Eliza Reardon, Katherine Spencer and Kelly Friend are among the first to complete the four-year Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and Care, through TAFE’s Glendale Campus.

They will attend a graduation ceremony in Sydney in March 2017. 

Hunter TAFE early childhood teacher Dee Wardle said she was immensely proud of the students.

“These students were highly motivated and passionate about their studies. They consistently achieved distinctions and high distinctions,” Ms Wardle said. 

She said TAFE NSW’s reputation in early childhood training was highly regarded by employers.

“We have some employers specifically asking for TAFE-degree qualified graduates because of the quality of our diploma students, the practical hand-on training they receive and because the TAFE NSW degree is unique in that it focuses on 0-5 year olds,” she said.

Eliza Reardon, 21, said she had always wanted to work in childcare and thanks to the course she has already got a job as an educational leader at Warners Bay Early Learning Centre.

“I chose to do the degree at TAFE because of the small class sizes. The teachers really get to know you and you get one-on-one attention,” Ms Reardon said. 

“Throughout school, I knew the direction I wanted to take and I knew I wanted to work with children.

“I started studying at TAFE when I was 16 and I completed the Certificate III and Diploma.”

Katherine Spencer, 29, also intends to continue her education and enrol in a masters degree next year. The single mother said she came to TAFE to develop her parenting skills.

“I thought that I would do the Certificate III as a type of parenting course but I loved it so much that I wanted to learn more,” she said.

“The teachers and the TAFE librarians really helped my thirst for knowledge and helped me take my education one step further.”

Ms Spencer credits her two young children with feeding her interest in education.

“They are like one big social experiment,” she said.