Guest Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 hi,has anyone recieved the new graduate leader funding form-it is a nightmare to fill in and the questions are horrendous, they want minutes from the last agm, bank statements, the list is endless, i am dreading approaching my manager with this!
Inge Posted March 23, 2009 Posted March 23, 2009 not seen the form but in approaching the setting, highlight all the positives as much as possible. money to spend on the setting being a big one, should help a bit Inge
Guest Posted March 29, 2009 Posted March 29, 2009 I have several issues with the Graduate Leader Funding. 1. After encouraging a number of staff and having who have joined the setting who are already doing their FD, the new rules in Birmingham mean that only one person per setting, or two in a disadvantaged area, can be funded to do the FD. What do I say to those girls who are in their 1st, 2nd and even 3rd year. They have been encouraged by both myself and managers of their previous settings to go for it, aim to improve their professional development and the lives of the children they work in and now I am forced to choose who out of 5 employees to put forward. It's a farce.... I now it's expensive and the Early Years team have no choice but to implement what they are direct to do, but surely if these girls have already committed their time and effort, how can we ethically say sorry but you can't continue. And where does that leave the children and improving the quality of settings. I am sure we will all recognise that a Graduate Leader will probably be a Manager and if you are a manager you will know the mountains of paperwork that that entails. Although as EYPs we can pass on our knowledge, wouldn't it be great to have numerous EYP in each setting, working with the children at grass roots. 2. Filling in the form and providing mountains of paperwork. I have got to provide copies of bank statements for the last 12 months - that around 100 pieces of paper. I have to provide job descriptions, training plans, ofsted reports and countless other pieces of paper in order to get a student funded. It was so much easier last year when students attended the university, filled in forms and it was all done without the setting have to undertake hours of extra work. When am I going to get time to work with the children. There is the Quality Improvement programme, that although excellent, will mean lots of extra work. Trying to apply for any type of sustainability funding requires hours and hours of paperwork and meetings. I have really noticed in the last 18 months how much less time I am getting to move around the nursery, see what is really happening, getting to know the children in depth - what use am I as an EYP if I can't implement what I know during the day, working and modelling good practice with the staff. Modelling to staff is imperative? OK, getting off my soap box now....
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