ABCs of Early Childhood Teaching Down Under: Your Ultimate Guide to Aussie Terminology!

If you’re an international educator thinking about starting your Early Childhood teaching journey in Australia, knowing and understanding the various terminologies can be overwhelming.

Read on for a full rundown on all the important terms you might come across while on your teaching adventure in Australia!

Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) – The governing body for Early childhood in Australia. All persons who work with children 0-5 must have a qualification recognized by ACECQA or apply for a qualification assessment.

Early Childhood Teacher – To teach in Australia, you must have completed a bachelors, masters or graduate diploma in early childhood education which has been completed either in Australia or which has been recognised by ACECQA. Teachers must also have registered with their tertiary teaching association, these vary by state:

Australian Capital Territory – TQI
New South Wales – NESA
Victoria – VIT
Queensland – QCT
South Australia- TRB
Tasmania – TRB
Western Australia – TRB

Early Childhood teachers would typically be teaching in 3 year old or 4 year old kinder programs which operate in both a long day care and sessional kindergartens.

Lead Educator/Room Educator – Lead Educators are responsible for the classrooms in long day care settings and oversee the children, curriculum, and other educators in their room. Lead Educators generally hold a diploma or bachelor’s qualification. They will plan the curriculum for the room and assign tasks to other staff members and oversee the children’s learning plans, growth, and wellbeing.

Assistant Educator – Diploma or certificate III qualified educators. Educators will work with the Lead Educator or Early childhood Teacher to implement the services programs and routines. Diploma and certificate III educators are qualified to work with all rooms within an early childhood service and can work in both long day settings and sessional kindergartens.

OSHC educator – Working with primary school aged children in before and after school care or holiday programs during the school holidays. Qualifications which entitle each educator to work in OSHC vary from state to state and can be found on the ACECQA website.

Long Day Care Services – Services which cater for children 0-5 years old. Children are usually grouped in classrooms according to age which will be led by the Lead educator or Early childhood teacher. The Lead Educators will create education and care programs which cater to the individual needs of each child.

Working with anzuk in long day care settings will typically require shifts 7-8.5 hours inclusive of lunch and tea breaks. These shifts may start anywhere between 7am and finish up to 6.30pm.

Sessional Kindergartens – Kindergartens will either be stand alone or part of a school setting, running programs for children aged 3-5 years old. Children will either attend a 4 hour session in the morning or afternoon and can also attend for a full day of learning with some kinders offering after-school or extended care programmes. Generally, kindergartens will operate in the school term time and be closed during school holidays.

Shifts with sessional kindergartens are typically 3-7 hours long but will occasionally require staff for 8 hours.

Early Childhood ratios

Birth to 24 months – 1 (educator): 4 (children)

Over 24 months and less than 36 months