Child care practical placement: what to expect?

It’s one thing to read about working in early childhood education but getting in there and gaining hands-on experience is a vital part of your childcare course training.

That’s why your childcare course is likely to have a practical placement component as a course requirement. It’s this real-world work experience that really enables our learners to graduate as confident and career-ready educators.

You can choose to arrange your own placement, or our work placement coordinator Kylie Jackson is more than happy to use her extensive network to help you find a child care centre that is convenient for you to complete your practical placement hours at. We work hard to match students to a centre that will be best suited to them.

It’s not only the on the job experience that learners gain from practical placement but many also gain employment in the Centre where they conduct their work placement.

For some students, placement in an early childhood setting is exciting, but others can find it a little nerve-wracking. It can help to know what to expect.

On the job experience

For students enrolling in early childhood education and care courses, practical placement is a part of the course that involves you heading into a real child care centre and working with the team of educators at the service. You will understand the inner workings of a child care centre and what the various roles within centres are all about

Heading into your practical placement will be much like heading in to a job. You will have set hours and the team at the centre will help guide you through what you can do which is likely to be the tasks that your career in the early childhood field will involve.

This is where you will gain vital skills in a genuine early childhood education and care environment surrounded by qualified educators who can support you all the way. Speaking of support, your dedicated trainer will be there for you every step of the way as well. Don’t let practical placement overwhelm you — just chat to your trainer or our work placement coordinator and you can work through it together.

The power of practical placement

Practical placement is your key to gaining valuable experience in the workplace before you’ve even completed your training. It helps you to put the theory you learn into context.

Plus many learners are offered employment opportunities while on placement!

With practical placement, you’ll graduate job-ready.