jensmi

Hi all,
I am Jenny, a new member to the forum. Me and my family have just returned from Oz on Sunday having visited my husband's family there and friends.... also having now been totally convinced that emigrating to Oz is the way forward.

Having just recently graduated with an BA (Hons) Childhood and Youth Studies in the UK, I am considering my future carrer options and how my degree would translate within the Early Years sector in Australia. I currenlty work as and Early Years Practitioner here in the UK and I am hoping to find a similar job in Oz.
I have had to postpone studying towards gaining Early Years Qualified Teacher Status in the UK and I am wondering if I would even need this qualification in Australia at all. It doesn't seem to make a difference here with regards of pay or overall status whilst working in a nursery, and even though a lot of work is being done to improve this, it will take a long time to do so with the low pay conditions we have here in the UK for Early Years Practitioners.

Does anybody have any experience of translating their qualifications in Early Years from UK to Australia or anybody currently working in that sector and already in Australia able to shed some light on wether my qualification is sufficient to teach/work in a kindergarden in Australia.

I know every state might have different requirements so for the purpose of this we are most probably emigrating to Victoria or NSW as this is where my hubby is most likely to find work as we work in the financial sector.

I look forward to hearing any feedback from you friendly bunch!!

Jenny

Dorothy

Your first step is to see whether you qualify for a visa. Australian Government Department of Immigration and Border Protection

jensmi

I have already applied for a spouse visa as my husband is an Australian national, him and my son have Australian passports already. So a visa is not a concern for me as I am hoping that a spouse visa would be straight forward. I have a year to top up my degree if needed so my concern at the moment is to get ready so that I am employable once there.

Pollyana

Thats a good start So many people come on here and ask about jobs without any idea of the visa process! Can't help with the qualifications but I'm sure someone else can soon.....

scrubbedexpat020

Qualifications

use United Kingdom in search.

northernbird

I don't know much about teaching degrees but I think you have to have a 4 year degree in order to register as a teacher here in WA.

OzTennis

The spouse visa application is a lengthy and costly process which includes a lot of form filling, provision of documentation, medicals etc. Have you done all this already? If so that's a big step out of the way and presumably you are waiting for an answer which should be straightforward.

(I say this because my wife was in Australia for 10 years, the last 8 after we were married and then we moved to Scotland. I took out British citizenship in the UK after 3 years so I'm a dual national. She, in retrospect, regrets that she didn't take out dual citizenship as well when she was in Oz but that's water under the bridge. We went through the process of getting her an Australian spouse visa and she duly got a 5 year visa which enabled her to come and go from Australia at will and enabled her to settle there. We've subsequently decided against moving back and the visa has now lapsed but we went through the lengthy process).

We're also both teachers so she's had to go through the process of verifying Scottish qualifications and getting Victorian teaching registration and I have been through the same to get Australian qualifications recognised and Scottish teaching registration. In addition we are both qualified tennis coaches so have been through the process of getting UK qualifications recognised in Australia (her) and vice-versa (me).

Sorrry I can't offer any advice specifically on the Early Years qualifications but good luck with everything.