Carmen's story
I have been in Australia now for twelve years, and I have worked as a Family Day Carer for the past six years. I have been learning English since I first arrived. I have no trouble now talking to people and understanding them, but I know I still make mistakes, and I'm nervous about writing.
Family Day Care has lots of group events, and I made friends with Linda, another carer. Linda already had her Certificate III in Children's Services and she said I should go for mine. I know it's really important to get qualifications, but I said, 'No - my English isn't good enough to study.'
Linda told me that I didn't need to start off by studying. First, I could talk to someone who would help me find a way to show what I already know about child care. That's what Linda did for her certificate. An assessor worked out with Linda what she already knew. Then they worked out what Linda still had to learn, and how she could learn it. This was her training plan. After she had finished her extra training, she was assessed again, and now she has her certificate.
I thought it sounded hard, so I asked Linda to show me what she had to do.
Linda brought over the assessment form she used when she was assessed for the competency CHCFC301A: Support the development of children.
'I can't do this, I don't even know what a competency is!' I said.
'It just means "something you can do",' Linda said. 'Each competency has 'elements', which are the parts it's made up of. I worked out with the assessor how I could show I can do each one of these.'
We talked about what the elements meant, and how I already did do most of them. I 'support children's physical development' because I play ball games with them, and take them to playgrounds, and keep an eye on them while they jump on the mini-tramp. I 'support the creative development of children' because I make sure they have different painting and singing activities. This is what the assessor would write under 'evidence' on the assessment form. I started to feel like maybe I could do this certificate.
Linda told me she could stay with me when I met with the assessor to be my support person, so I decided to go ahead.
Getting started
We went to our Family Day Care coordinator and made an appointment with an assessor. The assessor wasn't scary at all. She was friendly and was trying to help me. And with Linda there as my support person, I felt more comfortable.
Most of the time, the assessor knew exactly what I meant, and I knew what she meant. But sometimes Linda explained the assessor's question again because she could see I didn't understand and that I was too embarrassed to ask her to repeat it!
At the first meeting, we decided the best way for me to show what I could do was by demonstration. This meant I planned a morning activity session with the children at home and the assessor came along to watch what I did. Before I started planning, the three of us went through some of the things I had to show. That way I made sure I didn't accidentally forget something important.
Showing my skills
The demonstration could provide evidence for most competencies but not all of them. I also had to collect a few things. I asked two of the mums if they could write references for me, to say how I talked to them about what they wanted for their children and how I always told them about what had happened during the day. That was for the competency: CHCRF301D: Work effectively with families to care for the child. Also, one of them could write about how I looked after her child when he fell off a slide - I knew the first aid to do. I notified his parent who collected him and took him to the doctor. That was for the competency about HLTFA301B: Apply first aid.
In my demonstration, I just did the kind of things I usually do. I had painting, play dough, drums, shakers, balls and trikes. The assessor and Linda watched me. I forgot they were there after a while - there's always so much happening with five kids running around. Of course, unplanned things happened, but the assessor had told me that 'responding spontaneously' was part of some competencies, and, as long as I managed the situation, that would help show what I could do. So, when Brent hit Tara with a shaker, I was able to show how I could 'manage conflict' and 'provide comfort'!
After the session, the assessor showed me how what I had done and collected related to the competencies. I had shown most of them! But there was one main area that I hadn't shown. Some of the competencies are about encouraging children to be as independent as possible. For example, in CHCFC301A: Support the development of children, part of supporting physical development is to 'use daily routines to acquire and practise skills'. The assessor said that I did too much for the children that they could do for themselves.
We talked about how I could get better at training the children to be independent. We also talked to my team leader about what I was trying to learn, and she came up with some ideas. This was my Training Plan. I worked on the gaps, and then the assessor came back for another demonstration day.
This time, I made sure the kids did everything for themselves!
Now, I have my Certificate III in Children's Services. I am not only a Family Day Care worker, I am a qualified Family Day Care worker, and English was not a problem at all!
Lessons learned:
- When you have experience you can get a qualification by showing what you can do, you don't have to go to 'training'.
- Good English skills are not essential for being assessed.
- A support person can be a big help when being assessed.