Life after HSC: Primary Education at ACU

Clair Pirotta finished the HSC in 2015 at a Catholic School in Western Sydney, and now studies a Bachelor of Education (Primary).

1. What degree/course are you study? How long have you been studying? Full time/part time?

I study a full time Bachelor of Education (Primary). I’m in my first year!

2. What University/Institution are you studying at and why did you choose them?

I’m studying at Australian Catholic University, Strathfield Campus, as this allowed me to complete the required religious units which are compulsory in order to teach within the Catholic education system.

3. How many years will you study for?

4 years

4. What has been your favourite part of the course so far?

Getting my results back after the first semester was the best part as it proved to me that my hard work was paying off in getting good marks.

5. What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced?

Travelling. Every time I go into Uni it takes at least three hours by the time you drive to the station, get on the train and then on the bus and it becomes very draining. Additionally, balancing the travel with work, sports and of course study.

6. Was the course everything you expected it to be? Were there any surprises?

The surprise for me this year was that there was a change in the course outline. As education students now have to get three band 5s in their HSC, this meant many applicants for the course would not have be accepted. To cater for this, ACU created a system whereby the first semester rehashes content from Preliminary and HSC so that, when one passes these units they can move onto the Education units of the course.

7. What is the most interesting thing you’ve covered/learnt so far?

I’ve really enjoyed the ‘Introduction to Bible’ unit. Having been to a Catholic school all my schooling life, I went in a bit pessimistic, thinking it would be tedious. However, the history components of the Bible were truly fascinating and my interest in the subject meant I had the drive to study it well when it came to exams and resulted in a High Distinction grade.

8. Do you have a clear career path or job position in mind? Do you think your degree will equip you with the skills and knowledge to pursue this?

My ultimate job position would be to become a principal, and whilst this course cannot get me there straight away, it is definitely a compulsory stepping stone which will allow me to make my way up the leadership hierarchy when I get into full time work.

9. Have you or will you complete any work experience? Does your institution encourage this? Describe your experience briefly if any.

Next year I will have blocks of practical experience within a primary school. This will be the same case in third year and by fourth year everyone has the opportunity to work casually within a school whilst still studying the final units. ACU is one of the only universities who encourage practical work so early in the degree.

10. Please provide a quick “day in the life of an Education student.”

I start by driving 10 minutes to the local train station before hopping on the train for about an hour to get to Strathfield station. There, I wait for the shuttle bus to pick me up and take me on the 10 minute bus ride to the campus. As it is small, the walk to any classroom is always less than five minutes and being in a large course group meant we generally got the central auditoriums for lectures. Lectures usually go for two hours, with its tutorial going for one hour or vis versa. If there is a break in my timetable, I’ll generally go to the library or one of the outdoor sitting areas with friends to study or catch up on any notes, assignments or readings. As the semester wasn’t as demanding as I know others will be, my time doing extra study, averaged around 5-10 hours per week. This was either done during the breaks, on the train, or at home. Some units had homework for each tutorial and this had to be completed before the class of the week, and not after like high school. Others had readings or simply going over the lecture slides before going in. Travelling home again took almost an hour and a half but always having something to do made it feel a little quicker.

Stay tuned for the next in our Life After HSC Series! If you want to talk more about uni courses or anything about your next steps, feel free to come chat in our NSW Discussion Thread!