As part of the Bachelor of Education (Birth to Five Years), professional experience is a core component designed to support your development as an early childhood educator. This hands-on placement is essential for deepening your understanding of the teaching role within early childhood settings and for cultivating your professional pedagogy.
During your placement, you’ll have the opportunity to:
The program is structured to build your professional knowledge, skills, and attributes through close collaboration with your service mentor and university lecturer.
The following indicates compulsory Work Integrated Learning (WIL) components:
The recommended course progression is to perform one placement per session across the degree in the following order.
NOTE: If currently employed in an Early Childhood service, the placement for subjects EMH302 and EEB427 can be performed within that service or a service where placement has previously been performed.
Whilst completing placements for EPT308 and EPT326, you should be aware that:
Eligibility to proceed with professional experience placement is dependent upon students meeting their course requirements. These requirements are:
Note: Links to each state are provided in the Resources tab.
To prepare for your placement, you must log into the InPlace placement management system to upload all the mandatory documents (evidence that all required checks and training are completed).
Before you start your placement, you should complete the following:
Note: As a pre-service teacher, you are required to wear identification whilst on your Professional Experience Placement and carry your University student ID card. You can either purchase a Charles Sturt name badge from the online store and carry your ID card or wear your University student ID card in a clear plastic lanyard or clear plastic name badge sleeve during placements.
From day one, aim to become part of the early childhood service team. This means:
Your teaching load will increase gradually. Check your subject site for the Progression of Teaching document to see what’s expected each week. Your supervising teacher will also have access to this guide.
Keep records
Maintain an organised and up-to-date folder of:
Note: Make sure it’s accessible to your supervising teacher and University Liaison Officer (ULO) if requested.
At the halfway point, meet with your supervising teacher to:
Final report
Work with your supervising teacher to complete and sign the Professional Experience Report. The service director also needs to sign it.
Workplace Learning at Charles Sturt uses The InPlace (Workplace Learning Placement system). You also have access to your placement information and WPL resources via InPlace.
Thank you for partnering with us to support our pre-service teachers (PSTs). Your role as a supervising teacher is vital to their development, and we truly appreciate your time, expertise and commitment.
To help you prepare, we recommend reviewing Section 4 of AITSL’s Components of Effective, High-Quality Professional Experience. It offers practical guidance on effective supervision and mentoring.
Each PST follows a suggested weekly teaching schedule with minimum teaching responsibilities. You can adjust this based on their individual needs, progress and your services context.
You’ll need to complete:
Important tips for completing the report:
Address concerns early, by Day 8 or sooner.
If you or the University Liaison Officer (ULO) have concerns about a PST’s conduct or competency, please address them promptly.
Use the Student Placement Support and Review Process (SPSRP) to support PSTs who are struggling to meet teaching standards.
Early intervention - before the mid-placement review - is key.
Helpful documents:
Insurance coverage
All students are covered by university insurance during approved placements.
Reporting incidents
If you have questions or need support during the placement, please contact the Workplace Learning team.