploma of children's services in the near future. I live in the country in W.A and I am not able to go tafe, (not one available), so I will be doing my diploma online. I did my cert III in 1999 as a traineeship and moved to country afterwards. The couple of questions I would love to ask: Does anyone have any advise on where to do my Diploma? ATM I am looking at a place called ACCCO (Australian Child Care Career Options). Has anyone heard of this place and if so what are they like. I would love to hear of some other places to go to online. Second question: Does anyone know if I will have to do extra work on my cert III since I did it so long ago? Waiting to hear from my old tafe reg this question, thought I'd ask here while waiting. Thanks Neetlee

[Lorina]

Hi Neetlee,

Welcome to Aussie Childcare Network!

Great to hear you want to get into the childcare industry... I did my Diploma online through Thomson Education (now known as Cengage Education). I had no problems with them and the tutors were helpful and provided support when I needed it. I also found that the information booklets they provided for each module was extremely informative and helped me get through my assignments. Overall I had no problems doing my diploma online. The only thing that I found difficult was getting motivated and completing my Diploma by myself. It was really hard at the beginning to work full time then come home and study but in the end you always seems to get it done..

Cheers ,
L.A

[neetlee44]

Hi L.A,
Thankyou for your reply.. I just looked into Cengage Education and they are alot cheaper than ACCCO. Which $3000 sounds alot now when I see I can get it cheaper. I am still doing my research and I have found that a tafe close by (3/4 hour) does external so I am waiting on how much.
Thanks again
Neetlee

[fchaudari76]

Cant you do TAFE through distance learning? Surely you can .... sorry having a spazzo moment but I am sure you can .... TAFE isnt just face to face delivery
http://www.oten.edu.au/oten/oten.htm
for starters is TAFE flexbile learning
TAFE will be a heck of a lot cheaper ... my Diploma was Govt funded so only $40/unit! but thats QLD so not sure if its the same in WA
Call a TAFE in WA and find out, they would know and can guide u

[catchmeifucan]

if you can do it online through TAFE, then I think that could be the cheapest option. Have you found out if your local TAFE does online course? How much do they cost? Also the course may be government funded. So I reckon you should find out how what is offered in WA. If it is government funded, you can save heaps on the fees!

Also here are some useful links in this forum on other discussions regarding doing a Diploma in children services that you may find useful:

1) Is Diploma in Children's Services funded by Government
2) Diploma and Advanced Diploma
3) Assignment Types

[neetlee44]

Thanks fefe76 and catchmeifucan for your replys..Thanks for the links catchmeifucan. Iam having a bit of trouble getting hold of anyone at the tafes as I'm leaving my number and not getting any replys. Not sure wheather its because Tafe's don't like doing online etc? But no-one seems to want to call back. Anyway I finally got hold of CYO'connor Tafe on Friday and the lady said she would send me a e-mail, straight away, about the course but I didn't receive it. So hopefully on Monday. It looks like I have to do some bridging, I think its called, to finish off my cert III because it has changed twice since I did it in 99. It will be good to get started on that. Anyway sorry for rambling on but i just can't wait to start something.

[fchaudari76]

sometimes u need to hound TAFEs a bit!
good luck with it all

[neetlee44]

Hi Ladies,
I just wanted to follow up from last time and let you know that it looks as if I will have to repeat my Cert III because it has changed so much since 1999. Also the Diploma is funded by the governmet which means it is free apart from the units that were $17 each. What a difference from the $3000 dollars. Defiantly worth doing a bit of homework and checking around. Anyway it means I might have to get stuck into things if I want it to be funded because its only until 2012 - 2013.
Talk soon. But probably in Cert III section.