Could traineeships be a part of your workforce strategy?
Roles in early childhood are hugely rewarding, and we need more qualified educators to fill the growing demand.
A traineeship program is one solution. Traineeships are a great way for new educators to enter the profession and be employed as they study.
At Gowrie Victoria, we value real-world learning experiences and believe people learn best by observing, reflecting and doing. The traineeship model has become a key part of our workforce strategy. Our trainees study towards their qualification with our Registered Training Organisation (RTO) and work alongside educators the rest of the week.
With support from the Victorian Department of Education & Training, Gowrie is expanding our program to enable more people to begin their career as trainees on the Early Childhood Traineeship Program and to support services to find trainees, manage the administration and integrate a traineeship model within their service.
The Early Childhood Traineeship Program includes wrap-around mentoring support for trainees to support them to complete the program and as they start their early childhood career.
What we do at Gowrie
Recruit the trainee and undertake their first interview
Match each trainee to a service and prepare them to come to your service for an interview
Support you through the process to integrate a traineeship model into your service, complete paperwork, access funding, plan how you will support and mentor the trainee
Complete the trainee sign-up process
The trainee will be a student with Gowrie’s RTO and be support through the process to complete their Certificate III qualification
Offer a Mentoring the Mentor program which will include an introductory session on Zoom followed by four community of practice sessions across the year
Be in contact regularly with the trainee and the mentor to monitor progress and if any issues arise. This includes visiting and observation
Process payments to cover agreed backfill costs
What’s expected of your service
Provide someone to be a mentor for the trainee. This person will be an experienced educator who will guide and share their own professional learning with the trainee
Ensure the mentor is able to have time off the floor weekly to support the trainee and attend Mentoring the Mentor program
All the usual processes as you would for any new member of staff – carry out a second interview, provide position description and employment agreement, onboarding & induction and regular support
The government offers financial incentives to employers, which means many early childhood services can access incentive payments and a wage subsidy. The Commonwealth government is currently offering a 50% wage subsidy to services who take on a trainee who starts before 31 March 2022
www.dese.gov.au/boosting-apprenticeship-commencements
The next intake starts on 3 March 2022.
If you think this program could benefit your service, call Jenny on 1300 446 974 fill out the form below or email jennyc@gowrievictoria.org.au
Jenny will talk you through the process, ensure you complete all the right information and let you know if we have a prospective trainee in your area.
Pipsqueaks, a Victorian early education provider, employed a trainee referred to them by Gowrie because they were struggling to find quality candidates.
“Jenny was fantastic throughout the entire process. She gave us plenty of information about the requirements of having trainees onboard. We had one trainee who was referred to us through Gowrie and three that we sourced ourselves. The great thing about the trainee referred to us was that she had already been interviewed and short listed. We knew that she was going to be a certain standard and we were able to save time by only interviewing quality candidates. Jenny also organised the trainees sign up with MEGT which again made the transition so much easier.”
“By taking on the trainees, we ensure that they are trained to a standard that meets our expectations, as well as ensuring they are a good culture fit for our service. With the current government wage subsidy, we have been able to employ trainees and meet our staffing needs while also staying financially viable.”
– Belinda, Director at Pipsqueaks.
Is your early childhood service in regional Victoria? Gowrie can run a class in your area and assist you with your traineeship program
Because we already recruit and support many trainees, Gowrie can help manage the recruitment process for you, and ensure you find the right candidates for your service. We can help you navigate the admin and paperwork and explain what needs to be done to ensure the success of the program. If your service is in regional Victoria, we will also find other nearby services to help make a new class viable.
To find out more about the program and government incentives for trainees contact Jenny on 1300 446 974 or email jennyc@gowrievictoria.org.au.
Gowrie is a registered training organisation (RTO ID: 3900).
