leejoanne

Can anyone who is working in care or childcare tell me how they went about getting their blue card?

I know it involves a first aid certificate and police check similar to being registered in England but what I would like to know is what police check was used?

Do you have to provide the CRB check like you do here, or will they accept a police clearance certificate? Will they accept one that you've brought with you from England or do you have to send off for it once you are in Australia?

Any info appreciated.

karenjc

Hi
Its really simple You just download a form from a website I will give to you fill it in take it to a justice of the peace which reside in most shopping centres once a week for a few hrs with the relevant documents eg: passport medicare card driving lic. get it signed by them post it off with fee $40 & they send you a blue card. I bought all my checks from the UK but no one ever asked for them. You can start work with the reciept you get on payment.
www.bluecard.qld.gov.au
The commission for children & young people & child Guardian are the people you will be dealing with.
Pm me for any further info.
Kaz xxxxx

M J

Can i ask if you need any qualifications to work in childcare in particular? I am thinking of training when i get to Oz rather than here purely because im earning money currently in an unrelated field and cant afford to just stop work and re-train.I was hoping to run some sort of kids group.Do you have any ideas?

karenjc

Hi
Be aware that any sort of course/training out here is very expensive. I am NNEB qualified & luckly that equates to a group leader or teacher aide out here but there are 2 different qualifications here for those posts. You will have to train as a group leader/director if you want to run a kindy group. Another area to look into is Out Of Hours School care, I think you need the same sort of Quals though. Perhaps someone on here will know a bit more than this.
Kaz xx

leigh&ivan

Kaz, Does it make a difference what year you gained your NNEB? I've heard only post 1993 counts? I qualified in 1992

Leigh

M J

Thanks Kaz, i've been trying to find out for a while and youve been the most helpful so far.Just want to know what i'd be looking at when i get there.
You know ..preparation and fore-thought!!
Thanks again M J

karenjc

Hi Leigh
I qualified in 1989 and mine counts. There is a web site you can look at to see if they compare but that is in Queensland and I think it varies from State to state.
Kaz x

karenjc

By the way I'm from Wolves too. Where are you from? I'm originally from Wednesfield but have lived in Penn, Tettenhall & Perton.
Kaz x

leejoanne

Thanks Kaz for the info, looks like it will be simpler than i thought!

karenjc

Also forgot to say all jobs involving children over here need you to have a first aid cert. I did mine over here with Red Cross over a weekend for $109 but you can claim some of that back when you do your tax return at the end of the tax year(June/July) so save your receipt. St Johns also do it but were more expensive but if you already have a cert with one of those I'm sure it will carry over here - just make sure you bring it with you as they like to see cert with your application.
Kaz x

leigh&ivan

I'm from Penn, I work in Wednesfield! Small world.
What job do you do in Oz?
The website you mentioned, do you know what it is or have a link? The plan is I'll be a SAHM until DD starts school but it doesn't hurt to find out what my options might be.
Leigh

Caroline G

I looked into childminding at home, that is family day care getting referrals from the local council, however the money was awful for the responsibility and the adjustments to the home and purchase of toys and materials would have made a big dent in any future income.

I'm currently doing a long distance learning course with TED (Thomson Education Direct). It's the Cert III in Children's Services. I have a 3.5yr old so I thought home study would suit me. This may suit you if you need to work whilst studying.

They mail me my learning books and I work, without pay, a few hours a week at a childcare centre so that my practical work can be assessed and signed off by a qualified worker there. I visited a police station to collect a police check form for Australia. It cost approx $23.

For Victoria I will need to have completed advanced First Aid, which I'll arrange and complete with St. John's Ambulance or the Red Cross.

If I qualify I can work in a childcare centre, vacation care centre, family day care centre, after school hours carer or nanny. I think it also looks good if you just want to babysit.

After the Cert III I plan to do the diploma which will allow me to be a qualified worker or program leader. Also, I believe the Cert III study is covered in the diploma so I can put this towards the diploma in order to achieve it in a shorter time and for less money.

If all goes well there I would love to complete a Batchelor in Early Childhood Studies and maybe become a kindergarden teacher but that's a way off yet!

The TED site is www.thomson.edu.au. It is more expensive than enrolling in a college course but I like the flexibility. Also, you are not studying along side others but there is a student forum on the website.

Most courses you have to enrol in order to start in Feb some places do half year intakes too. There are many community learning projects which offer courses too at good rates. One of the Mums at my son's kinder teaches the cert III and has offered to help me if I need it.

It's an option. Good luck...

BTW MJ I'm from Herts too, Rickmansworth.

M J

Caroline...you are a star!! Thats brilliant,just what i was looking for! The idea is that i would do some sort of study at home if poss while little one is too young for kindy and maybe do an ironing job or something equally naff just for some extra money.Then i guess if i want to run a music group of some sort i would need to be a group leader?
Any ideas what sort of time frame this will take you?
You given me some great info,thanks again!!

Rickmansworth hey? Im Watford,cant say i will miss the place though,how long have you been gone?

Caroline G

Glad the info has helped. I don't think you would need to be a group leader to run a music group or a playgroup as a parent would be present. We go to a weekly music group and I've seen adverts to buy a franchaise of theirs in a magazine called, 'Melbournes Child'. Obviously this would mean following their format for doing things and using their music books etc. I'm not sure how musically qualified you have to be. The lady who runs our group sings well and strums a guitar.

I would imagine if you wanted to offer an independant music group it would mean hiring a room and getting insurance. You could probably organise a playgroup by using a church or community hall.

My course info says that the Cert III takes 200 hours of study to complete. Therefore, you could complete it in 6months if you did 8hrs a week or 9months with 5.5hrs a week.

We've arrived in Oz in Feb and enjoying it very much. We were actually very happy in Herts and didn't sell up. I think Watford has become too built up now and the town centre too full of drinking places. In my day it was Paradise Lost and the Artichoke only. We fancied having a change and seeing if the grass was infact greener elsewhere. Just seeing how it goes for the time being and in no rush to decide where to settle just yet, we're just enjoying the experience of it all for now.