Tips for Trainees
How to embrace everything a Traineeship has to offer, and move forward quickly in your early learning career.
BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE
There’s lots to take in when you first start working in childcare, but as a Trainee you can also put yourself out there and be really dynamic!
With a can-do attitude and the backing of a great team, it’s possible to whiz through your studies, accelerate your career, and make a great impact at your early learning service.
Someone who’s managed to do all of this is Jorja Pinney.
Jorja is an Educator at Goodstart Glenfield Park in New South Wales, and although she was lucky to land a Traineeship at a very highly rated service, Goodstart Glenfield Park was just as lucky to land Jorja!
This is because Jorja is someone who genuinely loves spending time with children, and is motivated to get the most out of every career opportunity.
She signed up for Goodstart’s Traineeship program in February 2022, excited by the fee-free training and ‘earn while you learn’ upside, and since then, Jorja hasn’t looked back.
In one short year, she’s finished her Certificate III in Early Childhood Education, moved on to her Diploma, established herself as a key team member, and even won a national Rising Star Goodies Award.
What Jorja’s achieved is really amazing, but there’s no magic to it.
With effort and commitment, anyone can be a dynamic Trainee, and if you’re considering a Traineeship at a centre, and a career in the sector, then Jorja’s advice is to just do it!
She says, “At Goodstart, your Cert III is paid for when you’re a Trainee, so you don’t have to worry about a study debt, and there’s so much support available to help you balance work, study and life.
“If you work hard, stay organised and ask for help when you need it, you’ll get your qualification done in no time, and can launch into the next stage of your learning and career.”
Once you do throw yourself into a Traineeship, Jorja believes there are three factors that can elevate you from an everyday Trainee to an exceptional one.
The first is a real desire to work with others to expand your knowledge.
In Jorja’s case, this meant taking advantage of fast-tracked modules to get her Cert III finished sooner, as suggested by her workplace supervisor and ECTARC trainer.
Jorja is also always looking for ways to build her knowledge through networking, professional development, case-based research and further study; and you can do this too.
When you’re a Trainee there are lots of opportunities to learn from different people, both on-site and off, and you’ll find that if you put your hand up for plenty of these opportunities, great things will happen!
The second factor that can make you a successful Trainee is a high level of communication with educators, leaders and families.
From her first days as a Trainee, Jorja understood that she had a say in centre life – even though she was new and not-so-experienced – and you’ll do well to channel her confidence as a communicator.
This means not being afraid to voice your opinion, ask for advice, provide explanations and listen to others; and Jorja was an exceptional Trainee because she took the time to communicate with everyone she encountered, in meaningful ways.
The third factor that will make you a dynamic Trainee is an ongoing commitment to best practice knowledge.
When you’re motivated to build on best practice knowledge that suits your team environment, and go about this in an organised and can-do way, you’ll do well as a Trainee.
Jorja says, “For me, this has meant keeping up-to-date and familiarising myself with workplace practices, policies and procedures. I ask questions and voice concerns to better my understanding in order to help improve my practices.”
At the end of the day, what you get out of your Traineeship will be commensurate with what you put in.
If you’re genuinely excited about launching an early learning career, and are keen to bring energy, ideas, collaboration and commitment to the Traineeship, then your future is sure to be bright!
Jorja went through ECTARC for her Traineeship at Goodstart and says, “They were great – helpful and always there when I was needing extra assistance.”
To learn more and launch your early learning career, search for ‘Goodstart Traineeship’ or call Goodstart on 1800 222 543; and we hope that a year (or two) from now, you’ll have some great achievements to your name, with plenty more to come.
