Need advice for diploma prac

[juanitajade]

Hi everyone

I am studying my Bachelor of Education and just finished my first year. Ive also been working towards my Diploma so that I can get part time or casual work whilst studying.

I'm a week into my diploma prac at a government funded long day care centre which supports the indigenous community. This centre does wonderful work and the children, despite experiencing difficult circumstances, are just delightful.

My concerns are :

1) that a lot of my diploma tasks I am to complete in the workplace. I'm not really getting opportunities for planning ect because, as my mentor said, the children just aren't capable of adapting to structure and they "get by as best they can".

2) having never worked in childcare before, the expectations of a diploma qualified worker are a bit daunting to me! Such as conducting fire drills. I'm wondering if I could still obtain employment as an assistant in a centre if I've done 3/4 of the diploma work and I'm working toward my Bachelor? I also have anaphylaxis and asthma certificates.

Sorry if this is long, unfortunately my uni doesn't offer much help with the diploma side of things.

Thanks!

[juanitajade]

Would love some advice on this topic, thanks

[Lorina]

Sorry for my late reply, little one is sick...

The whole reason for doing work placement is to get some hands on experience as well as complete tasks that can only be completed while working in a centre. I think that's a little biased for your mentor to make such a comment. Whether the children are from an indigenous community, refugees, from overseas or local this shouldn't stop you in completing what you need to do. You may have to change your approach of your experiences to accommodate the interests and the needs of the children but you still are required to complete the tasks set out.

Can you give some examples of what you need to do during placement?

Being a Diploma room leader is a big task and you have quite a lot of responsibilities. From organising and managing the documentation, dealing with the children, communicating with families, being a team leader, doing fire drill and other centre tasks...the list goes on and on...LOL! If you would like to get a feel for working in a centre then maybe working as an assistant is a good option so you get an idea of what to do. You will also be providing support and assistance to the room leader however won't be given that much responsibility. You can take your time to learn the ropes. At some centres once you are given the job of a room leader you are basically "thrown in the deep end" and off you go! So, it's probably best to get some "training" as an assistant before hand.

Gosh you must be studying like crazy! Finishing a Diploma and Degree at the same time! Good on you!

,
Lorina

[juanitajade]

Thanks so much Lorina, I totally agree with you. Being an assistant first allows me to actually build my confidence!

Am I still employable as an assistant WHILE studying my diploma and bachelor? I'm thinking of taking a semester off uni and working as much as possible to save some money. At the moment my timetable will only allow me to work one full day a week and maybe an afternoon for 4/5 hours. I don't imagine this being attractive to an employer either...

[Lorina]

You can get a job while "actively working towards" your qualification. As long as you following these requirements:

A person who meets requirements 1 to 4 below may be counted as a certificate III qualified educator. They must also give the approved provider documentary evidence from their course provider that they meet requirements 2 to 4.

A person who meets all five requirements below may be counted as a diploma qualified educator. They must give the approved provider documentary evidence from their course provider that they meet requirements 2 to 5.

The requirements for actively working towards an approved qualification are:
being enrolled in a course for the qualification
having commenced the course
making satisfactory progress towards completion
meeting the requirements to maintain enrolment
holding an approved certificate III qualification OR having completed the approved certificate III units OR having completed 30% of the units in an approved ECT qualification.

Ref: http://www.acecqa.gov.au/actively-worki ... lification

Hope this helps,

,
Lorina