By Five’s interactive walk-through exhibit will put Western Victorian Careers Expo visitors straight into an early childhood learning centre – just without the children.

Teacher Mary-Ellen Lamont said people would be able to experience the hands-on learning resources children use in their everyday at early learning centres.

“We will have a lots of experiences for potential teachers to see what early childhood is all about – from drawing to playdough, and more,” she said.

“We are showing how children learn through play and how important the first five years of a child’s life are in shaping them as a person – it’s not all learnt at school.”

Ms Lamont said there were different pathways into early childhood education, with the minimum qualification a Certificate III in early childhood.

“People coming into early childhood do not have to finish school, they can sit a literacy and numeracy test and go from there, or come in as a VET student.

“We have VET students each Wednesday, they are working through four units of Certificate III each year, and by the time they finish year 12, they are halfway through their certificate.

“They can then go into their Bachelor of Education if they want to.”

People working in early childhood often upskill around their own lifestyles, such as after taking parental leave and raising their own children.

Early childhood teacher Alice Crick said education was an accommodating workforce.

“It’s a very caring industry for both children and educators, accommodating men and women from all walks of life,” she said.

“It is a very important profession. It’s not spoken enough about how important the first five years of a child’s learning are, once that time has gone, it is gone.

“I’m also primary school trained, but I choose to work in a kinder because this timeframe, I think, is most important, before they hit five years of age,” Ms Crick said.

Educator positions exist across the Wimmera, with a need for more when the State Government’s pre-prep program of up to 30 hours of kinder is rolled out from next year.

By Five, Emerge and Department of Education will be represented at the expo, with information on a variety of roles within education and care.

The entire June 19, 2024 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!