Professional development and resources
Take control of your career by building on your qualifications, passion and experiences in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector.
No matter where you are in your career, there are opportunities available for you to upskill. From required accreditation to exciting professional development (PD) opportunities, find out what additional training and support is available as you progress your career.
Professional development fund
Following consultation with the sector, the NSW Government announced a $10 million professional development fund to provide better support and career progression opportunities to the workforce. This is expected to provide free, high-quality, universally accessible professional development opportunities to teachers and educators in ECEC, regardless of their qualification.
Professional learning catalogue
The Professional Leaning catalogue provides access to a suite of programs and short courses designed to enhance your practice.
A highly skilled and motivated workforce of ECEC professionals can make all the difference in the lives of children, families and communities. Whether you’re an educator, teacher, or service director, it’s important to continue to learn and grow.
We have a range of packages and programs to assist you and your employer, and to help you navigate the many avenues of professional development.
Find a programs and short courses to enhance your skills in our professional learning catalogue. Courses are available under the following topic areas:
AEDC
Cross curriculum
Early childhood curriculum and pedagogy
National Quality Framework
Transition to school
Young children with disability.
Accreditation for early childhood teachers
If you are an early learning teacher, you must be accredited to work in a NSW school or centre-based early childhood service. There are different levels of accreditation that you will progress through during your career. Think of it as a 3-step journey:
- Conditional/Provisional accreditation – you’ve almost finished or have finished your teaching degree and want to start your teaching journey
- Proficient Teacher accreditation – you’re teaching in an early childhood service, developing your teaching skills and working towards this mandatory level of accreditation
- Maintaining Proficient Teacher accreditation – you’ve achieved your Proficient Teacher accreditation and now need to maintain it through professional development (PD) and continuing to meet the Australian Professional Standards For Teachers
Read more about professional development standards and what's required of you on the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) website.
Higher levels of accreditation
Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher (HALT) accreditation is a voluntary national certification. Applying for HALT is a rigorous process that you can be taken up after achieving your Proficient Teacher accreditation.
Ongoing learning
Throughout your career you will need to undertake PD to maintain your accreditation by completing 50 hours of NESA Accredited PD and 50 hours of elective PD. Find a list of accredited courses on the NESA website.
The process for recording elective PD was recently simplified through NESA's Teacher Accreditation Reforms. Teachers can now record high-level details of their elective PD activities in a way that suits them, whether that's a simple personal diary or NESA's easy-to-use Elective PD log template.
Explore our professional learning catalogue to boost your skills and knowledge.