CHC50221 Diploma of School Age Education and Care – Flexible Study Course

There are 23 units in total – 15 compulsory units and 8 elective units must be completed for this qualification.

Compulsory Units

1. BSBLDR523 Lead and manage effective workplace relationships
2. CHCCCS007 Develop and implement service programs
3. CHCDIV002 Promote Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander cultural safety
4. CHCDIV003 Manage and promote diversity
5. CHCLEG003 Manage legal and ethical compliance
6. CHCPRP003 Reflect on and improve own professional practice
7. CHCPRT001 Identify and respond to children and young people at risk
8. CHCSAC006 Support children to participate in school age care
9. CHCSAC007 Develop and implement play and leisure experiences in school age care
10. CHCSAC008 Work collaboratively and respectfully with school age children
11. CHCSAC010 Foster holistic learning, development and wellbeing for school age children
12. HLTFSE007 Oversee the day-to-day implementation of food safety in the workplace
13. HLTWHS003 Maintain work health and safety
14. SISXDIS001 Facilitate inclusion for people with a disability
15. HLTAID012 Provide First Aid in an education and care setting *

Electives

The following units are suggested electives based on consultation with the Education and Care sector. Where a student wishes to complete a different elective this may be discussed with their ECTARC Training and Development Officer.

1. BSBHRM413 Support the learning and development of teams and individuals
2. CHCPOL002 Develop and implement policy
3. HLTFSE001 Follow basic food safety practices
4. CHCECE034 Use an approved learning framework to guide practice
5. CHCECE044 Facilitate compliance in an education and care service
6. CHCPOL003 Research and apply evidence to practice
7. SISXCAI007 Assist with activities not requiring equipment
8. BSBSTR501 Establish innovative work environments

Please note:

For a full list of electives, please visit training.gov.au/Training/Details/CHC50221

* First Aid Unit

The unit HLTAID012 Provide First Aid in an education and care setting must be completed with an external registered training provider at your own cost. A copy of the Statement of Attainment must be forwarded to ECTARC before the completion of the course. Credit transfer will be granted for this unit provided the first aid certificate is current on completion of the enrolled qualification.

First aid certificates expire every 3 years. Where the first aid certificate expires throughout the enrolment period, you will be required to renew this, at your own cost, prior to your qualification being issued. To find an external registered training provider, please visit yourcareer.gov.au/learn-and-train/training-providers

Units within this qualification require students to complete work placement hours in a regulated education and care service within Australia. These hours may be completed as part of the student’s paid employment or as an unpaid practicum. An ECTARC Training and Development Officer will visit the workplace to assess students on the job and/or via video conferencing throughout the qualification.

Work placement requirements – 280 hours

• 200 hours – 6-12 years – School age
• 40 hours – must include a child with additional needs (any age group)
• 40 hours – service management

Please note: Where you are employed in an education and care service that has the required ages/groups, these hours can be completed within your workplace. Where all required ages/groups are not available in your workplace these hours must be completed as a practicum at another regulated education and care service

Certain units have work placement hours that are required to be completed before the unit is deemed competent. ECTARC Training and Development Officers can provide further information on this.

Criminal History Check

Most states and territories throughout Australia have regulatory and/or legislative requirements to protect the interests of children, by setting standards that include the requirement that ‘fit and proper’ persons be engaged in prescribed children’s services. This requirement applies equally to voluntary/work experience educators.

If you are enrolled in an education and care qualification and are not currently employed in the sector, you may be required to complete your states relevant checks prior to attending practicum. Contact ECTARC for further details.

ECTARC students receive support from their personal ECTARC Training and Development Officer by phone, email, live webinar study sessions and assessment visits in the service. ECTARC students have access to the online ECTARC Training Portal where they can access learning materials and submit assessments. Practical assessments are conducted through observation in the workplace or via live video conferencing. Students will require access to a computer and the internet to undertake this course. Through the ECTARC Training Portal students can also:

– message their Training and Development Officer
– upload forms and documents
– view marked assessment tasks – students are notified as soon as an assignment is marked
– access resources – additional information and documentation to support learning.

The ECTARC Training Portal is available through secure market leading technology and students find it very easy to use. The ECTARC Training Portal increases communications with students and ensures valuable information is available when required and provides access to their student records 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If for some reason you do not have access to the internet, please contact our office to arrange an alternative study solution. Hard copies of learning materials can also be provided on request.

ECTARC guarantees that a Training and Development Officer is always available to speak to Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Tuesday evenings 5pm to 7pm.

Access to the Training Portal on completion

All students will have 14 days access to the ECTARC Training Portal after their course completion date to download content and any completed assessments for future reference. To download completed assessments, go to the relevant unit and click on the ASSIGNMENTS link to view your assessment tasks. Click on the assessment task you wish to copy and then right click on your mouse and choose the PRINT function. Change the destination from your printer to the PDF setting and click SAVE. If you have any questions regarding the saving of your online content, please call 02 4223 1111.

Assessment Submission Requirements

Fee for service students must submit at least one assessment task within a 6 month period or their enrolment will be made inactive. Where the student has not made attempt to contact ECTARC or submitted an assessment within 12 months the student will be withdrawn from the program.

Average completion time is 24 months. This is self paced, more time allocated to study will determine when the qualification can be achieved. For example, a student that studies full time may be able to complete the program in approximately 18 months. The full qualification must be completed within 3 years from date of enrolment and regular submission of assessment tasks is required.

Note: For fee for service/distance students, provided you complete all the program requirements within your enrolment period the time frame for submission is flexible to meet your personal circumstances. Please note however, students must submit at least one assessment task within a 6-month period, or their enrolment will be made inactive. If they remain inactive for 12 months they will be withdrawn from the program. To recommence studies, student will need to complete the full enrolment process, and this will include the payment of enrolment fees.

Please see the ECTARC Fee Schedule for current fees.

Fee on enrolment application is $455 ($225 enrolment fee + $230 first unit).

Purchase one unit at a time as you progress through the qualification when you study at your own pace. No large full course fees required on enrolment.

First Aid component to be completed externally through a registered training provider.

Courses can be commenced at any time of  year.

What you need to read…

Students are required to read the following documentation and ECTARC policies prior to commencing the online Enrolment Application Form (this will be sent to you by email from ECTARC) to ensure they understand their rights and responsibilities before enrolling:

• Flexible Study Student Information Handbook
• ECTARC Training and Course Guide
• ECTARC Fee Schedule

What you need to get ready…

To complete the online enrolment application form, students need to:

• provide a valid Unique Student Identifier (USI) number.
• photo identification – driver’s licence, passport or proof of age card – take a photo of the document so it is ready to upload.
• give permission on the USI website for ECTARC to view their USI records (if applying for credit transfer only). Note: Where study was completed prior to 2015 or has not yet been reported, the student must provide a copy of their transcript for ECTARC to verify with the training provider.

Foundation Skills

ECTARC Training Services is required to ensure that a chosen qualification is suitable for the potential student and to identify any individual support needs throughout the enrolment application process. One way we do this is by identifying the level of foundation skills of each potential student.

‘Foundation skills’ is the term that Australian Government agencies use to cover both Core Skills and Employability Skills.

The five Core Skills are:

• Reading
• Writing
• Numeracy
• oral communication, and
• learning;

The Employability Skills are:

• teamwork
• problem solving
• initiative and enterprise
• planning and organising
• self-management
• learning, and
• technology.

It is also important that students have the necessary digital skills to complete the tasks required when engaging in online learning.

After ECTARC receives the Enrolment Application Form, all applicants will receive an email that has 2 links which will provide access to two (2) short quizzes – the ECTARC LLN Quiz and ECTARC Course Ready Quiz. Once completed, ECTARC will contact the applicant to organise completion of the oral component, which consists of a short discussion to discuss things like the students goals and current work experience. They will also discuss the outcomes of the quizzes where required. Both quizzes and the oral component must be completed for the enrolment process to be finalised.

It’s a regulatory requirement that if you’re studying nationally recognised training in Australia from 1 January 2015, you will be required to have a Unique Student Identifier (USI). Your USI links to an online account that contains all your training records and results (transcript) that you have completed from 1 January 2015 onwards. When applying for a job or enrolling in further study, you will often need to provide your training records and results (transcript). One of the main benefits of the USI is the ability to provide students with easy access to their training records and results (transcript) throughout their life. You can access your USI account online from your computer, tablet or smart phone anytime.

How do you get a USI?

Visit www.usi.gov.au/students/get-a-usi

Follow the steps here to get a USI. It is easy and quick to do. When you enrol online you will be required to enter your USI number.

For detailed information on the USI please visit the Australian Government’s Department of Industry website at visit www.usi.gov.au

Identification

On enrolment you are required to upload a copy of photo identification (e.g driver’s licence, passport or proof of age card). Your ECTARC Training and Development Officer will need to sight the original document during your sign up which may occur in person or via webinar.

Previous Qualifications

The Australian Governments’ Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTO’s) 2015 requires RTO’s, such as ECTARC, to authenticate VET qualifications, Statement of Attainments and transcripts that are provided by students for the purposes of granting credit transfer or Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). To do this students must provide copies of qualifications, Statements of Attainments and/or transcripts to ECTARC and grant permission for ECTARC to view their records on the USI Portal at www.usi.gov.au

Where permission is not granted, ECTARC will contact the issuing RTO for verification.

Please note

ECTARC requires all documentation and relevant information before fully processing enrolments. Training will not commence until all documentation is received. We want to ensure that you get any credit transfer or RPL you are entitled to and that all regulatory requirements are met.

What is RPL?

RPL is an assessment process where candidates provide evidence of previous experience to demonstrate that they hold the required skills and knowledge of one or more units of competency. Previous experience may include (but is not limited to) paid or voluntary work, life experience, professional development or formal qualifications.

Can I apply for RPL?

RPL is suited to candidates who have demonstrated experience in an education and care service or equivalent. ECTARC recommends experience of a minimum of 5 years for those wishing to apply for RPL for a full qualification, in a variety of roles within an education and care service.  This however, is very dependent on the individual experiences, so we encourage anyone wanting to learn more about RPL to contact ECTARC to discuss this further.

What evidence is required?

The candidate must provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate their competence against an entire unit of competency. For each unit, the following tasks provide the candidate with the opportunity to ensure that sufficient evidence can be gathered:

• Competency Conversation – An ECTARC Training and Development Officer (TDO) will discuss with the candidate their previous experiences to determine the extent of their skills and knowledge for each unit of competency. In addition to this, throughout the assessment process, and where appropriate, Competency Conversations may also be used to confirm competence where sufficient evidence has not been provided.
• Practical Assessment – Every unit of competency includes practical skills that must be demonstrated within a regulated education and care service within Australia. The candidate will be observed in the workplace to ensure that they are performing these skills to the standards required. In some cases, simulations may be conducted and evidence may be submitted by video to support the practical assessment.
• Portfolio – The candidate provides a portfolio of evidence of previous experiences, such as testimonials, copies of former qualifications, statements of participation in professional development, photographs and examples of their own work. This evidence is assessed and mapped by an ECTARC TDO to the requirements of a unit.

Credit Transfer

Credit Transfer is different to RPL in that the student already has completed a unit of competency in a previous qualification. To be granted Credit Transfer, ECTARC requires evidence of successful completion of the unit; this can be provided through the USI Portal or a certified copy of a transcript or Statement of Attainment. Once this evidence is verified, Credit Transfer will be granted.

Example: Tania has been working in a primary school as an education support worker for  the past 6 years. Two years ago she completed the CHC40213 Certificate IV in Education Support, which included the unit CHCPRT001 Identify and respond to children and young people at risk. Over the past year, Tania has also been volunteering in the outside school hours care that is provided within the school and has decided she would like to complete the CHC50213 Diploma of School Age Education and Care. Tania enrols with ECTARC and has a competency conversation with an ECTARC TDO and an assessment plan is developed for her. Tania is granted a credit transfer for the unit CHCPRT001 Identify and respond to children and young people at risk and the TDO decides that she has sufficient experience to apply for RPL for a number of units relating to the development of children aged 5-12 years, developing relationships with children and supporting the behaviour of children. The remainder of units will be completed through the training and assessment pathway, where Tania will receive her learning materials and assessment tasks on the ECTARC Training Portal and will be supported by her ECTARC TDO to complete these.

Eligible?

If you think you may be eligible for RPL or credit transfer be sure to discuss this with ECTARC and/or provide relevant information and documentation when enrolling as it can save you time and/or money.

The CHC50221 Diploma of School Age Education and Care course is for educators who have the responsibility for the day-to-day management of a before and after school care and/or vacation care service, including planning, implementing and managing programs which address licensing, quality rating systems and duty of care requirements. At this level educators have responsibility for supervision of other staff and volunteers.

Employment prospects for people holding the CHC50221 Diploma of School Age Education and Care qualification include: Nominated Supervisor, Group Coordinator, Group Leader, Outside School Hours Care Coordinator, Outside School Hours Care Educator, Program Leader, Team Leader or Vacation Care Coordinator.

For more information on ECTARC’s policies such as complaints, refunds and privacy please click here.