after school care.

Some of the duties and responsibilities of after school care include:
 

• preparing and supervising children's activities: as an after school care attendant, you find activities for children to do after school. Your main role is to plan activities for children. If the kids love arts and crafts, you find paint and worksheets for the children to enjoy painting. You supervise the activities to ensure children don’t hurt each other. Some childcare centres also offer opportunities for kids to build their sports skills or music and dance.
• keeping an eye on behavioural changes: as an after school care attendant, you spend a significant amount of time with kids. Most children in childcare centres spend a lot of time away from home. It is important to keep track of their behavioural changes and discuss the issues with their parents.
• preparing materials for learning and recreation: as an after school care attendant, you prepare learning materials. For instance, you prepare items used in building literacy and numeracy skills. If visual displays are needed, you ensure learning materials are hanging on the walls to help children learn.
• planning and serving snacks: children are active and love to eat. Since most of them leave late in the evening, after school care facilities provide snacks. As the after school care attendant, you ensure children eat the snacks on time. You prepare the food and drinks for kids, paying attention to their allergies or health conditions. You also clean up the area after eating.
• entertaining children and keeping them engaged: as an after school care attendant, you keep children engaged. Since children have a short attention span, you need multiple activities to entertain them. You can keep kids engaged by reading stories and playing fun games.
• helping children with school work: as an after school care attendant, you double as a tutor for children. You guide children to complete their homework. You may also coordinate with teachers to support kids outside the classroom in reading or other subjects.

After-school care attendants work in childcare centres or before and after-school care facilities. Some schools offer after school care services to allow parents to pick up their children after work. Aside from schools, you may also work in community centres for different groups. For instance, a group of mining or manufacturing workers may have a childcare program in community centres that offer after school care.

You work indoors in childcare centres, preschools and community centres. Since most after-school care facilities have outdoor play areas, you also work outdoors to supervise children.

Depending on your employer and the industry you work in, your colleagues might include primary school teachers, care workers and early childhood teachers. You might also be working in close proximity to special educational needs teachers and secondary teachers, as well as other specialists that could include, but not be limited to, social workers, case managers and behaviour support practitioners.

The work schedule of an after school care attendant depends on the opening and closing hours of community and childcare centres. You can work early in the morning or later in the evening. Most before and after school centres are open between 6:00 am and 6:30 pm. That means you may be required to work until late in the evening to cover for other employees. Most employers provide flexible work schedules, which allow you to work part-time.

After school care attendants usually have qualifications in early childhood education. That means you can progress to childcare educator roles or early childhood educator jobs. With your expertise in working with children, you can join other childcare roles or become a primary school teacher by gaining additional qualifications and registering with the relevant Teacher Registration Board (TRB) in your region. For instance, in Western Australia (WA), you register with TRBWA.

Finding your after school care job through Randstad provides important advantages such as:
 

• a wide variety of training and development opportunities
• an experienced contact person to provide help if needed
• a range of opportunities in your area
• get paid weekly or monthly, depending on the job
• temporary and permanent contracts

Want a permanent contract? A temporary job as an after school care is often a stepping stone to an attractive permanent job. Thousands of people earn a permanent contract every year with great employers thanks to a temporary job found through Randstad. What's more, many companies recruit their permanent employees through Randstad too.

As an after school care educator, you take care of children before and after school hours. You assist children in completing their homework and liaise with the teachers on the areas the kids need tutoring. You also promote the social and mental development of kids by engaging in fun activities.

Government schools in Australia offer a range of extracurricular activities for children after school. Some of the most common activities in and out of school are competitive sports, music groups, clubs and school performances.

There are no mandatory qualifications for working in after school care. However, you should consider a certificate or diploma course in early childhood education and care. These courses improve your knowledge of caring for children.

Before and after school care facilities in Australia are often referred to as Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) or Out of School Hours (OOSH) services. The facilities provide after school care programs during pupil-free days and school holidays.

OOSH after school care programs are available for primary school children and are often associated with private organisations and community centres. On the other hand, OSHC is a government after-school program with subsidised costs.

Applying for an after school care job is easy: create a Randstad profile and search our job offers for vacancies in your area. Then send us your CV and cover letter. Need help with your application? Check out all our job search tips here.