YOUR GUIDE TO THE Diploma of EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION & CARE
WELCOME Hello and congratulations on your decision to study the Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care with us. The choice to take that first step towards graduating with a major, nationally recognised qualification is extremely exciting, yet, can sometimes be a little daunting as well. You may have some questions about what is involved in the study process, the kind of study you will be doing and how you can make it to graduation with as little pain (and as much enjoyment!) as possible That s why we ve produced this guide just for you. To take you through, step by step, Randall Smith what the Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care is how it s delivered who delivers it why you will get to the end of the course what you need to do and the added extras that we give you to help you along the way! We also give it to you with a promise. If at the end of the guide you still have a question that wasn t answered, you just have to reach out and let us know. We re more than happy to help with any answer you re looking for. To your success! Randall Smith Co-Founder & Managing Director, Churchill Education
Every child has a different learning style and pace. Each child is unique, not only capable of learning but also capable of succeeding. ~ robert j. meehan
DIPLOMA OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE 1 qualification description This qualification reflects the role of early childhood educators who are responsible for designing and implementing curriculum in early childhood education and care services. Diploma qualified Educators must work to implement an approved learning framework within the requirements of the Education and Care Services National Regulations and the National Quality Standard. They may also have responsibility for supervision of volunteers or other staff. Under the Education and Care Services National Law (2011) the Australian Children s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) publishes lists of approved early childhood education and care qualifications and information regarding regulatory requirements here: www.acecqa.gov.au. Who should consider this course? The candidate is required to meet a minimum Learning, Literacy and Numeracy level. To demonstrate this, the candidate must show satisfactory completion of the equivalent of Australian Year 12 or Certificate IV or higher. If the applicant has not completed Year 12 or Certificate IV or higher, the applicant must successfully complete Churchill Education s language and numeracy test, be aged 18 or over and demonstrate through an enrolment interview, either in person or by phone that they have the skills and ability to succeed in their chosen course. This qualification is ideal for anyone that has been working in Children s services as an Assistant Educator who has gained their Certificate Three in Children s Services qualification and is now ready to extend their career opportunities into the role of Lead Educator or Nominated Supervisor. This course would also be ideal for a student looking to change careers, who has established skills within another field and the desire to consider a career working with young children and contributing to the Early Childhood Education and Care needs of our communities. Anyone wishing to participate in child related work (including students and volunteers) must have a current working with children check relevant to your state. The working with children applications forms can be found by placing working with children into Google. N.B: If the Early Childhood Service signs the working with children card, there is no cost for a volunteer. This course has a compulsory work placement component of 240 hours, to assist you to apply your learning in a practical environment. Volunteer work needs to be established by the end of the first unit of study, (see VET FEE-FELP Schedule).
2 DIPLOMA OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE SO, HOW IS THE COURSE DELIVERED? Contact with Churchill will take the form of phone, email and depending on distance, face to face contact. Access to email and the internet is required. This course can be delivered online or hard copy sent to you. To consider our online delivery you must have a reliable internet connection. Please talk to your trainer so we can discuss the best option for you. You ll have your own, personal mentor Every single student studying with us is allocated their very own personal mentor. Your mentor will be there to answer questions, guide you, help you learn and make sure your course is based on real world scenarios so that you get the most value out of your experience with us. Your mentor will be happy to chat about any aspects of the course you are particularly interested in as much as those things you may want extra help with. You will have access to your mentor at any time, either on the telephone, via email, or even Skype whichever suits you best! You re also more than welcome to come and have a coffee with them if you re passing Basically, you can receive as much or as little contact as you need to get over the line. Our course materials are designed to specifically suit your way of learning Your course will be delivered to you in a comprehensive, select package of study materials, media and personalised support. The main base of your learning will be through a personal login to our interactive online learning system. You will be able to access this at any time throughout the course. You will also receive lots of additional support, tailored to your situation, your preferred way of learning and how you re looking to use your qualification. In addition to round the clock access to your personal mentor, this support includes: Textbooks sent directly to you Additional electronic documents handpicked by your mentor just for you Hard copy material handpicked and sent by your mentor to you Videos Podcasts.
DIPLOMA OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE 3 What kind of exams and assessments are there? There are no old-school exams with a clock. The course is based on your competency in the subject. This means that your mentor works with you until you achieve the level of competency required for each unit of study. Assessments are based on different scenarios and can include written or oral questioning, projects, actual work experience or third party reports ( e.g. from your manager). Your mentor will work with you to personally design your assessments based on your needs, experience and preferred way of learning. AM I REALLY GOING TO COMPLETE THIS COURSE? Yes, you are. You may have heard from colleagues and friends who have started online courses and have never finished them. Unfortunately that s very common. Often you re left alone to figure out a course with next to no support. This is why the average amount of people completing online courses is only around 35%. This is where we re different. And why 95-98% of people studying with us celebrate their graduation. Why? Because we will be with you all the way, no matter what, supporting you and helping you move forwards towards graduation in any way we can. We have a saying that we use here all the time. We love it because it sums up exactly how the journey to graduation should be. We will ride out together in the beginning and we will ride in together at the end. What happens between that is just stuff. The stuff in between is everything we are dedicated to supporting you through. We see you graduating, you see yourself graduating. The rest of it we ll get through together. And if you re looking for a little bit of solid evidence, have a look at our 95-98% student completion rate, compared to the average for the industry of 35%. We truly are committed to your success.
4 DIPLOMA OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE SO, WHAT DO I NEED IN ORDER TO STUDY WITH YOU? Yourself. Your computer. Some internet access and an enthusiasm to learn. That s it! We will talk you though any eligibility requirements and any proof of identity (e.g. copies of basic identification documents if you are applying for VET FEE-HELP) before you enrol, so all of the paperwork is well wrapped up well before you think about starting the course. Once that quick process is completed, your personal mentor will contact you for a chat about how you want to learn around your lifestyle, your preferred ways of studying, what you are looking to gain with the qualification and to answer every single question you may have about the course. When you are happy and your mentor, after a good chat, has established the very best learning solution for you, the course will begin. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I SHOULD KNOW? The Churchill Education Community Once you begin working on your qualification, you will automatically be welcomed in to the Churchill Education community. As a member of the community you will be invited to attend events including a formal graduation ceremony; receive resources by both email and post that will be of real use to you in your role, gain automatic eligibility for our Referral Scheme, receiving financial rewards for referring others and much, much more. The opportunity to achieve units of study through Recognition of Prior Learning If you are studying a qualification in an area where you have some experience, you may be able to achieve certain units through Recognition of Prior Learning. What recognised prior learning means is that you are assessed based on the knowledge and skills you already possess. You can have acquired these skills and knowledge from a range of experiences: from volunteer positions, from paid employment, from previous training. If you think that you have previous experience in any part of the course, let your personal mentor know. We will then conduct a full assessment for you, based on evidence you can give us of your experience. If we think that you can use RPL, we conduct all of the academic mapping and paperwork for you, whilst you concentrate on another unit of study. Recognition of Prior Learning is a completely valid way of achieving a unit of study and may well save you re-learning parts of the course you re already putting into practice!
DIPLOMA OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE 5 GET QUALIFIED NOW WITH NO UP-FRONT COSTS USING VET FEE-HELP If you re looking to graduate with your qualification sooner rather than later but aren t ready to fund the full amount upfront, VET FEE-HELP can be a great option. VET FEE-HELP Key things to know about VET FEE-HELP: It is a government student loan for qualifications of Diploma level and above VET FEE-HELP is a Commonwealth income contingency loan that assists eligible full-fee paying students to pay their tuition fees. VET FEE-HELP can be used to pay for all or part of an eligible student s tuition fees when studying or using Recognition of Prior Learning for an approved VET course of study at the level of: Diploma Advanced Diploma Graduate Diploma Graduate Certificate Eligibility is very straightforward If you are an Australian citizen or permanent humanitarian visa holder, have a tax file number and have not already borrowed your entire limit of educational loans (which is around $100,000, so is unlikely!) then you are eligible. You don t need to worry about a complicated application process We will guide you through all of the necessary VET FEE-HELP paperwork. All you have to do is make the decision and fill in an application form. There is no application fee and no interest charged Instead of an application fee and interest, the government charge a loan fee of 20% of the total of the cost of the course. The accumulated debt is also indexed according to the Consumer Price Index on 1 June each year. If you are interested in further information on VET FEE-HELP, you can find it at: www.churchilleducation.edu.au/government-funding/vet-fee-help
6 DIPLOMA OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE mary CAVANOUGH S EXPERIENCE How Mary was able to learn new skills AND dramatically improve her workplace performance In the course of 11 months, Mary Cavanough completed two Diplomas with Churchill Education. When Mary began her study with us, she had already had some not-so-great experiences with training providers. I had one trainer who was like a textbook, old school, they are just teaching out of books. There was no interaction, and it was like a teacher or a classroom in high school and you do that because you have got to be there. When Mary met Melody McNulty, her Trainer and Mentor from Churchill Education, she quickly realised that this was going to be a very different style of education. It was the training style. It was the attention, the listening, the giving the advice, the mentoring that was what I took in for me. It was like old friends having a conversation but I was actually learning and gaining knowledge. Mary embraced the opportunity to apply her learning to her role and her workplace. I like to think all those things that I learnt made me see things a different way. Mary found herself really looking into what was happening in her workplace, comparing what she was learning and seeing it applied by colleagues. Everything that I was learning I saw in people at work, hopefully I saw some of that learning in myself, and if not, I changed to those new styles I had learnt about, so that having that extra information was good. I have taken a lot out of the learning and I have retained it all. After graduation, Mary wrote to us to share her thoughts on her whole training experience with Churchill Education. Her fan mail brought a smile to all of our faces! Fantastic!!! From start to finish the quality of service from all staff was excellent, but what stands out the most and is responsible for this fantastic experience would be my trainer Melody McNulty.
A SNAPSHOT OF CHURCHILL EDUCATION G day, We are Churchill Education and since 2006, we are immensely proud to have been helping people chase their ambitions with a little extra power boosting them to work success and achieving their career goals. We exist to help people achieve nationally recognised qualifications with the aid of tailored, highimpact learning through highly experienced mentors. Based in picturesque Samford, Queensland, our students are spread all over Australia, New Zealand (and some other parts of the world!) Our main focus, for each and every one of our students, is that they have the opportunity to study what they want in the way that benefits them the most. We work extremely hard to ensure that each student has a personal experience with support that continues long after graduation. Meet some of the team Tricia Velthuizen Co-Founder Randall Smith Co-Founder David Kirkby CEO Gordon Meikle Mentor Ruth Kirkby Mentor Lisa Godden Skills Development Officer
2 Cliff Salisbury Court Samford Village QLD 4520 Ph: 1300 793 002 (07) 3289 5660 Registered Training Organisation (National Provider No. 31430)
YOUR GUIDE TO THE DIPLOMA OFDiploma Early childhood of education & care CHC50113 EARLY CHILDHOOD So you may be wondering, what are the nuts and bolts of this training package? EDUCATION & CARE The Package Let s go through the package and course units. Total number of units = 28 23 core units 5 elective units Core units (credits applied if student has completed Certificate three Qualification CHC30113) 1. 2. CHCCS400C Work within a relevant legal and ethical framework CHCECE009 Use an approved learning framework to guide practice 3. 4. CHCECE002 Ensure the health and safety of children HLTWHS003 Maintain work health and safety 5. 6. 7. CHCECE007 Develop positive and respectful relationships with children CHCECE003 Provide care for children CHCECE017 Foster the holistic development and wellbeing of the child in early childhood 8. 9. CHCECE004 Promote and provide healthy food and drinks CHCECE005 Provide care for babies and toddlers 10. CHCPRT001 Identify and respond to children and young people at risk 11. HLTAID004 Provide an emergency first aid response in an education and care setting 12. CHCECE001 Develop cultural competence 13. HLTHIR404D Work effectively with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people
Core units (Possible RPL) 1. CHCECE016 Establish and maintain a safe and healthy environment for children 2. CHCECE018 Nurture creativity in children 3. CHCECE026 Work in partnership with families to provide appropriate education and care for children 4. CHCECE020 Establish and implement plans for developing cooperative behaviour Core units (to study) CHCECE021 Implement strategies for the inclusion of all children CHCECE022 Promote children s agency CHCECE023 Analyse information to inform learning CHCECE024 Design and implement the curriculum to foster children s learning and development CHCECE025 Embed sustainable practices in service operations CHCECE019 Facilitate compliance in an education and care services All electives chosen must support the overall integrity of the AQF level of this qualification and contribute to a valid, industry-supported vocational outcome. Elective units 1. BSBINN502A Build and sustain an innovative work environment 2. BSBSUS501A Develop workplace policy and procedures for sustainability 3. CHCORG627B Provide mentoring support to colleagues 4. CHCPOL403C Undertake research activities 5. CHCORG428A Reflect on and improve own professional practice