Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care CHC50121

This course is ideal for people who love engaging and interacting with children. The Diploma will support you to be a highly skilled early childhood educator, who will be well-positioned to step up into senior educator roles and management positions.

During your studies you will learn how to:

• Develop and implement workplace policies and procedures for sustainability
• Undertake a structured process to reflect on and improve your professional practice
• Manage the effectiveness of your work team
• Contribute to, facilitate, and monitor learning and development for teams and individuals
• Use strategies to foster and promote diversity in your work practice
• Design, implement, and evaluate plans to enhance environmental responsibility
• Facilitate self-assessment and develop quality improvement plans
• Examine policies and procedures and document how risks are assessed
• Design, implement, and evaluate plans to support children's learning and development   
• Understand and foster holistic early childhood learning, development and wellbeing 
• Identify barriers affecting children’s participation, develop, implement and review individual plans for support and inclusion 
• Develop guidelines that support positive and respectful interactions and behaviour in children 
• Establish and maintain relationships with families. 
• Analyse information about children to inform your practice 
• Nurture children’ creativity 
• Maintain health and safety including risk management

• Multiple choice Quiz
• Projects
• Role plays
• Livestreams
• Work Placement
• Written assessments

The duration for the course is self paced - maximum of 24 months. As a self-paced online course, the time it will take you to complete is flexible and dependent on ability and time available.

Mandatory Entry Requirements:

Students must hold one of the following qualifications:

• CHC30121 Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care OR
• CHC30113 Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care
• Students must be able to provide a transcript showing that the qualification has been completed in full before their enrolment can be finalised.

Recommended Local Entry Requirements

Students will need to be at least 18 years old. Students under 18 will need a parent or guardian to complete the parent or guardian declaration on the Enrolment Form.

Students residing in WA/NT under the age of 18, who are not currently studying for their year 12 certificate cannot be enrolled.

Students enrolling will need to provide a copy of their Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care which demonstrates that they have the requisite Language, Literacy and Numeracy levels to complete the Diploma.

Tools, equipment, and skills required:

• Access to up to 3 people to participate in role plays and assessments
• Access to a device with audio & video capabilities to record simulated role-play tasks for submission
• Tripod to provide a stable and secure platform to mount the digital recording device
• Access to a modern computer with high-speed internet
• Access to Microsoft Office and Acrobat Reader
• Access to a printer / scanner
• Basic computing skill
  

While it is not required the following reading is recommended as part of the course:

• Programming and Planning in Early Childhood Settings by Leonie Arthur, Bronwyn Beecher, Elizabeth Death, Susan Dockett, Sue Farmer
• The Early Childhood Educator for Diploma by Lorraine Walker

Additional Requirements:

• Students will need to be physically fit as the role of an educator involves a variety of tasks that require a reasonable amount of physical activity, such as personal care of children, lifting, and cleaning. Some lifting of children and equipment is required. Students should be fit to undertake this manual lifting.
  
  

• By undertaking a work placement you’ll get a chance to put the knowledge you’ve learned on your course into practice.
• You’ll also develop practical, on-the-job skills and could make contacts that could help you find a job once you graduate.
• Work placement is often the most rewarding part of a student’s course. Working face-to-face with clients and colleagues in your chosen field makes a huge difference to your career confidence.

Focus on your studies while we handle your work placement. Through our partnership with SkilTrak, our Guaranteed Work Placement ensures you gain hands-on experience in your dream career—right in your local area. Learn more

• Meet with SkilTrak – Their team will discuss your skills, goals, location, and travel preferences to arrange the best placement for you.
• We’ll do the work – While you continue your coursework, we’ll be behind the scenes securing the perfect placement match.
• Get the details – Have a quick chat with us to go over what to expect from your work placement experience.
• Start your placement – Gain real-world experience while we check in along the way to ensure everything is running smoothly.
• Complete your course – Once your placement is done, upload your workbooks, finish your final assessment, and receive your certificate.

The Structured Workplace Learning (SWL) will require a minimum of 320 hours in an organisation regulated by Children's Education and Care Service in Australia, operating under the legislative requirements of the National Quality Framework.

There will also be specific assessment tasks including a logbook and portfolios to be completed at the workplace.

You will not be able to achieve competencies for modules 5 – 15 unless you have completed your work placement hours.

Unit requirement for unit CHCECE048 Plan and implement children’s education and care curriculum, with 280 hours mandatory hours, has been interpreted to represent children from six weeks of age, up to and including 5 years of age.

Workplaces suitable to undertake SWL include:

• Long day care services catering for children 6 weeks to 5 years of age
• Preschools

For students to be able to undertake the practical component of the course, approved workplaces must be able to provide students with the required equipment, environments, policies & procedures, documentation, appropriate supervisor, and clients. If host organisations are unable to provide the necessary equipment, resources, and access to clients the student may be required to undertake SWL within 2 (or more) organisations.

The workplace may require the student to meet workplace-specific requirements. These will vary by state and by organisation. Some of the statutory checks and requirements the student may need to provide to commence work placement are:

• Police Check
• Working with Children Check
• Screening and vaccination against infectious diseases, including COVID-19
• Occupational Assessment
• Signing of Codes of Conduct and Confidentiality Agreements
• First Aid Certificate
  
  

Please note that your host organisation may require you to provide an up to date immunisation history prior to the commencement of your work placement. Open Colleges has no control over this requirement so if you are unable to provide this, you will need to discuss it with your intended Host Organisation.

It should also be noted that some immunisations, such as Hepatitis B and COVID-19, need multiple injections to be administered over a specific time period before you are deemed immune. It is important that you consult with your GP as soon as possible to avoid delays in starting your work placement.

Students must be supervised by a qualified staff member when on placement. A Workplace Supervisor must be a qualified educator either possessing a Diploma in the field of Early Childhood Education approved by ACECQA with 3 years’ experience, or a Bachelor of Education in Early Childhood. Exceptions can be made in certain services, such as remote services, where the supervisor will need to be a Nominated Supervisor approved by ACECQA. These requirements are included in the Workplace Approval Form.