Ah, little kids – they’re great!
And if you agree, a career in early education and care could be your path! In this rewarding industry, no two days are ever the same, and you’ll be guaranteed lots of smiles and laughter alongside a challenging and rewarding career trajectory.
This Early Educators’ Day, why not explore everything the industry has to offer?
What is Early Educators’ Day?
Early Childhood Educators’ Day celebrates the work of Australia’s educators in early learning and care. It recognises the incredible contribution to the well-being, education and health of young children everywhere.
It’s safe to say, many parents would be lost without the accessibility, availability and commitment of early childhood educators, and the day is a chance to say a great big thanks!
This year Early Childhood Educators’ Day will take place on Wednesday, 7th September.
6 Rewarding Roles to Explore
There’s a lot more to early childhood care than just working in an early learning centre – the industry is supported by a range of health and care professionals, all working together to ensure that young children get the best possible start in life.
Let’s take a look at how you could join the sector:
Early Education
- Early Childhood Teacher: Early childhood teachers support the overall learning and development of young children, from young toddlers to pre-schoolers. They lead the curriculum that meets teaching requirements and involves a mix of fun, educational activities for all age groups and that learning meets designated learning and development frameworks. They also observe and keep track of child development, providing feedback to parents and further creating engaging ways to help children learn and explore.
- Early Childhood Educator: Formerly known as ‘assistants’ or ‘workers’, early childhood educators support teachers with developing and delivering positive, fun, engaging learning curriculums to support a range of early childhood development. Alongside ensuring environments are kept clean and safe, early childhood educators promote social interactions between children and oversee their personal care while in their centre.
Early Years Health
- Physiotherapist: Physiotherapists play a vital role in supporting the overall physical development of young children. They may help premature babies or develop support plans for young children experiencing movement problems or physical disabilities – whether permanent or temporary. Physiotherapists work as part of the overall healthcare teams that operate within early years care and may work within healthcare centres or conduct visits to early learning centres to offer support and guidance.
- Speech Pathologist: Another vital role in the early care sector are speech pathologists. As young children grow and learn to speak, some may experience difficulties with speaking or have physical impairments that impact their speech that they need extra support and coaching with. Speech pathologists may also help with hearing loss, delayed speech, mutism, stuttering, or children experiencing difficulties with chewing and swallowing.
Early Years Management
- Children’s Services Manager: Children’s services managers work in a few different settings, supporting the delivery of health, learning and care activities to different children groups. The settings they work in may include kindergarten and daycare, holiday care/camps and occasional care. They help to plan and manage the activities for the day, ensuring the facilities meet legal and regulatory requirements, as well as connecting delivered activities to learning and development frameworks where appropriate.
- Early Learning Centre Manager: Looking after all the staff and care professionals within an early years centre are the centre managers. These professionals support staff development, employment of new staff, ensuring the centre meets all legal and regulatory requirements and support overall business planning. Centre managers also take the lead on risk management and financial needs of the centre and can support local and national policy development around the early years sector.
Discover Our Employer Partners
Liking the sound of any of those? We’ve got your next steps sorted!
Dive into the sector further with some of our leading employer partners, where you can learn more about entry opportunities, career growth and training requirements!
Affinity Education Group have some exciting pathway opportunities where they’ll help you gain the necessary qualifications while you work through their scholarship and traineeship pathways.
Only About Children are another of our leading employers with a highly-rated traineeship pathway to working within their holistic childcare centres.
And that’s just to get you started – we’ve got more new partners joining us in the coming weeks! Keep your eyes out on our Employers page, and don’t forget our Industry Profiles are a great way to explore your chosen industries in more detail!
