Free TAFE Childhood Education course paves way to employment

Emma Littlejohn is proof that you can balance it all. At the end of 2022, she wanted a career-change so that she could find a way to balance studying and supporting her young family.

The Free TAFE offering made the decision to study Early Childhood Education and Care an easy one.

“I hadn't given TAFE much thought before but after the free TAFE program was announced, I knew this was the way forward for me,” Emma said.

“Not having the financial burden of studying took pressure off my family and knowing that the qualification would pretty much provide guaranteed employment at the end was great.”

Emma now intends on continuing her study, utilising Federation’s Early Education free TAFE pathway into the Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care.

“After I completed my Certificate III this year, I was eager to enrol in further study but believed I would need to work for a few years and save the tuition. The extension of the program has meant that I have been able to enrol in further study immediately and continue upskilling for my career,” she said.

Emma is now working with the Federation Childcare Centre. Her teachers encouraged her to seek employment and used their industry connections and relationships to provide her with stellar recommendations and referrals.

“I was incredibly excited to secure employment while completing my Certificate. Securing employment gave me a boost in confidence and further solidified the idea that I had made the right choice in my career,” she said.

Emma loves working in Early Years Education, finding each day rewarding to witness the children achieving milestones.

“I love having the opportunity to build relationships with the children in my care and create a supportive environment where they are safe to take risks and explore their environment and their abilities. There are so many facets of childhood development that translate to so many opportunities for learning which means that, for me, every day is challenging and engaging in a different way,” she said.

Federation Children’s Centre Coordinator, Sally Matthews, says that around 70 per cent of educators across the University’s three centres have graduated at or are studying at Federation. These students are studying across the Certificate III, Diploma, Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood Education), Master’s, and Training and Assessment courses, all of which are available to study at Federation.

“Having students at our centres enables them to get hands on experiences in a real life settling, working alongside educators, who like them, have studied at Federation University. They can put in practice their theory and work to achieve high quality outcomes for children and families,” Sally said.

To learn more about Early Childhood Education and Care courses visit https://study.federation.edu.au/search/?term=childhood+education and to read about free TAFE courses visit https://federation.edu.au/institutes-and-schools/federation-tafe/free-tafe-for-priority-courses