Community Services

[walkec]

I am currently in year 10 and have been considering taking up a VCE VET subject next year. I currently work as a waitress, so I had been considering hospitality. However, I have wanted to do teaching since year 8, so I am also open to the idea of the Community Services certificate. Just wondering if anyone knows if the Community Services can be used as a rpl for a university teaching degree? And also if there are anyone who is completing the Community Services certificate, what do you think of it? Is it worthwhile? What is the workload like? Many thanks!

[JaneDoe]

I am currently in my second year of Community Services and I enjoy it despite having had two less than inspiring teachers. The majority of my class is interested in become teachers, myself included so we focus mainly on looking at areas of children services. The teachers tend to structure the course based on the interests of the students so that makes it more worthwhile. Other than myself the rest of my class pretty much despises the course as they think its boring but it's probably more contributed to the teacher than the actual course itself. The frequent excursions though are enjoyed by the entire class, that's a good thing about the course more excursions than work which really allow you to see if this is the area you really want to go into.

To my knowledge it doesn't count towards rpl in a Uni degree in teaching but I could be wrong so it's probably best to consult your careers office on this. In my opinion you have to have a genuine interest in Community Services to succeed in it and enjoy it. Personally, I'm glad I chose to do it because it helped me decide on what I wanted to do with my future by doing my work placement at a local primary school it validated my desire to become a teacher.

The workload isn't hard you'll get a booklet with information and learning activities based on that information as well as some assessment tasks that require you to think and apply what you've learned. Most of work is basically just common knowledge so not a lot of study tends to go into the subject. However you need to be prepared to miss classes and catch up on those subjects as this is the case for some, especially when doing the course at an external provider. Your timetable is designed to try and minimise the loss of time in other classes but generally it's inevitable, I for example miss four classes a week because of my VET course which does tend to make you slightly stressed about catching up with the class but if you're smart and have good classmates to fill you in on what you missed it's not that bad.

Basically, do it if your passion is community services but since you're tossing up between hospitality and community services I'd encourage you to look more into both options and really think about which option most excites you. Anyways, I hope that helps you.

[walkec]

Thanks for the insight JaneDoe. I have managed to talk to an an ex-student from my school who completed Communith Services last year and she said its really worthwhile. Am I right in saying you also gain a first aid cert too?

I think in the long term it would be better for me to do Community Services because I have wanted to do teaching for ages, so as you mentioned, it would most likely give me some more insight into this area. I have booked an appointment with the careers counsellor at school to ask about an rpl. I must say I think it would be really good if I could get a rpl, because of saving time, not to mention money.

[JaneDoe]

I'm glad you found my post useful. You do gain a first aid certificate which is helpful since it comes to you and it's included in your fees for the course.  Do remember though that the certificate generally needs to be completed every year since methods and practices change periodically.

I talked with my careers counsellor today and she said that Community Services does get recognition of prior learning in a teaching degree. So basically, if you've completed some units already through the VET course you won't have to complete them again in regards to the degree.