Starting a placement in a reputed childcare centre.

[spd]

Hi all,

I'm currently studying towards Certificate III in early childhood and care . Last week i did a certificate in First aid aswelI. This week i got my paperwork for practical placement assigned in one of the reputed childcare center,. Good thing is, the placement is being arranged by the placement officer from my institute.
Since i received all the paperwork, now i'm supposed to call the center director regarding the orientation/induction. But frankly saying i'm confused on what to ask my center director and how to approach. I'm so nervous. coz this is something very new to me and yeah! i'm excited as well.
Can somebody pls suggest me how do i approach my center director for induction/orientation. What all i need to ask them before staring the placement.
I would really appreciate if anyone helps me out in this dilemma.

[Lorina]

Well, that's all very exciting!

You can just say " Hi, my name is... and my institute arranged for me to do work placement at your centre. I am just ringing to confirm when I can come in to do my orientation before I start my placement..." something like that then go from there...

,
Lorina

[spd]

Thank you lorina, that was very helpful.
So i spoke to the director over the phone and she asked me to come over to the center for the paperwork. So today i had been to the center for the paperwork with lots of excitement and hope.
But i really dint have a pleasant experience. Let me explain you what exactly happened during this time. I went to the center and met the director, i told her i've come for the paperwork, and she just asked me where to sign on the paper, i gave her the papers. she took it signed it, entered it in her register and said see you on feb 12th. Even i asked her "what time should i start my placement on 12th feb", so she replied "any time as per your convenience". actually I expected a Induction/orientation, but nothing as such happened. The director dint even give me time to introduce about myself. Does every center treats a student the same way? i dont know, i'm just trying to understand.
Anyways it was just 3 minutes of work and thats it.. Feeling really lost and tensed/worried of the first day of placement which starts from 12th feb..lots of questions running in my mind, like(whats the dress code? whats my shift timings? what about the breaks? what about the orientation? and so on on on on....) Anyways i'm excited to be a part of their center for couple of weeks..
Can somebody pls help me out what can i expect on the first day..

[Lorina]

Take it with a grain of salt... don’t take it personally... the Director probably is waiting for your first day to give you an orientation or expects the room leader to do it... Did you see what the other staff were wearing? If not, just wear a tshirt, black pants and enclosed shoes and take a brim hat (not a cap). Don’t let this one experience let you down... see what happens on the first few days and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!!

Let me know how it goes!

,
Lorina

[spd]

Thank you for the kind words lorina. I was very uplifting. I'm hoping for the great start.

[Lorina]

No problem! I just want you to have a good experience at work placement so you can see how wonderful this industry is! The most amazing of course are the children! You will fall in love with them! Nothing else matters, just focus on the children... they will make you smile even when you feel like crying!

,
Lorina