6 February, 2020

A TAFE NSW graduate has urged school leavers to consider a career in the booming childcare industry, saying it was a “richly rewarding” career where jobs were plentiful.

Sara Sheekey was unsure of her career path after completing her HSC but after doing her research, she decided to accept a traineeship at SDN Lady McKell Children’s Education and Care Centre in Goulburn.

Her decision was well-founded: The TAFE NSW Jobs of the Future report predicted childcare worker would be among the highest job growth areas in the Goulburn region over the next two years.

Ms Sheekey has followed a career-boosting education pathway while being supported and mentored by SDN and this has enabled her to work her way up to a supervisory role.

She studied Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care at TAFE NSW Goulburn. This ignited her passion for working with children and teaching and after graduating she increased her qualifications completing a diploma, before enrolling in a degree.

“I wanted to be the best I could be, so I enrolled in a TAFE NSW Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care so that I had the skill-set I needed to get ahead in my career,” she said.

“I studied my diploma online through TAFE Digital. Studying online meant I could be in control of my study.

She said her TAFE NSW training gave her confidence in working with children and an understanding of how children learn, as well as how the sector works.

“Importantly, my TAFE NSW qualifications means my time at university studying a degree will be shortened by about eight units through credit for previous study.”

SDN Lady McKell Children’s Education and Care Centre Director, Anna Lamarra said she had noticed growth in the sector and a demand for services in recent years.

“As one of the region’s largest centres, we have grown from employing two trainees to four trainees per year,” she said.

“We have a good training and career path and 20 staff are trained through TAFE NSW. I started here as a trainee, and two of our Early Childhood Educators started as trainees and have progressed in their careers.”

To enquire now for semester one, 2020 visit www.tafensw.edu.au or phone 131 601 for more information.

Media contact: Daniel Johns, TAFE NSW Media and Communications - Business Partner, (02) 6938 1441, mobile 0477 722 428