Trainee Early Childhood Educator [Sandhills Early Childhood Centre, Byron Bay]

About the role:

Be supported to start your career in early childhood education

Are you passionate about working with children and looking for a rewarding career?  Whether you're a recent school leaver or considering a career change, our trainee educator program lets you earn while you learn while studying towards a qualification in Early Childhood Education.

What is a trainee childcare educator?

You’ll work alongside a team of fully qualified and experienced educators who will support and guide you in your new trainee educator role. The time you spend in our service will complement your training – you will never be left alone with children or expected to run a learning experience by yourself.

Our team will support and mentor you as you learn the roles and responsibilities of an Early Childhood Educator. They’ll discuss areas where you’re working well and support you as you learn new tasks. It is about building your skills and giving you the time to learn and become a confident educator.

About Sandhills Early Childhood Centre 

Sandhills Early Childhood Centre is a Byron Shire Council-operated 59-place centre in the heart of Byron Bay with natural and welcoming indoor and outdoor spaces abundant with trees, wildlife, garden beds, rockeries and grassed areas.

We pride ourselves on having a collaborative, creative and supportive team culture in a spacious and natural environment within walking distance to the Byron foreshore.

The image of the child is our fundamental motivation at Sandhills – we believe children are competent and capable beings.  Children are at the heart of our decision making and we are driven by their best interests.

We strive to nurture each child’s sense of belonging as a part of a strong connected community, ensuring a safe and supportive environment.

As a trainee, you will:

• Undertake a paid traineeship with formal and practical training
• Receive dedicated study time as part of your traineeship
• Receive an income while you study (weekly wage dependent on a number of factors, such as age and previous study/experience)
• Have your study costs covered by us
• Be supported and mentored by experienced educators and teachers
• Work in a beautiful natural, nurturing and well-resourced learning environment

Working alongside a team of experienced educators, you will:

• Build positive relationships with children, families and colleagues
• Support children's learning and development
• Help create engaging learning environments
• Contribute to educational programs and experiences

What we're looking for

• An interest and passion for working in the Early Childhood Care and Education sector
• A positive attitude and willingness to learn
• Strong communication and teamwork skills
• Ability to obtain a Working with Children Check
• No previous formal qualification required

At Sandhills Early Childhood Centre you'll receive the support, training, and experience needed to build a successful career as a qualified educator.

View the Position Description here: Download the Trainee Early Childhood Educator Position Description (PDF,533KB) 

We offer:

• A full-time, term 12-month position (35 hours per week).
• Salary and Conditions will be in accordance with the NSW Local Government (State) Award with appointment in the range of $412.70 to $838.00 per week (dependent upon skills and experience)
• The Federal Government's Early Childhood Education and Care Worker Retention Payment, providing an additional 15% on top of the base Children's Services Award rate (approximately $2 per hour).
• 12% Superannuation

Byron Shire Council has a high performance, collaborative culture. We are a growth-oriented organisation and value individuals who are driven to succeed and exceed expectations. We like to focus on understanding how a potential candidates talents and strengths align with the role they are interested in. Working in Local Government and for Byron Shire Council provides opportunities to grow in the direction that you aspire.

Other benefits include:

• Career development and training opportunities
• Attractive salary packaging scheme
• Employee Assistance Program (4 sessions per year)
• Fitness Passport

We believe in diversity, inclusion and equality and are committed to ensuring that our workplaces are a reflection of our community. We recognise the benefits that diversity and inclusion brings, and in turn encourage talented people from all backgrounds, abilities and identities to apply for our vacancies.

We are open to discussing flexible working arrangements and encourage our people to explore new ways of working – including part-time, job-share or working from different locations. Everyone can ask about it.

We strongly encourage applications from people with disability and will provide reasonable adjustments in our recruitment process and in the workplace. If you need an adjustment during the recruitment process, please call or email the contact person listed above, and also advise us of your preferred method of communication. 

Byron Shire Council is committed to being a child safe organisation – we respect all children and their wellbeing. We will embed Child Safe Standards into our leadership, governance and culture. We will support our staff and volunteers in their responsibilities. We will strive to keep children safe from harm and abuse.

Location: This position is based at Sandhills Early Childhood Centre, Byron Bay; however, Council can require you to work from other work sites if required for operational reasons.

Contact: Ashleigh Olive - Sandhills Director - 02 6685 8118

Closing date: 27 September 2026 at 10pm (NSW time). Late applications will not be permitted.

Pre-Employment Screening Process:

• Reference Checks: Referees will preferably be your current or most recent supervisor and must be able to comment directly on your abilities in a work situation. If you have any objection to this action, your concerns should be raised in your application and be discussed with the Selection Panel.
• Functional Health Assessment: If applicable, the functional health assessment evaluates your physical and functional capacity against the physical demands necessary to safely perform the job for which you have applied. Applicable roles are subject to drug and alcohol testing, please note these tests will potentially require the provision of a urine sample, and a positive test will preclude a candidate from employment with Council at that time. 
• Background Screening: Background checks verify the information you have provided in your application, and where applicable, also check for relevant criminal history. Checks may also include, for example, a confirmation of your employment history, qualifications/tickets and working with children clearance.

HOW TO APPLY:

Scout Talent has released an improvement to the candidate application experience through the 'Save Application' Feature. As a candidate you can start an application and progressively update the application until they are ready to submit.

You can start an application on the go, from anywhere and return to finish your application via the automatic follow up email when you have time and the required information at hand. 

You must use your own email address and not one used previously by another person that has applied for a position with Council.

Being mindful of diversity and inclusion we have provided 2 options to apply for the position.

Option 1 - Written Application

You may wish to prepare your responses in a Word document, and then COPY and PASTE into the fields below.  

Step 1: Fill out our online application form below. Once you have completed all the questions, click 'Next'

Step 2: Attach your resume/CV and a cover letter (optional). Once you have attached your document/s click 'Next'.

Step 3: Please review your application and confirm everything is correct. Click 'Confirm' to send your completed application.

 You will receive an email to confirm your application has been received. 

Option 2 - Audio File Application

Step 1: Scroll down and review the Questions that you are required to answer. 

Step 2: Record an audio file of your responses and save the file (the file must be in an MP3 format and less than 50MB). Please note that all questions with a drop box or a check box as well as the reference checks details can not be answered via audio file and must be completed below.

Step 3: Fill out the Personal Details section and the questions that can not be completed by audio file on the application form below. For all of the Questions where you are responding via audio file, type the response “audio file”.  Once you have completed all the questions, click 'Next'

Step 4: Attach your resume/CV, a cover letter (optional) and your audio file.  Once you have attached your documents click 'Next'.

Step 5: Please review your application and confirm everything is correct. Click 'Confirm' to send your completed application.

You will receive an email to confirm your application has been received.