Students in the ECE Online Diploma program are required to complete four Field Placements: FW1605 (5 weeks); FW1610 (5 weeks); FW2605 (4 weeks) and FW2610 (4 weeks). Provincial program standards require that learners must complete a majority of their placements in a regulated child care centre. For the Diploma program, a minimum of 500 hours must be completed in a regulated child care centre, while the remaining hours may be in a regulated family child care home, child care centre, a family child care agency, a kindergarten classroom or a family resource centre. For new students accepted into College of the North Atlantic's Early Childhood Education (2nd year) of the Diploma (Online) program, FW1605 (FW1600) and FW1610 (FW1601) are already completed, or an equivalency has been granted.
For those online students currently working in regulated child care for less than 12 consecutive months, from the start of FW2605, a minimum of 1 week must be completed at a College of the North Atlantic (CNA) demonstration child care centre. Written confirmation of work experience will be required. An additional week at a CNA demonstration child care centre (for a total of 2 weeks out of the required 8 weeks) will be mandatory for students not working in regulated child care.
Applicable students will be assigned a CNA demonstration child care centre based on geographical location. Our centres are located in St. John's, Corner Brook and Happy Valley - Goose Bay. As well, any weeks already completed at a CNA demonstration child care centre will be credited towards this graduation requirement (as applicable).
Prior to the start of a field placement, students must submit to Student Services, a current copy of at least an emergency level (one day) diploma/certificate in first aid and CPR dealing with children. A list of approved first aid training providers can be found on the Workplace NL website.
Students will be given every opportunity to receive credit for past learning experience through a comprehensive systematic process of evaluation. Once enrolled and active in the program, students will be permitted to submit PLAR applications for any courses in the program for which they believe they have already acquired the appropriate level of knowledge and skills, except: FW1610, FW2605, FW2610, EE1180, EE1181, EE2180, EE1360, EE1290, and EE2255 For further information, please refer to the
Early Childhood Education – Distributed Learning program pages.
The Diploma program graduate is awarded a Diploma of Applied Arts in Early Childhood Education from the College. This parchment indicates successful completion of two years of post-secondary education, combining theory and practical experience in the care, education, and guidance of children, as well as best practices in developmentally appropriate programming and environments. Completion of this program is one of the steps towards provincial Child Care Services (CCS) Certification through the
Association of Early Childhood Educators of Newfoundland and Labrador (AECENL). Currently, the Early Childhood Education Diploma is eligible for Level II CCS Certification for infant, preschool and school-age classifications.