In a wet park in Logan three Griffith students, at different stages of their Bachelor of Family and Child Studies, are preparing for an onslaught of children to take over the park and activities they have spent weeks meticulously planning.
They were completing placements with the charity Save the Children which hosts daily children’s activities as part of National Families Week.
Double degree
The students are studying double degrees combining a Bachelor of Family and Child Studies with a Bachelor of Education.
“Feedback from students indicate that they choose to do the double degree to give themselves a broader range of careers to choose from; they will also be better teachers by doing some study/practice in human services,’” says course convenor Marilyn Casley.
“They could be employed across education, health and community services.”
Arts are essential
Cherie Donovan is a 26 year old performing arts teacher and dancer who loved working with kids, so decided to roll her various skills into a career through the Logan-based degree.
“I believe the arts are essential for children and their education and not just the really young ones,” she says.
“The great thing about studying like this is I can choose to work inside or outside the established education system. Save the Children is a great organisation, which does awesome work involving whole families, not just the children as students.
“Events like this are more about community building, which is probably more what I’m interested in.
“But with the double (degree) I could also work within a school environment if I choose. Placements like these help build those networks which give you better choices when you start looking for work.”
Federal Government initiative
The Bachelor of Child and Family Studies aims to increase the skills of people working in the early childhood sector following the 2011 initiative by the Federal Government to build a more effective national early childhood development system which aims to improve the health, safety, early learning and well-being of all children. By combining degrees students can increase the scope of their possible work to include children aged from 0 to 18.